With graduation and summer vacation on the horizon, more and more Millenials are entering the workforce, burdened with a bad reputation, says a study by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP).

The Millenial generation, or Generation Y, are born between the late 1970s and early 90s , according to WiseGeek.com, and have been pegged by fellow generations and even their own, as being lazy, something not well received by employers and coworkers in the field.

According to a study released in November by the Conference Board of Canada, much of this reputation relies on opinions from older generations.

The study says Millenials are viewed by their older cohorts as being hard to manage, generally lazy, and willing to drop one job position and take up another elsewhere.

Labeled the most difficult age group to work with by the Boomer generation, the Conference Board warns against enforcing the stereotypes, saying Gen Y-ers are less likely to speak out about new ideas or innovations.

Sometimes referred to as the Peter Pan Generation, Millenials’ focus is less on maintaining a strict working life, and more about finding the balance between work and play, including seeing the world and having a more emotional connection to the work they are doing.

However, Millenials who have hit the workforce or plan to in the next few months say the stereotypes do hold some truth.

“I think that to some extent that statement is true,” says Lisa Perruzza, a graduate of the University of Guelph-Humber’s class of 2010, who has been hired by a Toronto PR company.  “We are kind of a generation who takes the easy way out unless it's something we are really working towards. For instance, I’m more likely to slack at my part-time job where it’s just temporary, and apply myself wholeheartedly when it matters, like at my current internship.”

“I would say our generation is lazy,” says Matt Stasoff, a 22-year-old student at York University. Stasoff says he plans to get a job for the summer months between school years. “We have this false sense of entitlement and that leads to poor performance in certain work places that we may feel are below us."

Brandon Smith, age 23, graduated Humber College in 2009 and has since taken up a position as an industrial designer and marketing coordinator for GVA Lighting in Mississauga, Ontario. He says while he agrees that there are some bad apples, Generation Y shouldn’t be lumped under one stereotype.

“I'm very ambitious myself, always have been. But I do recognize there are some people that think they can coast.”