One of the most striking features of today’s workplace is the number of generations. We have entered an age of many different generations thrown together. Companies have become melting pots of different perspectives and attitudes.
It’s a completely new challenge for resellers.
The maturing baby boomer population is not retiring any more. Part of it is driven by financial considerations. The global financial crisis wiped out a lot of investments and growth in superannuation funds. But much of it too is being driven by demographics. Sixty is now the new 50, maybe even 40.
The World Health Organisation predicts we will see tech-savvy 100-year- olds in the workplace in the coming decades. Certainly septuagenarians including Gerry Harvey and Rupert Murdoch are kicking goals and Warren Buffett turns 81 this year.
At the same time, these maturing boomers are being followed by a much smaller group of Generation Xers, and an even smaller one of Ys. That makes potential hires and fires difficult, and the boomers are likely to stay.
Basically, today’s workforce can be broken up into four groups. First are the veterans. They are aged from 61 to 84. Many are part time, many have mentoring and training roles, but they all still contribute. The second group is the boomers, followed by the gen Xers. Then there is generation Y.
Each has different attitudes. Gen Y, for example, expects training as part of the routine.
For gen X, training is seen as something required to keep them motivated. If they’re not being trained and developed, they will look elsewhere. Boomers can’t take too much of it and veterans say
-1.jpg&w=100&c=1&s=0)
.png&w=100&c=1&s=0)
