When it comes to work ethics, baby boomers and millennials are on a different page. Boomers are more likely to embrace a workplace hierarchy, whereas millennials like to blur the lines.
Yet, is it just the chain of command that causes work friction between the millennials and boomers? Or could it be simply a case of inter-generational misunderstanding?
Here is what online users had to say about the issue.
Boomer Work Ethics
“They lived in a time where hard work was rewarded. My grandfather owned a house and then got into real estate without graduating from high school by working the register at a gas station. If people could do that now, they would work their behinds off. A decade of that, and you got a lifelong work ethic.”
Millennials Like to Streamline
“And within job tasks as well. Worked with a handful of ‘boomers’ who worked hard and all that stuff but refused to learn quicker and more modern ways of doing certain tasks that would have saved hours a day.”
Boomers Seem Reluctant to Modernize (When It Suits Them)
“I have a couple of older co-workers who complain about having to use computers to do a lot of the processing of our job because ‘they didn’t grow up with computers, and it just doesn’t make any sense’ to them. Yet, they also didn’t grow up with smartphones, the internet, or Facebook, and they have no problem screwing around on those things all day long.”
Boomers Know How to Work
“They are good at discipline.”
You Don’t Know How to Work!
“The problem is a lot of them (boomers) don’t think that anyone younger than them also has a strong work ethic.”
If It Wasn’t for the Boomers
“’They really are a big part of what makes the world keep ticking.’ Yeah, that’s the problem.”
Boomers Don’t Want to Move up the Corporate Ladder
“This is true, but many of them, like my dad, have been propagandized to shoot themselves in the foot. The guy worked all day every day his whole life but never fought for promotions or pay raises, basically the ‘if they didn’t just give it to me, I didn’t earn it’ mentality. A lot of people his age are like that. They don’t fight for better pay. They kill themselves daily because they believe in the company’s propaganda. Meanwhile, newer guys come in and get raises and promotions after only a couple of years because they know if you don’t fight for it, they aren’t giving it to you.
There’s nothing corporations like more than someone who comes in, works constantly, and doesn’t make waves. But at the same time, those employees are irreplaceable because they’re usually the only ones who know how to do everything. I’ve told him a 1000 times if they even thought you were looking for another job, they’d double your pay.”
Don’t Give Us Routine Work
“Mid-level corporate manager here. Although Boomers are more willing to work late or come in on the weekend, they’re much less productive. They are also more set in their ways and less receptive to changes and alternate opinions and will never accept menial tasks or any work they feel is beneath them. As a manager, I try to do the menial stuff when I have time, and when I have to delegate the crappy assignments, I try to rotate them. Boomers will always complain. Even if they are the last person in the rotation and everyone else has already done it.”
Boomers Work to Escape Life and Family
“I believe their hard work ethic stems from being absent in everything else. Why focus on my marriage when I can focus all my energy on my work? Why focus on my kids? I’ll work. Why focus on my health, physically, mentally, and emotionally? I’ll work. Work, work, work to fill a void while simultaneously avoiding expressing their true feelings and emotions. I’m not questioning their hard work ethic. I’m questioning the core of why they work. That’s where I have a problem with most of them. They can’t balance in life, and that trait is not worthy of respect…in my very strong opinion.”
How Accurate Are These Opinions of the Work Ethic Between Boomers and Millennials?
It can be easy to tar everyone in previous generations with the same brush. However, generalizing in this way can cause the arguments to flare up. Not all boomers are averse to technology. Nor are all millennials diligent at work.
There will always be individuals in each generation who are exceptions to the stereotype. When we appreciate this fact, wars can die down.
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