Millennials have been coined as the generation of entitlement, who take luxuries for granted and expect rather than appreciate.

In their younger years this may be true, but come adulthood, millennials have the potential to accomplish more in the world than any generation before.

Millennials are phasing out of adolescence, leaving their homes to embark on adulthood during one of the most challenging economic climates since the Great Depression.

Their mindset is absent of all but their futures: go to school today, get a good job tomorrow.

The fact of the matter is a certain level of income is necessary in order to maintain a comfortable quality of life.

The expression “money does not equal happiness” is true only to an extent. Money does equal freedom to make choices: the choice to travel the world or enjoy the creature comforts of a cozy home; the choice to eat Chinese take-out or a traditional home-cooked meal; the choice to go to the movie theater or watch a movie on Netflix.

In order to earn enough money to have the choices to create happiness, people need to have job security. Millennials are in search of jobs that they can be proud of — jobs make them happy.

However, the number of available job openings has been diminishing over the years. As the demand for highly specific work increases, recent college graduates with little professional experience are locked out of meaningful work and often left working minimum wage jobs.

The hope for college graduates is to build a resume and hope that the few low-end jobs they have worked will appeal to prospective employers.

The millennials are “a highly educated, innovative force that has swept through the workplace and now influences every level of their organizations,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director of the world’s largest staffing firm, RHI, in his journal article “Developing Millennials Into Your Firm’s Next Generation of Leaders.”

Employers can continue to resist taking Generation Y’s influence seriously for now, but demographics show that they cannot be ignored.

Millennials have been hemmed in by helicopter parents who continue to try to make everything perfect. Then those same parents accuse them of being entitled.

However, millennials are more sophisticated and ambitious than given credit for.

Just as the hippies from the ’60s are now entrusted as leaders of important corporations, millennials will have their day.

Miles Inserra can be reached at [email protected] or @m_inserra on Twitter.