GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES AT WORK

This article is about the generational differences at work in the United States. We talk about the relationship between traditionalists, baby boomers, gen Xers and millennials.

• The Traditional Generation also known as the Silent Generation comprises employees and retirees born between 1922 and 1943.


• A Baby Boom is any period of greatly increased birth rate during a certain period and it most often refers to the dramatic post-World War II baby boom (1946 to 1964).


• The Generation X is a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world born from 1965 to around 1982.


• The Millennial Generation or Generation Y refers to a specific group of individuals born between 1980 to1995.

How is the relationship between workers of different generations in a workplace?
Every generation is influenced by its period’s economic, political and social events so it follows that generational issues may affect the way people work.

Nowadays some younger workers are often baffled by older traditional administrators’ tendency to reject their new ideas and resist change. That’s why some of them are apathetic people who are not motivated to do a good job.

A lack of understanding across generations can have negative effects on communication and working relationships. For that reason some researchers are making studies about this problem, in the hopes of better understanding how generational diversity may affect work dynamics.

In the last decade, several differences in the work habits of younger and older women have been observed by psychologies. They noticed that the younger women tend to more often question workplace expectations, such as long work hours or taking work home, and the older women are more aware of their obligations and responsibilities.

Some studies suggest that differences are accounted by worker’s values. A survey reported that people from generation x (1965 – 1982) are less loyal to their companies and they want to be promoted more quickly.

Sometimes generational differences may cause clashes in the workplace. For example, baby boomers may believe gen Xers are impatient, while gen Xers may view boomers as always trying to say the right thing to the right person.
And traditionalists may view millennials as visionaries, while millennials may view traditionalists as dictatorial and rigid.

After all, each generation brings a unique perspective to work- related tasks.

Carhuamaca Estacio, Maria