The Kellington Times
Fox News Calls For Gen-Xers To Rescue Baby Boomers From Cancel Culture—Spoiler Alert: They Didn’t Know How Much Gen-X Couldn’t Care About Them
In a prime example of not reading the room, Fox News correspondent Gillian Turner said, “Cancel culture is spreading like wildfire. There is a call for Generation-X to lead the charge to save America from the social media mob. Can they do it?" Her tone was that Gen-Xers must save the frightened Baby Boomers from cancel culture.
Turner, who according to her LinkedIn profile, seems to be a Millennial, should have done a little homework on the ethos of Gen-X before making the call to arms.
The Boomers, who the Gen-Xers are supposed to save, were the very same people who wanted to ban rap and heavy metal music, censor “raunchy” comedians, television shows and movies, and evangelical preachers thought we would all be damned to hell.
If you are a Gen-Z, Millennial, Baby Boomer or Greatest Generation person, here’s some insights into the often-overlooked Gen-X crowd.
Generation-X is the quiet and unassuming middle child of two loud and outspoken generations. Gen-Xers are sandwiched between the Baby Boomers and Millennials— two of the most talked about and overanalyzed generations. Each generation is slapped with a label—whether or not it's warranted.
Gen-Xers are the folks who were called the “MTV Generation” and derided as “slackers, cynical, ironic and disaffected.” They listened to grunge, punk and early hip hop music. They were the “Baby Bust” generation and the ignored little brothers and sisters to the Baby Boomers, who sucked all of the air out of the room.
They consisted of latchkey kids and the children of two working parents. They were the first group to experience living with divorced parents. Gen-Xers bridged the gap between minimal technology and the beginning of the tech boom. They lived through the early days of the AIDS epidemic.
Now in their late 40s to early 50s, they should be in the prime of their careers. However, according to the Harvard Business Review, this group is being overlooked, once again. Gen-X leaders, according to a report cited by HBR, received only one or no promotions in the past five years, whereas Millennials and Baby Boomers received two or more promotions during the very same time period. HBR infers that the slacker stereotype hoisted upon this group has deleterious effects on Gen-Xers’ career mobility.
As you can imagine, there’s little to no sympathy for the Boomers. Twitter had a field day yesterday for the Gen-X people. It was a cathartic moment to get everything off their collective chests—all of the suppressed resentment, anger, jealousy and animosity. There was a fair share of enjoying watching their nemesis generation squirm under the same things they did to their younger brothers and children all those years ago.
Uber Drivers In The U.K. Won Worker Status, Including Minimum Wage And Benefits, After A Long Legal Battle
After losing a hard-fought legal battle in the United Kingdom over the status of its drivers, Uber said it will now offer the National Living Wage, the equivalent of the U.S.'s minimum wage. The decision was made after the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that ride-sharing app company drivers are workers and not independent, self-employed contractors. This decision could have a big impact on the ride-sharing company and other tech companies that rely upon gig-economy workers.
The BBC said Uber will enact the following measures in the U.K.:
It will pay at least the National Living Wage for over-25s, irrespective of a driver's age, after accepting a trip request and after expenses.
All drivers will be paid holiday time based on 12.07% of their earnings, paid out on a fortnightly basis.
Drivers will automatically be enrolled into a pension plan with contributions from Uber, alongside driver contributions, setting drivers up over the long term.
It will continue free insurance in case of sickness or injury as well as parental payments, which have been in place for all drivers since 2018.
All drivers will retain the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive.
The decision was heralded as a big victory for labor organizations. They claimed that Uber, and other app-based companies, take advantage of its gig workers by not treating them as employees. The recent ruling may affect Uber’s competitor, Lyft, as well as companies that have a similar business model, such as DoorDash, Instacart and Grubhub.
The verdict was part of a years-long battle between city, state and national governments and Uber. In the U.K., it was about a five-year court battle brought by a small group of drivers who felt they deserved the same rights given to workers. Attorneys representing the Uber drivers say their clients stand to gain £12,000 (nearly $17,000) each in compensation.
Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, said at the time of the verdict, “The company respects the court’s decision,” but points out that the claimants were only a “small number of drivers who used the Uber app in 2016” and that the ruling shouldn’t reclassify all of its U.K. drivers from independent contractors to workers.
Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an article he wrote for the Evening Standard, “Following last month’s U.K. Supreme Court ruling, we could have continued to dispute drivers’ rights to any of these protections in court. Instead, we have decided to turn the page. Beginning today, Uber drivers in the U.K. will be treated as workers.” He added, "This is a significant improvement in the standard of work for U.K. drivers. But I know many observers won't pat us on the back for taking this step, which comes after a five-year legal battle.”
Khosrowshahi offered color on Uber’s new policy, stating, “A worker is a classification that is unique under U.K. employment law. Workers are not employees, but are entitled to certain social protections. Our decision means that Uber drivers will receive holiday pay and will be guaranteed at least the National Living Wage (as a floor, not a ceiling, meaning they will be able to earn more, as they do today). And eligible drivers who want a pension will receive one.” The new policy will apply to Uber’s roughly 70,000 U.K-based drivers.
Rachel Mathieson, an attorney for the drivers who initiated the legal case, said the court decision and Uber’s actions is a boon for worker rights and it is “a very significant milestone.” Union leaders claim that this would have a large impact on the gig-economy ecosystem. Some people are concerned that prices may increase because of the changes, which had happened in California.
CNN reported that the “minimum wage will be based on engaged time after a trip is accepted and after expenses,” which received “pushback” from drivers. There seems to be a disagreement between drivers and the company. The court said drivers are considered to be working starting from the time they turn on the Uber app. The company views the pay commences only when transporting passengers.
Yaseen Aslam and James Farrar, the former Uber drivers who led the legal action claim that due to Uber’s interpretation, "drivers will be still short-changed to the tune of 40% to 50%." Aslam and Farrar added, "While Uber undoubtedly has made progress here, we cannot accept anything less than full compliance with legal minimums.” The former Uber drivers assert that the company should not be able to unilaterally decide the expenses when calculating the minimum wage.
Paul Jennings, a partner at London law firm Bates Wells, who represented Aslam and Farrar, said, “The idea that drivers are only working when they have a passenger in the car is not consistent with the judgement.” Jennings continued, “It’s regrettable that Uber hasn’t done the right thing entirely.”
It will be interesting to see if other companies that also rely upon armies of contractors will be pushed to enact significant changes too—by reclassifying these people and starting to offer them fair wages and benefits.
How To Stay Positive During A Long And Exhausting Job Search
There are times when the job market is hot and you catch all of the breaks. The time period we are currently in, sadly, is not one of them. It's easy for job seekers—or those worried about losing their jobs—to become self-critical and lose their confidence.
Even though we’re in the midst of a pandemic that created a massive health, economic and job crisis, people continue to put too much pressure on themselves. You may be in between roles during the worst job market since the Great Depression, but erroneously feel that you should still get interviews and job offers. When this doesn’t happen, discouragement and disappointment set in.
It's hard to stay upbeat and positive when nothing seems to work out right. You feel that all day, every day, you’re knocking your head against the wall. Dozens of résumés are emailed in response to job postings. Hours are spent completing annoying, glitchy applications. You keep calling friends, former co-workers and others in your network, in the hopes of obtaining a solid job lead. To make matters worse, there’s a lack of feedback and you’re routinely ghosted by companies.
It's hard to keep a healthy outlook when this continues to happen over three to six months. I’d like to present an alternative viewpoint and mindset. We are collectively going through one of the most challenging periods that we’ll most likely ever confront in our lifetimes.
This time is different from the past. You can't—and shouldn’t—benchmark yourself against what you’ve done pre-Covid-19, as those days are long gone. This is a new and different world. To stay sane, you will need to readjust your expectations and change the way you look at things.
Here’s what you need to do to keep positive, motivated and upbeat to avoid spiraling into a bad mental and emotional state.
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