We hosted a panel with employees of all ages to learn how different generations think about things like company culture, tenure, and tech skills.
Kara Chin
In December, the Insider Inc. People & Culture team hosted a panel focused on the multigenerational workplace as part of its Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) series. We learned more about how age and generational differences impact how employees think about company culture, career growth, office environment, and more. We also learned that there’s a lot that different generations have in common.
Panelists, from left to right: Helen Seligman, Andre Scheluchin, Kara Chin, Lauren Thompson, Trisha Bonthu, Ali Fetzer.
We structured the panel to include a range of perspectives and pulled panelists from various generational cohorts, including Generation Z, millennial, Generation X, and baby boomer. For context, the Pew Research Center has defined the generations as follows:
Gen Z: Born between 1997-2012
Millennial: Born between 1981-1996
Gen X: Born between 1965-1980
Baby boomer: Born between 1946-1964
And our panelists were (as pictured above from right to left):
Helen Seligman, sales marketing manager (baby boomer)
Andre Scheluchin, director of talent (Gen X)
Kara Chin, video producer (millennial)
Lauren Thompson, desktop support analyst (millennial)
Trisha Bonthu, video writing fellow for travel (Gen Z)
Moderator: Ali Fetzer, talent manager
The panel was a wide-ranging conversation on a number of workplace influences, factors, and circumstances that have impacted their careers and brought them to where they are now.
There’s a greater focus on office culture and benefits.
Our panelists from older generations explained how they’ve seen a shift in focus toward company culture — both by employers and employees — over the years. Our millennial and Gen Z panelists confirmed this by emphasizing what they look for in a company when job searching. In addition to a strong benefits package, the younger panelists explained they are more interested in working for companies that offer the ability to work from home, unlimited time off, more work-sponsored events, and a variety of snacks. One differing opinion came from a panelist who graduated during a recession. Their goal when job hunting was straightforward — get a job, any job — with less of a focus on perks and benefits.
Tenure at a job differs among generations.
Our baby boomer and Gen X panelists shared that people used to stay at their jobs for significantly longer periods of time than they do now. Research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that median tenure among older employees is, in fact, higher than that of younger employees. According to the Bureau, in January 2018, the median tenure of older workers (ages 55-64) was 10 years, compared to less than three years for younger workers (ages 25-34).
Advancing technology has impacted the workforce.
All of our panelists emphasized how these changes have affected their lives and their jobs. Education consultant Marc Prensky wrote about the differences between those born after 1980, a group he termed "digital natives," and those born before 1980, or "digital immigrants" who’ve had to adapt to new technology.
These differences became clear during the panel when Gen X and baby boomer panelists shared how they’ve witnessed a greater focus on technology-based skills in the workforce. And millennial and Gen Z panelists spoke about challenges with unplugging — how they’re unable to separate themselves from work at times since they can always be reached through email and Slack.
It's important to talk about our generations (even if we hate mentioning it) and what differences might be there. However, we also learned that generational differences aren't actually always reflective of differences in the people at all; many of them are simply reflective of differences in time and environment. As the times change, so do our environments, technologies, and workplaces. We can't wait to see what changes are ushered in by future generations, and how they’ll impact people's lives.
For more on our Diversity and Inclusion efforts, visit our Careers page.