Baby Boomers vs. Generation X

As generation Y, the first group to come of age in the new millennium, grows and matures, they have entered the workforce at an increasingly high rate, making them the fastest growing segment of the United States workforce (Dorsey, 2010, pg. 15). These “youngsters” are typically in their early 20’s to early 30’s, still in the early and formative stages of their careers (Wain, 2013, pg. 308). Joining these Millennials in the workforce are those known as Generation X, consisting of the middle generation born from around 1965-1984 (Wain, 2013, pg. 308). At the far end of the age-workforce spectrum sit the Baby Boomers – those born between the years of 1946 and 1964 (Kaifi, Nafei, Khanfar & Kaifi, 2012, pg. 89). And finally, the oldest generation still trying to eke out their last paychecks before retirement is the Traditionalists, born between the years of 1937 and 1945 (American Medical Writers, 2012).

It is important to keep in mind that each generation sees the world through a unique lens that forms as a result of the events that were taking place in the world as these individuals grew up. Brenner focuses on the different events that have shaped their values and their perception of work. For example, the Veterans went through World War II and grew up with a strict regimen. As such, quality, respect and authority are important to them. Baby Boomers embraced the value of having to sacrifice to get ahead. All that sacrifice makes them very loyal. Generation X workers were the latchkey children who watched their Boomer parents forge a new workplace. They were also the first generation to grow up with technology. As such, this generation cares more about productivity and less about the number of hours spent on the job. Millennials are a generation entrenched in technology and therefore urn for instant gratification. They bore easily. Because they best understand how to maximize technology, they value a balance between work and

Over the next decade, it will be a challenge for employers to attract, keep, and develop a skilled work force for numerous different reasons ranging from the evolution of technology to fewer foreign students coming to America for work. Adding to the problem, companies are finding themselves managing four generations of workers. Based on their generation’s life experiences, each group has its own diverse characteristics, standards, and attitudes towards work. The four generations are as follows: Silents (1925-1946), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation Xers (1965-1980), Generation Ys or Millennials (born after 1980). It is up to management to relate and motivate employees of different age groups. The purpose of this paper is to inform readers

Over time the course of thinking and acting changes amongst the new generations. Human behavior becomes altered to cater toward the new and different ways of thinking or behaving. Society also changes with new generations. This can play a role in how generations differ from one another. Older generations may have been raised to be conservative in aspects of their lives while new generations have new attitudes towards their behavior based the societies they live and are raised in.

For decades there has been extensive research on generations to better understand characteristics such as personalities, motivations, and work ethics to help current and future employers better understand how to engage targeted demographics. As a result, in recent years there has been a lot of dialogue around Generations X and Y as employers have tried to understand what attracts, retains, and engages these individuals in the workplace. It’s evident that not understanding and respecting these differences can lead to misunderstanding, miscommunications, mixed signals, and possibly the loss of talent within an organization. Over the next couple of paragraphs I will elaborate on each generation and highlight their values as it is important to

Although today's family have changed, the workplace has not-and the resulting one-size-fits-all workplace has become profoundly mismatched to the needs of an increasingly diverse and varied workforce (Christensen & Schneider, 2010). Blending the ages in the workplace has its preferences and its challenges, as every era has its own particular qualities, and abilities they convey to the work environment. Generational contrasts, influences how individuals convey, with various

Today, four generations of Americans are represented in the American workplace: the so-called "Matures" who were born between 1900 and 1945, "Baby Boomers" who were born between 1946 and 1964, Generation Xers, born between 1965 and 1980 and the Millennials whose cohort began in 1981 and continues to the present. The purpose of this paper was to gain a better understanding of an individual from the Baby Boomer generation, in order to explore the patterns and markers that are significant to this generation. In addition, a discussion concerning a common conflict that occurs in the workplace between members of the Millennial Generation and the Baby Generation is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Millennials and the older generations do have distant relationships in the workplace that needs a resolution to provide a productive and excited work environment that produces results. These critcism about Millennials Steve Gavatorta witness at his own work environment, he states, “One of the common issues I experience when working with clients, who are primarily Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers, involves Generation Y entering the workplace,” Gavatorta describes how he personally experience these objections daily about Generation Y in the workplace, and how the older generations protests about Generation Y and the communication barrier with technology, their sense of entitlement, and their work ethic. Generation Y’s differences compared to the

In Supervision Managing For Results (2013), the author establishes that the Generation Y whom I consider to be youngest “are often highly self-confident, achievement-oriented, internet savvy, upbeat, impatient, and tenacious. They often love to learn, are socially conscious, can multitask, like to network and socialize with others, desire meaningful work coupled with feedback and recognition, and enjoy flexibility and autonomy at work” (p.384). Furthermore, the older generation (Baby Boomers), “value personal growth and self-gratification, a comfortable life, the use of logic, teamwork and involvement, and their own health and wellness” (Newstrom, 2013, p. 384). Also, having a strong work ethic, drive to succeed, willingness to give it their best and time to achieve a goal are characteristics of the baby boomer

Replacing Millennials with baby boomers is a problem because they do not want to take on the traditional style of work and life balance. Because of this, Millennials are more than likely to resign from their high-paying positions. Graen & Grace (2014) used the word “traditional” to describe the work life Millennials try to avoid. “Traditional” means repetitiveness of tasks performed at home and work. Millennials leave their high-paying positions because their daily routines of going to work and coming home each day seems boring to them. In the work setting, Millennials become uninterested in their work routine since they have already acquired all of the skills and knowledge required for their positions. Millennials have the urge to work outside

“Baby Boomers are called time-stresses and materialistic (strauss and Howe 1991), Generation Xers are identified as skeptical and individualistic (kupperschmidt 2000), and Millennials are believed to be socially conscious, yet highly cynical and narcissistic (Twenge et al. 2008)” (Costanza, 2012). Each generation has their own strengths and weaknesses that come with them. “Boomers are stereotypically described as achievement oriented (O’Bannon, 2001), independent, in control of their own destinies (Mitchell, 1998), respectful of authority (Allen, 2004), loyal and attached to organizations (Hart, 2006; Loomis, 2000), and diligent on the job (YU & Miller, 2003).

According to Kapoor et al. (2011) one of the most notable features of Generation Y is their prospect of gaining skills to add to the resolutions in contemporary workplace, compared with previous generations; comparing to other generations, the key stimulus of Generation Y is to keep a balance between work and life, pursuing corporations which raise solid workplace interactions, encourage determination and innovation; they place a greater importance on corporate uniformity, obligation and corporate responsibility. Moreover, compared with Generation X, Generation Y have more confidence in their ability for gaining the necessary proficiency and capability, but are frequently disapproved for performing a shorter consideration period and lack of enthusiasm to complete unpretentious tasks which are short of complexity; they choose to be employed in companies that need more teamwork and pursue motivated and inspired accomplishments in their professional careers (Kapoor et al.

As indicated by Forbes, the normal work environment now accommodates four generational eras in one place, including Veterans (born in or before 1946), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1979), and Millennials (1980-2000). Today, the old dog and the young pup need to work congruously to reach their end goals. These diverse generational and work perspectives can be advantageous. However, as you can imagine, such perspectives can be slightly hard to explore.

We’ve all heard of the Baby Boomer Generation, known for pushing the boundaries to receive more equality and personal freedoms by expressing non-traditional values compared to prior generations, but who is Generation Now? Generation Now is the title I have chosen to describe my generation, not because we are a more current generation but because of our “have to have it right now” characteristics.

“The number of employees over the age of 55 has increased by 30 percent; however, the number of 25- to 54-year-olds has only increased by 1 percent” (Claire, 2009). In 2008 the eldest of the 77 million baby-boomers turned 62. Estimates are that by the end of the decade about 40 percent of the work force will be eligible to retire. As people begin to reach the age of retirement there may be not be enough new employees to fill the gap (Clare, 2009). Companies need to find ways to attract Boomers and Millennials. Companies that want to attract Boomers and Millennials need to be creative in their culture, HR policies and work environments.