The Original Workplace Disruptors Would Like Some Love, Too
Posted On February 14, 2016
I’ve written a lot on the blog lately about how many workplaces are shifting – some, perhaps too quickly – to attract millennials. A recent Forbes article, however, argues that employers would be wise to not forget about Generation X. Writer Natalie Burg, a former downtown development professional, cites executives and human resources professionals who note that Gen-Xers are valuable in managerial roles because they can relate to both Baby Boomers and millennials, and alienating them through fast-tracking company policies toward millennials can result in a leadership void. But how to ensure, as you seek to attract the most talented… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Workplace
Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down Those Walls. But Ease In To It, Please.
Posted On January 25, 2016
We’ve written quite a bit in this space recently about adjustments in the workplace to appeal to millennials, who now make up the largest percentage of the workforce. But lest you think that just dumping the cubicles for couches and standing desks makes for an easy fix, heed the advice of Simon and Garfunkel: Slow down. You move too fast. We’ll excuse any millennials who may not have gotten that reference. It was from a tune called the 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) that was recorded a couple decades before you were born. But the wisdom would be well-heeded… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
The Gen X Manager – Need To Know…
Posted On January 14, 2016
You’ve by now read plenty of advice in this space on how to adjust to a millennial workplace. Millennials have surpassed Generation X as the largest generation in the workplace, and changes are being made to accommodate them as Gen X and Baby Boomer managers seek to retain the best and brightest among them. But even through more than one-third of the workforce is now made up of millennials, according to the Pew Research Center, that still leaves two-thirds that isn’t. While millennials are ambitious and upwardly mobile, many of them are working for Generation X managers. And so, millennials… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
Generation X isn’t doing well at this preparing for retirement thing.
Posted On November 2, 2015
Forbes recently cited several surveys and polls that found Gen-Xers falling behind with or completely ignoring their financial futures. A Harris poll commissioned by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that 25 percent of the Gen-Xers it surveyed had no sources of information for retirement and 45 percent didn’t even want to think about it. Forty-six percent of the Gen-Xers surveyed by Allianz Life in May were essentially playing it by ear until they hit retirement age. A Northwestern Mutual report found that 82 percent of Gen-Xers don’t believe they’ll be able to retire comfortably and 18 percent don’t… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X
“Tell me again how good we have it, Dad?”
Posted On July 21, 2015
If you feel like you’re making more but have less, you might be Generation X. According to this report from Stony Brook assistant professor of finance Noah Smith, writing for Bloomberg View, the Pew Charitable Trusts tracked Generation X households like mine and found that we typically make about $12,000 more than our parents at the same age, adjusting for inflation and household size. That’s the good news. Now for the bad: Less than half the Gen Xers in every income bracket are wealthier than their parents at the same age. Part of that, of course, is that we’re spending… Read More
Categories: Education, Financial Services, Generation X, Work
Midlife Crisis – it’s coming. Best to pair up.
Posted On May 5, 2015
How do you avoid a mid-life crisis? Chances are, you probably don’t. But a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that one way to lessen its effects is to get married. That study was based off two surveys in Great Britain, so you might be wondering if marriage is typically more tranquil across the pond, but it really makes sense: Life crises – even, or perhaps especially, psychological ones – are tougher to deal with alone. Time Magazine notes that if you couple that information with data from the Pew Research Center, which shows fewer Millennials are… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials
You Can’t Judge Every Individual By His Generation
Posted On April 28, 2015
We live in a digital age, so it only stands to reason that Millennials will be quicker to adapt and integrate new technologies into their everyday lives than Baby Boomers and Generation Xers. The folks at Millward Brown Digital set out to test that theory, but instead found something far more elemental: You can’t judge every individual by his or her generation. A survey conducted by the company found that while Millennials are the first generation to really embrace mobile shopping, they – like their Gen X parents and Baby Boomer grandparents – still fall back on the trusty old… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Generations
U2 and THE Gap – Gen X Preferences
Posted On April 23, 2015
So Millennials don’t like the same things Gen Xers did? Say it isn’t so. This may come as a shock to twenty-somethings, but thirty- and forty-somethings didn’t like the same things as their parents either. That’s the way the world works. Time Magazine recently ticked off several former staples of a typical Generation X upbringing that turn off Millennials, from U2 and NBC sitcoms to Cameron Crowe movies and The Gap. Yes, yes I did use “The” in front of the name of that store you pass by on your way to Abercrombie & Fitch. Because that’s how we said… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials
Gen X Shows No Confidence in Retirement help from Gov’t
Posted On April 21, 2015
A survey recently released by PNC Financial Services Group Inc. offered some interesting findings about how different generations view retirement. The survey found that 51 percent of Generation Xers were saving more for their retirement since the recession, compared to 37 percent of Baby Boomers. But wait a minute, you say. Baby Boomers are starting to retire. Shouldn’t this be the time for them to ramp up to retirement? Another finding from the survey is telling, however. About two-third of the Gen-Xers surveyed believe they’ll be solely responsible for their retirement – and won’t be helped by Social Security, pensions,… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Retirement
Who are you calling a slacker?
Posted On December 30, 2014
The Bank of America Fall 2014 Small Business Owner Report warrants a second post. It’s chock full of generational tidbits, including a look at how the generations describe themselves. There is significant backlash against generational trends and analysis in the media these days—nobody wants to be defined by their generation alone. I get that. But the purpose of trends is to identify shifts and be better able to react to those shifts. And while not every member of a generation will possess every characteristic or fulfill every stereotype of a generation, the overall trends tend to ring true. The BofA… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Workplace