‘Just get on with it’ baby boomers versus ‘work/life balance’ millennials as UK goes back to the office
BRITAIN’S offices are seeing an increase in generational workplace friction, a report has found.
Almost half of office workers – 40 per cent – say there are in constant disagreement with either millennials or baby boomers over work practices following the pandemic.
Phrases like ‘work/life balance’, ‘just get the job done’, ‘I’ve got a long commute’ and ‘health and wellness’ are leading to conflicts which didn’t previously exist, researchers found.
A quarter of baby boomers – those aged 55 to 74 – are thought to be ‘out of touch’ by younger workers because of their ‘just get on with it at all costs’ approach to work.
But 42 per cent of Generation Z workers – those aged 18 to 24 – are so keen on health and wellness that it affects their work, according to 62 per cent of baby boomers.
Some 55 per cent of millennials – those aged 25 to 39 – are too keen on working from home and often play the ‘family or long commute card’ – according to 37 per cent of all those polled.
It appears that it is falling to Generation X – those aged 40 to 55 – to keep the peace, with them saying they place a high-value on being ‘self-sufficient and resourceful’.
The differences lead to clashes on email, over Zoom and face-toface according to researchers from recruitment specialists Robert Walters who polled 4,000 UK adults.
But the disputes do not stop there, with a third of workers aged under 30 unhappy with outdated technology and 27 per cent of millennials disliking emails as a form of communication.
A spokesman for the firm Robert Walters said: ‘It is clear there are some significantly different opinions between age groups that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Our 2022 data reveals the stark impact of the pandemic and how the long periods of remote working have fragmented workplace culture and the values which colleagues once upon a time may have shared.
‘As companies continue to return to the office, identifying the common sources of conflict and addressing them head on will be essential to creating and retaining cohesive teams of professionals from varied generations and diversity of opinions.’