This article originally appeared on the Harvard Business Review website. I post it here because of the importance of the topic and the relevance to a workshop we developed at LEVER/edge called “Leading Multi-Generational Teams” that addresses how each generation was shaped, what motivates each generation and specifically how to communicate and manage across the generations.
Does retirement look a little further off now than it did just a few years ago? If you are over 62, odds are you’re putting off retirement at least two to three years, and you may even be planning on working beyond 70. If you’re over 50, and lost 40% or more of your nest egg, you are about twice as likely to delay retirement as those who lost less. According to the World Health Organization, men and women who are healthy at 60 will, on average, be physically capable of working until they are 74 and 77, respectively. Combine these statistics and the newest employees entering the workforce might not be joining their parents or grandparents, they might be joining their great-grandparents.
This translates into a social phenomenon not yet witnessed: five generations are about to be working side by side. They include:
- Traditionalists, born prior to 1946
- Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964
- Gen X, born between 1965 and 1976 M
- illennials, born between 1977 and 1997
- Gen 2020, born after 1997
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