From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox
According to the rules of the circle of life, when we’re born our parents take care of us. When we get older we take care of them. The same can basically be said for society as a whole. The workers today are paying into Social Security to help the retirees of tomorrow. So conceivably if you’re working right now, all those kids coming up behind you are the ones who will be taking care of things when you retire. Based on this survey from Live Science we, and by we I mean all of us depending on the younger generation to run things, might be in a wee bit of trouble. Today’s potential workforce doesn’t want to work overtime and cares more about how much vacation they’ll get versus the quality of the job. Can I get a “gulp!” from the choir?
BIG GENERATION GAPS IN WORK ATTITUDES REVEALED by Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
Experiences help to shape life, so it’s reasonable to think someone who grew up when John F. Kennedy was shot might have a different worldview than a person who witnessed Enron collapse and has been “wired” since just a tot.
New survey research announced today suggests indeed that is the case: Large generational gaps exist, particularly when it comes to work attitudes. The findings reveal young people just entering the workforce, often called GenMe or Millennials, are more likely than their elders to value leisure time over work and to place a premium on rewards such as higher salaries and status.
“Our results show that the desire for leisure and a better work-life balance starts long before young workers have families, so companies will have to consider new policies for younger people who want leisure time to travel or spend with friends,” said Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. “Of course, the generation itself may have to adapt their expectations if they want both higher salaries and more time off.”
The findings have implications for managers wanting to attract and retain GenMe-ers, while also adding real data to back up or in some cases counter claims made about how GenX differs from the baby boomers who differ from the Millennials.
“There have been lots of books and articles on how the generations differ, but up to this point there’s been little data,” Twenge told LiveScience. “Up to this point it’s been mostly speculation.”
Who’s who
Twenge and her colleagues analyzed data from a larger study called Monitoring the Future, which has surveyed a nationally representative sample of high-school seniors every year since 1976. The new research involved more than 16,500 students who had answered questions about work attitudes during the years 1976 (Boomers), 1991 (GenX) and 2006 (GenMe).
Here’s a breakdown of each generational group:
- Baby boomers – born between 1946 and 1964; affected by the civil rights and women’s movements, the Vietnam War, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and Watergate.
- GenX – born between 1965 and 1981; experienced the AIDS epidemic, economic uncertainty, and the fall of the Soviet Union. They were much more likely to witness their parents get a divorce or lose a job due to downsizing than any prior generation, the researchers say.
- GenMe – born between 1982 and 1999; watched several iconic companies, such as Enron, TYCO, Arthur Andersen, collapse due to unethical leadership.
I think someone needs to remind these kids that work is not the enemy! Read more about these attitudes here. What about the teens in your world? What’s their work attitude like?
