Gen-Yers : Where are we heading?

Generation Y - Cohort of people born in the 80's, typically in their early 20's or late teens now. Gen-Yers have been known to be very career focused, highly competitive and almost factory made to get into the job market and start earning a living. I started my first real job after college at the age of 23, and I was one of the older ones amongst my peers who started in the graduate program. Some of them had their 21st B'days after having worked there for almost a year. We were all making good money and ready to climb the corporate ladder. At 24, a lot of them had bought investment properties and invested a bunch of money in the share market. A generation ago, at 24, most people were still trying to decide what they wanted to do in life. People were into travelling, arts and just learning skills that would be useful for the rest of their lives. Not having lived in that generation myself and learning mostly from the people from that generation, it appears there was less pressure to be in the workforce and start making money. People had time to really see for themselves what they wanted to do unlike today where it seems everyone wants to make easy money fast!

I think one of the main reasons for our generation to be the way it is, is the dot com boom of the late 90s. Most of us were in schools when fresh graduates or school dropouts were spinning out ecommerce businesses with the most crazy ideas and becoming millionaires overnight. Although the dot com crashed post Y2K and the businesses were greatly affected by Sept 11 attacks, there was enough expectation generated to change the mindset of the entire generation. Growing economies of China and India have caused a huge demand for goods and services, which in turn is booming the economies of the rest of the world. However, I wonder if India and China can sustain the growth in the coming years. Outsourcing to India is not as profitable anymore as it used to be. The level of service in India has definitely gone up as the outsourcing industry is maturing. But, so have the salary expecatations. I read in an article recently that the salary rise in India (especially in the tech sector) was the highest in the world. India may become an expensive place for western companies to do business with. And like the dot com crash, the whole "outsourcing to India" storm may settle. It won't be the end of the growth but will be more like correction of the growth which I think right now is overheated. How will it impact the world economies and more importantly the Gen Yers. What is the shelf life of Gen Yers? Are we all going to retire by the time we turn 40 because we would have already worked in the industry for 20 years and made enough money. Having worked in the corporate world for the most part in my short career span, it gives me a great sense of relief and a breath of fresh air when I meet someone of my generation, who is still looking into things that really matter, and who is working on growing their career the traditional way - trying to discover what they really want to do. They may not be making a lot of money but are probably happier and have more to contribute. There's still hope!