Technology and the elderly – a growing market
Posted On June 26, 2014
Older workers sometimes feel displaced by younger workers who are more tech-savvy, having grown up in a mobile-oriented world. But those same aging Boomers are creating business opportunity for technology companies. As this San Francisco Gate article points out, Boomers want to be using technology to make their lives better and more enjoyable…but they have different challenges with it than the younger generation of developers personally encounter. So savvy tech companies are turning to seniors as consultants in new technology development. It’s not rocket science – companies have been using focus groups to understand their target audiences for years. But… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Product Design
Snapshot of the generational gap: Humans of New York
Posted On June 24, 2014
Have you followed Humans of New York? Photographer Brandon Stanton takes portraits of random individuals and asks them a question or two. The answers appear at the photo captions. It’s utterly captivating art and social commentary. Every so often an image will strike a nerve with HONY followers as with this recent portrait. Or more accurately, the caption that accompanied the image. “I’m a little headstrong at work, which can get me into trouble with my manager. But if my way works just fine, why do I have to do things his way?” The generational gap in two sentences. The… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
Youngest Boomers initiated into AARP
Posted On June 12, 2014
We are almost halfway through 2014, which means that in six short months every member of the Boomer generation will have turned 50. Orange is the new black, 50 is the new 40. So when the membership cards arrive in their mailboxes, these new AARP recruits will be welcomed with promotions aimed at enticing them to enjoy their later years with deals that are anything but old. New benefits include concert ticket deals with Live Nation, among other travel and entertainment-oriented options. In a recent Associated Piece, and AARP spokesperson confirmed this is a shift from as recently as just… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Retirement, Succession Planning
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
Millennials and Boomers may work alike, but they don’t vote alike. Or do they?
Posted On May 8, 2014
I am frequently asked whether the differences in the generations are true differences or simply differences between ages. It is also a common belief that individuals grow more conservative as they grow older, however statistics do not necessarily bear that one out. The Pew Research Center recently reviewed 30 years of voting trends, comparing the percent of young (age 18-29) and older (age 65+) voters who voted democratic in each election between 1972 and 2012. With the exception of the 1972 Nixon election and the 2008 and 2012 elections of Barack Obama, the gap between the ages has only been… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation Y / Millennials, Voting Behavior
Baby Boomer wealth a myth?
Posted On March 20, 2014
Not exactly. But while much is written about the high concentration of affluence in the Boomer ranks, and the speculation that Gen Xers will be the first generation not expected to surpass their parents in terms of financial success, a Bloomberg Businessweek feature tells the story of wealth disparity between a Boomer worker and her Mature father. It might be easy to blame this on the recent recession, as so many Boomers lost significant value in investments or found themselves unemployed at a point in their careers where they expected relative stability. Yet, the underlying issues may be more about… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Blog, Matures, Retirement
Coworker preferences – where gender and generation collide
Posted On March 18, 2014
In December, the Pew Research Center released the results of a snap survey that asked whether individuals preferred to work with male or female co-workers. Whether politically correct or simply honest, the overwhelming majority (77%) expressed no preference. However, of those that did express a preference, males and females both stated a preference for working with males. But then they dug deeper and analyzed the responses by generation… Interestingly, the survey indicated that Millennials are “significantly less likely to prefer working with male coworkers than other generations.” And Millennial men are nearly twice as likely to prefer working with mostly… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Blog, Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace
Who’s the boss? Or rather, who wants to be the boss?
Posted On March 13, 2014
That’s the question the Pew Research Center asked recently. And the answer is, the kids. Millennials want to be the boss, Gen Xers are split, and Boomers say, no thanks. More scientifically, 32% of Boomer, 58% of Gen Xers and 70% of Millennials males (and 21%, 41% and 61%, respectively for females) want to be the boss. That may or may not come as a surprise to you. Often those with the least power are most hungry for it, and those in power better understand the burden. So, from a generational and age perspective it makes sense that the youngest… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Blog, Workplace
Millennial (not just Boomer) demands are creating new business opportunities
Posted On March 9, 2014
Aging Baby Boomers who don’t want to take on the typical retirement stereotypes have created demand for new businesses aimed at helping them address their AARP years in a whole new way. On the flip side of business, some Millennials are recognizing that their unique way of navigating the workforce demands some new ways of looking at business. Dan Friedman, the millennial founder of one such business, Thinkful, recently shared his perspective in Business Insider. In an nutshell, Friedman proposes that the loss of expectations for meaningful employee-employer loyalty has created a professional learning gap for today’s young workers. More… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Blog, EntrepreneurshipRethinking the Baby Boomer market
Posted On October 3, 2013
Businesses spend quite a bit of time trying to understand what’s next…from the workplace demands of the next generation of superstars to the buying habits of the famed “18-24 target market” of potential brand loyalists. However, demographics tell us that “what’s next” may well be what just was. That is, the power of last generation’s new target market—Baby Boomers—is still the most powerful consumer market, and the older Gen Xers are right on their tails. Businesses need to keep up. By 2017, nearly half the US population will be 50 or older. They will have the more purchasing power than… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Baby Boomers