Talkin' 'bout my generation: Managing age diversity in the workplace

Spoiled, sheltered, entitled – just some of the words sometimes used to describe young people that fall into the millennial generation, those born in 1980 or later.

But is there any evidence to support these claims? Is there real data to suggest millennials have impractical career expectations and over-the-top salary expectations, like the baby boomers and generations Xers imply?

Ed Ng, associate professor in the Faculty of Management, along with colleagues from the University of Guelph and Carleton University, surveyed over 3,000 Canadians as part of the Generational Career Shift Project. Their three-year study asked participants to describe career experiences and answer questions about job expectations and priorities, with the hope of discovering how different generations view expectations, experiences, attitudes and outcomes as their careers progress.

“There’s been a very interesting shift in workplace dynamics,” says Dr. Ng. “The baby boomers are supposed to have retired by now but since the economy is bad and we’ve done away with mandatory retirement, boomers are sticking around longer. Now you have baby boomers, generation Xers, and millenials all working under the same roof with very different workplace behaviours.”

The researchers surveyed members of four successive generations: matures, born before 1945; baby boomers, born between 1946-1964; generation Xers, born between 1965-1979; and millenials, born between 1980-1992.

Shifting expectations

While some discoveries came as no surprise to researchers—for example, matures want to stay relevant and leave behind legacies—others had the researchers scratching their heads.

“It became clear to us that gen-Xers were the most unhappy of the generations,” says Dr. Ng, when asked about outcomes that surprised him. “If you think about it, they’re sandwiched between making headway in their careers, raising a family, and taking care of aging parents. This creates a very unhappy situation.” 

“We also found it interesting that millennials placed such a high emphasis on work-life balance,” he continues. “These are people who typically aren’t married, have no kids, and very little responsibility. What we found was that they placed high importance on leisure activities. Millennials expect an average of five years off work for child-rearing and travel activities, on top of high salary expectations.”

The study found that the average expected first-year salary for millennials entering the workforce was $48,860 for men and $42,060 for women. While those numbers aren't entirely unreasonable, millennials expect a substantial increase in salary over the first five years of their career, with their yearly income increasing to $84,868 for men and $67,766 for women. They also expect their salaries to peak at $171,036 and $125,664 respectively; according to Statistics Canada, only 4 per cent of Canadians earn more than $100,000 each year.

Mobility and workplace habits

Dr. Ng says while it’s not uncommon for a millennial to have between three and four employers over 10 years, boomers and gen-Xers are much more ‘loyal’ to their employers.

“If you’re a millennial moving around, you’re progressive. If you’re a Boomer moving around, you’re a flight risk.”

There are also often some big differences between millennials and boomers in workplace habits and patterns.

“Boomers show up to work at 8:30 a.m., take their one-hour lunch, and leave at 4:30 p.m. Millennials stroll in at 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. and may stay until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. Boomers see this as sloppy, so there can be a lot of conflict in the workplace when you have both generations working side-by-side.”  

Employers are working hard to figure out what millennials want, says Dr. Ng. Organizations are changing their policies and practices to better suit the needs and wants of the upcoming workforce.

Although the differences between generational career patterns are like night and day, the work priorities that are on every generation’s list include interesting work, job security, benefits, achievements, supportive supervisors, salary, and having the necessary information to do one’s job.  

You can read the full report on the Generational Career Shift Project website.