LeBron James: Today’s Employee

I’m a little late to the party with any thoughts on LeBron James’ move from Cleveland to Miami. I just couldn’t think of anything to say other than he’s as greedy and arrogant as some of the top executives in the business world. An article in the Los Angeles Times made me think again about the meaning of Lebron’s ship-jumping.

In some ways, LeBron is like most millennials in today’s workforce. These Gen Y employees value mobility, not loyalty. A shrinking number of young workers care about the fate of their employers. Among the millennials, there won’t be many 10-year and 20-year employees. They see no way to experience an increase in income by staying with the same employer unless they stay a very long time. They’re just not going to wait that long.

Employers can rail against a generation of entitlement-thinking squirts all they want. What employers can’t do is offer significant pensions, generous health benefits and job security. Many millennials and a number of baby boomers will argue that employers were the first to throw loyalty to the wolves.

LeBron left a terrible taste in the mouths of basketball fans inside and outside of Cleveland. But it’s a sign of the times. Lebron is a millennial like our children and grandchildren, if we happen to be baby boomers. We helped create them, and I’m sure we’ll learn to live with them.