Aren't we all Gen Y now? Or to put it in a different way, can we now finally dump these Gen X, Y, Z labels for being a load of old stripey pants?

I only say this because I came across this incredibly complicated table on Wikipedia, which notes 31 generations since 1700. If that's not the best example of revisionist history urged on us by shiny-eyed marketers, then I'd encourage you to tell me what is.

This July story from Stuff talks about youngsters who "come in, think they know it all, want a promotion and leave six months later because they got a little bored.

"They are gadget-obsessed and great on paper, but lack basic life skills. A job application might be a two-line e-mail written in text shorthand."

Well, to those of us theoretically from Gen X or, were we Americans, the Consciousness Revolution generation, or from the Boomers who still do much of the hiring, these people sound like hopeless wastrals not worth spending time talking to.

Or just young people. Like we all were.

But, the article goes on to suggest, bosses are better off reshaping their business practices to take advantage of the Ys. They will be the majority of candidates in coming years. Something between 30 percent and 70 percent of business costs are the people. And if they are all you've got, you'd better start sucking up to them. "Hey old guy. Get me a latte, can you?"