Changing Demography and Your Future

The Joy of Managing Three Different Generations

The Shifting Landscape of the United States Labor Force

Just when you thought it was safe to manage with confidence shifting demography is about to throw you another curve ball. It is bad enough that you have been coping with two divergent generations in the workplace by exercising extraordinary diplomacy. Just keeping the Boomers (now 44 to 63) from killing the Generation Xers (now 24 to 43) and getting the work out has been no small feat. However you finally have it figured out after years of warfare just in time for Generation Y (now 23 and under) to age into the workforce with a vengeance and change everything! Wait, don’t fall on a sword. There is definitely change ahead but it is not all that bad. In fact it is very good!

Managers, let’s have a closer look.

There are some simple macro forces at play here that can help you understand the situation and formulate a new management dynamic. It has everything to do with supply and demand, in this case the number of jobs and the number of qualified people to fill those jobs. Your qualified people will precipitate from three separate and distinct generations whose psychographics (personality) is a product of their demographics (size and age). The Baby Boomers, a huge generation of nearly eighty million, vastly out number the positions available to them. This is even truer now than when they first entered the labor force about forty years ago. This fact makes them cautious and they are acutely aware that they are easy targets for layoffs in the event of a downsizing because of their high salaries and accrued benefits. As a manager put yourself in the Boomers position and manage by assuring them that their environment is stable. My advice to employers is to be very careful when down sizing not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Carefully consider the value of your older Boomer employees during a layoff. I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard stories about Boomers who had to be hired back as high paid consultants because their employers could not run things without them. Boomers do hold the keys to corporate culture. They know where all the bodies are buried and they know where all the light switches are. They are reluctant to pass the baton to the Generation Xers whose work ethic is very different then their own. Boomers, because of their size, had to fight for everything they earned. Sixty-nine million Xers on the other hand are outnumbered by the age typical jobs available to them and have developed a level of confidence not seen in the Boomers. If they get fired they will get hired again before they cash their severance check. Does this “being in demand” negatively affect Gen X’s performance and commitment? On a macro scale, the answer is, unfortunately, yes. Generation Xers by virtue of being in demand are often treated more favorably/differently in the workplace by their leaders and managers than their Boomer counter parts. I strongly advise my clients against this as it breeds resentment, is divisive and diminishes the quality of management. Before you know it errors are being overlooked and standards are being relaxed. This is not good.

So what about Generation Y? Where do they fit in labor picture? Let’s take a look at their numbers and their personality. There are already over ninety million of them under twenty-three years old. They are filling in the entry level labor footprint left behind by the diminutive Generation X. Do the math. There will be fierce competition for jobs within Generation Y and the best and the brightest will bubble to the top. Generation Y will look for their leaders to coach, train and facilitate in a work environment that brings out their best performance. How refreshing! Productivity should spike. Boomer workers will love these really young go-getters. Generation X will have motivated bright young people nipping at their heels and forcing them to perform or get out of the way. I have always maintained that people are people. Generation X was not served well by the absence of competition in the workplace. Now with Generation Y flooding the job market, Generation X has serious competition. Generation X may not like this but they will be better for it and so will the work place overall. Everybody wins when there is competition. Ask any athlete.

Generation Y could be the best thing to happen to United States labor in twenty years. In essence they will level the workforce playing field allowing managers to manage. In fact with this abundance of labor, the largest our Nation has ever seen, there is nothing stopping manufacturing from coming back onshore. Good news, what a concept!