There is a critical worker shortage coming as the Baby Boomers, born between 1940 and 1964, begin to retire. Many managers are only now beginning to realize the number of their employees who will retire in the next 10 years will be larger than those who replace them. This means that Gen X, long ignored by the business world, is soon to play a vital part in the US economy.
According to Maggie Payment, in her fall 2008 article, “Who Cares About Gen X’ers? (Short answer: We do)” in Career Planning and Adult Development Journal says Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, make up the 46 million people who are sandwiched between the Baby Boomers and Millennials.
Why is this important for managers? Because Millenials, born between 1980 and 2000, are just now entering the workforce and they will not equal the numbers of Baby Boomers leaving through retirement until well after 2030. This leaves Gen X to fill the space and there are simply not enough of them to go around.
Gen X: Who are They?
Often described as overly independent, unwilling to work on teams and even as slackers, suddenly those 44 million Gen X may be what holds together businesses until the Millennials arrive. As a result, Baby Boomers may be faced with a paradigm shift as they learn what Gen X is really all about and why they will need to court them on their terms.
Gen X was born during a societal upheaval that is often unrecognized. As a result of record setting divorce rate and women entering the workforce Gen X is made up of the original latch key kids. They saw their parents replaced by technology and downsized in huge numbers. As a result, they are skeptical of authority and corporate worlds and extremely independent.
Gen X in the Workplace
When it comes to the workplace, Gen X is work to live, rather than the live to work mentality of Baby Boomers. Several studies have found that Gen X prefers to work in an unstructured, flexible workplace, unlike their predecessors who prefer structure and set schedules. It would not be uncommon for the Gen X employee to expect to work in the office for only three or four hours then finish tasks at home at midnight.
In “Leading Generation X: do the old rules apply” in the March 2003 Journal of Leadership & Organization Studies, Malcom Ree found significant differences in even routine Baby Boomers and Gen X wants and needs in the workplace. When it came to challenging tasks for example, Ree found that Baby Boomers wanted tasks they could accomplish over several days, while Gen X wanted those tasks completed in one workday.
While the Baby Boomer boss may scream “slacker” the Gen X employee may believe they are finding a more efficient way of working. Efficiency is vital to Gen X’ers, who hate feeling they are wasting time. Time away from work is more important than time on the job, so Gen X wants to get in, get the job done, and get out. Endless meetings, unproductive teams and busy work are sure to drive Gen X out the door.
What may be even more surprising to Baby Boomer leaders is Gen X’s approach toward monetary benefits. Baby Boomers have traditionally equated success with money and power, and may be shocked to realize that Gen X does not. For the Gen X’er, success is defined by the ability to achieve a work-life balance rather than climbing a corporate ladder.
This is demonstrated again when it comes to the security Baby Boomers crave in retirement. Traditionally, Baby Boomers prefer a job that offers a stable retirement plan with benefits however Ree found that Gen X prefers a 401K that is portable. Again, this demonstrates the Gen X distrust of the corporate world and preference for self reliance over business promises.
Although much is said about Generation Y coming into the workforce, the reality is that those who make up Gen Y have just begun to enter, and have a median age of 15. Someone will have to run the workforce until this group is old enough to take over, and that someone will come from the often overlooked members of Gen X.
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