Take your parents to work day
Posted On December 23, 2014
In November, LinkedIn hosted its second annual “Bring in your parents day,” a twist on the “take your child to work day” initiative that started back when Gen X was in elementary school. At first glance this may seem like a gimmick, but there is some sound strategy behind it. LinkedIn is achieving a double-win for the generations with this initiative: It helps educate an older generation about their technology-driven business It helps parents become supportive of their children’s career paths – even when they don’t understand them. Millennials, and to some degree Gen X, have a tendency to have… Read More
Categories: Blog, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
Gen X – a financial conundrum
Posted On September 30, 2014
For years we’ve been talking about how Gen X is going to be the first generation that is not expected to be better off that its parents. Sometimes Gen X is given a slightly better chance and that dubious honor is bestowed on the Millennials. Either way, the trickle down economics don’t seem to be happening past the Boomers. Which is why the latest research from the Pew Charitable Trust I so intriguing. As reported in The Washington Post, a new study shows that Gen X is actually making more (adjusted to 2011 dollars) than Boomers did at the same… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X, Wealth
Gen X – stuck in the middle again
Posted On August 5, 2014
The numbers show it. And so do the conversations. Generation X is stuck in the middle. In “10 things Generation X won’t tell you” MarketWatch author Quentin Fottrell delivers a fairly thorough assessment of why Gen X is “poor, ignored and jaded.” Gen X numbers roughly half to two-thirds of its generational peers. Depending on whose statistics you use, there are about 49 million Xers compared to 75 million Boomers and 89 million Millennials. No wonder people aren’t paying as much attention anymore. But it’s more than that – Xers have been around a while. They were the thorn in… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Succession Planning, Work, Workplace
Is health insurance still an attractive benefit?
Posted On July 17, 2014
With the recent Supreme Court decision excusing Hobby Lobby from providing certain birth control options in its employee health plan and the goal of Obamacare to make health care affordable and accessible to all Americans the employer-assisted health plan is getting tons of attention. We know costs keep rising and many employers are passing more and more of that cost on to employees. And with the rise in part-time and contract workers, employees are finding themselves increasingly ineligible for employer plans. Will all these trends converge to make employer-provided coverage a relic? I don’t see it happening right away, but… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Retirement, Workplace
Out of the mouths of baby boomers. Or is that Xers?
Posted On July 8, 2014
I was scrolling through the online news when this caught my eye “I think (Generation X) is the last hardworking generation[…]Generations after us have become more spoiled. Kids aren’t disciplined.” And if it weren’t for the parenthetical I would have drifted right on by, expecting yet another complaint from a Boomer against the Xer work ethic. Except perhaps we’ve outgrown that one. Apparently the Xers are claiming a spot on the “back in my day” soapbox. Was it only a matter of time? The quotes are from an article discussing the Pew Research Center’s series “The Next America.” That series… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace
Part-time nation
Posted On June 19, 2014
For better or worse, the American workforce is increasingly focused on flexibility. Some workers want the flexibility to work on their own time, often in their own environments. Some want the flexibility to pursue personal passions outside of their 9-5 jobs. Some companies want the flexibility of hiring and firing at will, with minimal HR administration. Some want the financial flexibility of limiting employee benefits. No matter which side of the conversation you are on, there are serious conversations happening about flexibility in the workforce. In “Rise of the ‘flex’ economy,” Christian Science Monitor writer Simone Baribeau provides a 360-degree… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
Older and younger workers have similar interest in workplace flexibility
Posted On May 27, 2014
Technology has enabled a virtual world that Boomers and Matures never imagined, and one that Millennials and Xers have come to expect–especially in the white collar workplace. Why should someone be tied to a desk all day if their peers are not in the same office, or even the same time zone? What difference does it make if I work from 7-2, take a break to handle afterschool duties, and then resume working at home from 8-10, as long as I meet my deadlines? This unorthodox balance of the personal and the professional, and the underlying message that time has… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Matures, Workplace
Overheard at Wendy’s…
Posted On May 22, 2014
Child: May I please have a double cheeseburger, fries, a coke and a vanilla frosty. Mom: And he only wants ketchup on that burger. I’ll have… Child: (sigh) I am 13. Mom: So? Child: So, I can order for myself. Mom: Except you didn’t. You forgot to tell them how you want it. Child: But you don’t have to fix it for me. Mom: (pause) You know, you’re absolutely right. And with that 45-second exchange, faith in the next generation is restored. Perhaps iGen will arrive at the job site with a sense of responsibility and ownership after all (assuming… Read More
Categories: Generation X, iGen, Parenting
Want to attract and retain top female Xer talent? Walk the walk.
Posted On April 29, 2014
While Xers are growing in leadership ranks throughout corporate America, in many cases the leadership tone and corporate culture is still set by Boomers. They are either still at the helm, or their values have so permeated the leadership circles that the generational norms of younger leaders have not yet sunk in. At the same time, businesses are realizing that each generation is different and they may need to engage different generations of employees in different ways. I’ve spent the past 15 years talking to companies about just that. But talking and doing are two separate things – and that… Read More
Categories: Blog, Generation X, Women, Workplace
It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights…
Posted On April 22, 2014
Sorry for the Muppets earworm, Xers – it was either that or Sesame Street’s “Sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away…” And now they are both stuck in your head, aren’t they? Me too, thanks to a great read from Salon.com. In her article, Millennials just don’t get it! How the Muppets created Generation X, Elizabeth Hyde Stevens takes Xers on a tour back in time, uncovers tons of subtle (and not so subtle) influences Jim Henson has had on the entire psyche of 70s and 80s kids, and brings it all home with connections to today’s business and media legends…. Read More
Categories: Advertising, Blog, Generation X