Journal of US-China Public Administration, January 2017, Vol. 14, No. 1, 38-45 doi: 10.17265/1548-6591/2017.01.004 Discriminating Against Millennials in the Workplace Analysis on Age Discrimination Against Young Adults Chanaz Gargouri, Carla Guaman Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA Age discrimination is not only a problem for older professionals but also for young adults entering the workplace environment. Despite the fact that younger workers are more productive and less costly, they are typically the employees who are most likely to be laid-off. The problematic issue of age discrimination is a global matter; therefore an analysis on this public issue is a necessity. When addressing this issue, people tend to think that only older workers are being discriminated in the workplace. This paper focuses on understanding the perception of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 about age discrimination in the workplace. A survey was shared through social media and 65 responses were retained. Data gathered were qualitatively analyzed from a sample population of young adult workers. The main focus of the paper is to understand the perception of young adults about age discrimination. Workable solutions were also suggested based on the survey results. Keywords: millennials in the workplace, age discrimination, reverse ageism Despite its perniciousness, age discrimination remains a form of discrimination that is unfortunately socially acceptable in the workplace (Bayl-Smith & Griffin, 2014). Even with the regulations in relation to equal employment opportunity (EEO) in place, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) only protects employees who are above the age of 40. As it was clearly stated by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, “It is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if both workers are age 40 or older” (EOEC, 2016). Discriminating against millennials, known as reverse ageism, is, perhaps, a new form of discrimination in the workplace that becomes salient to take actions in its regard. Age discrimination is defined as the negative attitude toward individuals solely based on chronological age (Greenberg, Schimel, Martens, Solomon, & Pyszcznyski, 2001; Tougas, Lagacé, de la Sablonnière, & Kocum, 2004). The gap in the literature is that most researchers focused on older workers (DeArmond et al., 2006; McCann & Giles, 2002) but little has been done on discrimination against millennials in the workplace. The focus of this paper is to understand the perception of young adults about age discrimination. Workable solutions were suggested based on the survey results. Despite younger workers being more productive and less costly, they are typically the employees who are Corresponding author: Chanaz Gargouri, ABD, MBA, professor, Department of Business Administration, Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA; research fields: millennials and the workplace, workplace performance, organizational psychology, social entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, leadership, workplace conflict. Carla Guaman, senior student at Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA; research fields: age discrimination in the workplace, stereotypes about millennials, reverse ageism, experiences with securing employment, SurveyMonkey analysis. DAVID PUBLISHING D