Young people born after the early 1980s, often referred to by sociologists as Generation-Y, and entering the labour market look at their career prospects quite differently from their parents who belong to the baby boomers or silver generation. As the post-war generation slowly enters into retirement, it is being followed by the generation-X who has to work for longer because of pensions’ reform changes introduced by cash-strapped governments.

One would think that, with current youth unemployment levels in Western countries being so high, any young person looking for a job and finding one would feel particularly grateful. But human nature is such that, after a few years, the novelty of actually earning a living through work soon wears off.

Generation-Y employees are not immune to the same maladies that previous generations suffered from at the workplace. As Michael Skapinker wrote recently in the Financial Times, the 30-somethings of today suffer from lack of job satisfaction quite early in their careers. “It may be the promotion that went to someone surely less deserving. It may be a news profile of a schoolmate who is a rising star. Or it may be boredom, exhaustion and a lurking question on walking into the office in the morning and saying: ‘Is this all there is?’”

With egalitarian attitudes so hardwired in the psyche of many of us, some feel frustrated as those who in the eyes of their employers are better qualified take on the more lucrative jobs blocking the career prospects of the rest of the workforce. Industrial psychologists are arguing that mid-career crises are setting in quite early in the lives of Generation-Y youngsters. It seems that this malady does not affect only high ranking white collar workers, who are normally perceived to be more highly educated and upwardly mobile, but also blue collar workers.

The good news is that mid-career crises do not last forever. As workers grow older they settle down in the routine of the workplace and their disaffection to work slowly melts down. They become more accepting of who they are and accept their limitations while they focus on what they have achieved.

Rather than promoting early retirement, we should be looking at ways of building harmonious synergies between the different generations

But for employers a disgruntled younger workforce is not good news at all. This is where organisational change needs to be provoked in a sensible way. As society changes, employers need to adapt to these changes. Older workers may have to work for longer because of the pensions’ crisis, while younger workers find an almost insurmountable obstacle to their career progression. Telling Generation-Y young people to be patient is guaranteed to make them even more bitter.

While better employees will leave to find opportunities with other businesses that offer better career prospects or set up their own businesses, the majority of younger people will want more pragmatic solutions for their workers. This is where employers need to be more creative.

One option being followed by more progressive employers is to entice their older workers to work on a part-time basis. Many will gladly accept such an offer as the financial burdens of bringing up a family become lighter: no more mortgage payments, no more school fess, no more children to support and more dreams of relaxation to fulfil. Of course, not everyone will agree to such a gentle easing out of the workplace, but many will want to discover life after decades of full time employment.

Generation-Y youngsters are luckily less status conscious than previous generations. But they love a challenge and are prepared to work hard if they are empowered by their employers to assume more responsibility. More pay for added responsibilities will always be an issue but from experience I can vouch that this younger generation derive more job satisfaction from being entrusted to carry out a task and proving that they can be trusted with more onerous task in future.

Other employers find it useful to engage their older workers in mentoring tasks – helping the younger guys with advice without being too patronising. Setting up intergenerational teams can create the kind of bonding that is so badly needed in the workplace between workers of different ages. This can help older workers overcome the boredom that will inevitably set in as one realises that retirement is not so far away, while younger workers will no longer consider older workers as a stumbling block to their career advancement.

Rather than promoting early retirement, we should be looking at ways of building harmonious synergies between the different generations.

johncassarwhite@yahoo.com

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