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It's Not Your Father's Workplace
BOSTON -- Younger workers (Gen-Y and Gen-X) are more likely to be "family-centric" or "dual-centric" -- with equal priorities on both career and family -- and less "work-centric," or putting higher priority on their jobs than family, compared to members of the Boomer generation, a recent study commissioned by the American Business Collaboration found. Among college-educated men of Gen-Y, Gen-X and Boomer ages in 1992 and 2002, 68% wanted to move into jobs with more responsibility in 1992 versus only 52% in 2002. Among college-educated women of these ages in 1992 and 2002, 57% wanted to move into jobs with more responsibility in 1992 versus only 36% in 2002, the study found."There has been a great deal of speculation about generational and gender differences in the work force but, until now, many of these assertions have been based on intuition or limited data. The American Business Collaboration commissioned this study in order to put those assumptions to a rigorous test," commented Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute, which conducted the study. "What we found was striking-specifically because it uncovers a marked shift in the attitudes of both women and men who are redefining their priorities in life and in work."Children of Gen-X parents receive more attention than children did in 1977, with Gen-X fathers spending over an hour more per day with their children than Boomer fathers, the study found. Both women and men have become more conscious of the personal tradeoffs they have to make to advance in their careers and that an increasing number are choosing to stay at the same levels, rather than continue moving up the career ladder."What we've found is that it's not your father's workplace any more," said Stan Smith, national director, Next Generation Initiatives, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. "A very compelling trend among the younger generations is that they favor family time over the rewards that usually accompany increased job responsibility. This poses a new challenge to managers responsible for growth within their companies since there is clearly a gap between how we currently work and what the next generation of employees want."Though their focus may have shifted, the study refutes an often-held assumption that Gen-Y and Gen-X employees are "slackers". In fact, the study found that Gen-Y and Gen-X employees in 2002 worked just as hard as their age counterparts did in 1977. Statistically, there is no significant difference between Gen-Y in 2002 and their age counterparts in 1977 with respect to the total paid and unpaid hours worked per week (38.5 hours on average), although an extraordinary 80% of college-educated employees would like to work fewer paid and unpaid hours than they currently do.Interestingly, when Gen-X employees in 2002 were compared with their age counterparts in 1977, the study found that in 2002 Gen-X employees actually worked more paid and unpaid hours per week (45.6 hours on average) than employees of comparable ages in 1977 (42.9 paid and unpaid hours per week on average), the study found."With Baby Boom and Gen-X employees making up the majority of our work force, it is important for us as an employer to understand the priorities and issues these groups bring to the workplace, both in general and as individuals," said Betty Purkey, Manager of Work/Life Strategies, Texas Instruments. "This information can help us create a workplace that is more effective in attracting and retaining top talent both now and in the future."The American Business Collaboration is a consortium of eight major corporations that includes Abbott Laboratories, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, Exxon Mobil Corp., General Electric, IBM Corp., Johnson & Johnson, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Texas Instruments."