The term young professional generally refers to a young person not in school who is employed in a profession

Profession

A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....

 or white-collar occupation

White-collar worker

The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...

. The meaning may be ambiguous and has evolved from its original narrow meaning of a young person in a professional field. Although derivative of the term 'yuppie

Yuppie

Yuppie is a term that refers to a member of the upper middle class or upper class in their 20s or 30s. It first came into use in the early-1980s and largely faded from American popular culture in the late-1980s, due to the 1987 stock market crash and the early 1990s recession...

', it has grown into its own set of meanings.

Traits

The term was originally, and is still used to some degree, to narrowly refer to recent graduates of professional schools serving in professional careers.

Stereotypically, they can also be viewed as having an "obsession with success" and "plagued with loneliness." Alternatively, young professionals can be seen as highly spiritual and "seeking a spiritual outlet to balance their hectic working lives."

Young professionals are viewed as being strongly attached to technology and media and are targeted by makers of those products.

Impact and connections with larger entities

Young professionals can provide a welcome increase in a local area's tax base and can also create a snowball effect of attracting and infusing young energy and talent into an area. Young professionals can also organize themselves and bring energy to shape communities and alter local or ethnic politics.

Young professionals are courted by larger social and occupational organizations or employers in some contexts, but not in others.

Young professionals are also heavily targeted by purveyors of career and financial advice.

In the workplace, young professionals can be viewed as talented and energetic individuals who present special management challenges or as "cannon fodder" to be cast aside once they are no longer profitable to a business.

As euphemism for "single"

The stigma that developed in the 1970s around singles functions and singles groups led some organizations to switch the name of their singles events to "young professionals events". However, other organizations specifically for young professionals insist that they are not "singles groups".