I read a few interesting articles on the generation gap – namely the difference between generations X and Y in the workplace – and it really got me thinking. We’ve basically got baby boomers (people born in the post-war “baby boom”), Generation X (mainly born in the 60s and 70s) and Generation Y (mainly born in the 80s and early 90s). I think I’m on the edge of Gen X and Gen Y but I seem to fit more into the Gen Y category. I really only base this on the stereotypes that I’ve read in articles, and also because Gen Y is known to be more techno-savvy, having grown up in an age of computers and internet.

So, introduction text aside, here’s my take on the whole generation gap in the workplace thing, based on what I’ve read and my own observations.
The baby boomers (and some GenXers) expect company loyalty because they come from a time when you would stay with the same company for 30 years, and if you worked hard then you’d get a tiny raise each year and earn enough to have a house and a family. Gen Y grew up watching Gen X go through the mass employee cullings of the 80s and 90s, where job stability became a thing of the past. So while Gen X was forming the attitude of “I’m lucky to have a job at all” and retained loyalty to any company that would keep them on, Gen Y was forming the attitude of “why should I give my loyalty to any company if they’re just going to screw me over eventually anyway?” That’s how Generation Y came to be the generation that is “ungrateful” because why be grateful for having a job when it could be made “redundant” the very next day? Especially when there are plenty of other jobs out there that will pay just as well and treat you just as badly.

They are also perceived as “arrogant and impatient” because they ask for more than they’re worth instead of putting in years of work first. You’re looking at a generation that has nothing to lose – there’s a booming job market and most GenYers don’t have mortgages or families because they can’t afford them thanks to rising housing and interest rates. They’ve watched GenX get fired from job after job so they’re jumping the gun and changing jobs themselves every 3 years. Instead of waiting around for a promotion that may never happen, they jump ship and “self-promote” themselves to another job.

Generation Y is known to be able to multitask effectively. They also like to be constantly connected. So of course they are seen to be on the phones and instant messaging clients constantly, sending text messages, checking websites, etc. GenYers are information addicts. They’re used to knowing everything immediately and can quite happily be updated on several different topics while doing their job at the same time. They think, if I can still stay informed, and get my job done at the same time, then what’s the harm? Baby boomers come from an age of letters and newspapers. They don’t understand this information addiction, it’s like trying to do your job while reading a newspaper at the same time. So when GenYers are staying connected, baby boomers think they’re slacking off. Hey, admittedly, a lot of them probably are slacking off some of the time. But most of them are used to dealing with huge amounts of information at a time from several sources, and if they have to focus on one task at a time then they’re likely to get bored.

Generation Y is said to have a problem with authority. This is probably true to an extent, but I believe it is more of a problem with respect. These days complete strangers will call you up on the phone and start chatting to you like they already know you. Back in the baby boomer days they were all about “sir” and “madam” and they’d address you by your surname, like “Mrs Jones” or “Mr Parker”. These days it’s all about “What’s your name? Robert Johnson? Well Rob, I’d like to talk to you about this amazing deal on cable television…” Everyone treats you like a peer. So Generation Y treats everyone like a peer. I think part of the problem is that GenX and baby boomers only see one side of it, they just see some young upstarts treating them like they’re on the same level before they’ve earned it. What they don’t see is Generation Y treating their subordinates like equals too. It’s not that they have no respect for authority, it’s just that everyone is the same to them and nobody is better than anyone else.

So we have a generation with suspicions about company motives, which results in almost zero company loyalty. Add to that a booming job marketplace and you have a generation with nothing to lose. University graduates walk into jobs expected to be treated with respect. Gen X goes no way, I had to “do my time” down in the trenches getting treated like crap and you will too, that’s the way the world works. If it were 30 years ago, the newbie would probably learn a valuable lesson in respecting authority and would shut up and get on with it. But today’s world is a different place, and the newbies can just say, you know what? I don’t have to take this crap, there are plenty of other places out there, I’ll just keep trying until I find something right for me.

I’ve even heard that video games may be responsible for some of the Gen Y attitude. There may be some truth in this. Most people play video games to win – you just take the path of least resistance, you get the goal and you achieve the same result as if you’d taken the long way. Sometimes you even get a time bonus for doing it quickly. Gen X isn’t always happy with this ideal – it doesn’t look good if your employee says they’ve finished all their work and goes home at 3pm. Even if they’re happy with what they’ve done, it’s hard to trust that they’ve done a thorough job in this time frame. And after all, aren’t you paying them for 8 hours? On the flip side, who would want to play a video game that forces you to take a full 8 hours to get anything done?

I’ll probably expand on this video game theory another time, I think I’ve written more than enough for now! Comments and arguments welcome.