Career Watch: Bridging the generation gap

By Jamie Eckle

April 13, 2009 12:00 PM ET

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Talking About Your Generation

The greatest problem for the workforce may be the failure of different generations to talk to one another.

In an online survey by employment services provider Randstad USA, 51% of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964, according to this survey) and 66% of the generation that preceded the boomers reported having little to no interaction with colleagues from Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1988). No contact, no knowledge transfer. And with the baby-boom generation regarded as the storehouse of most institutional knowledge, Randstad concludes that U.S. businesses risk a shortage of skilled labor, not because of a dearth of manpower in the wake of baby boomers' retirements, but because of a limited transfer of that knowledge.

After all, as Randstad points out, members of Gen Y in the workforce currently outnumber still-working baby boomers, 79.8 million to 78.5 million. Randstad urges businesses to foster more collaboration among their workers, something that may require tearing down perceptions of basic differences among the various generations.

One perception that the survey helps modify is the long-standing one that Gen Y workers are more likely than older workers to want their workplaces to provide them with things like satisfying work and pleasant co-workers. Just a few years ago, that was decidedly true, but in this new survey, Gen Y attitudes have changed considerably (see chart). In fact, Gen Y'ers are now much less likely than their older colleagues to seek those soft benefits.

Pamper Me
Today, it's the oldest workers who are most interested in soft benefits.

Gen Y	Gen X	Baby Boomers	Matures	Gen Y in 2006
Satisfying Work
59%	65%	71%	81%	80%
Pleasant work environment
57%	69%	70%	82%	85%
Liking the people they work with
57%	65%	62%	70%	74%
Challenging work
42%	52%	59%	71%	59%
Flexible hours
44%	48%	51%	46%	55%

Source: Randstad USA's World of Work 2008 survey of 1,295 employers and 2,199 employees aged 18 and up

Change in the Air
Among companies offering health benefits, many are considering making changes in 2009.

BENEFITS

Very Likely	Somewhat Likely	Not Too Likely	Not At All Likely	Don't Know
	Increase employee contribution
35%	37%	16%	11%	1%
	Increase employee deductible
9%	31%	35%	24%	1%
	Increase employee co-pay
7%	29%	40%	23%	1%
	Increase employee share of drug costs
8%	29%	40%	22%	1%
	Restrict eligibility for coverage
2%	4%	26%	67%	1%
	Drop coverage entirely
<1%	<1%	4%	96%	<1%

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation 2008 Employer Health Benefits survey of 1,192 companies with more than 200 employees. Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.

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