Lately, I’ve been hearing and reading more and more nonsense about “generational differences.” Baby boomers who get annoyed by the younger generation, Gen Z, who shut off their laptops every day at 5 p.m. Gen X who make inappropriate jokes at work. Millennials who have no sense of humor and label everything as “off-kilter behavior.”
Let me sum it up: It’s all prejudice, folks. It’s not facts. Of course, there are a fair number of Boomers who have a hard time getting ahead. And of course there are Gen Zers who feel “insecure” at the slightest bit of criticism. But that doesn’t mean that all Boomers are slow, or that all Gen Zers are spoiled.
In fact, there aren’t such big differences between generations at all. Of course, I’ve also dabbled in it from time to time in my columns, and I hope you enjoy it—at least I did!—but science doesn’t find big differences in personality between different generations that apply to all members.
There are many more factors than “your generation” that can explain differences in behavior between people. The influence of friends, for example, the influence of parents, work experience, whether you have children, your level of education, where you were born, your philosophy of life, your pets, the number of ticks you wear, and your gender. Generations are made up of individuals—not age groups that you can stick labels on. So I have to disappoint people who think that all millennials are boring, oat milk drinkers.
No generational differences at all?! Of course. Eight to be exact. I’ve listed them for you. You can rub that in under the noses of grumbling baby boomers and grumbling Gen Zers next summer—or wait, I’ll do it again. I mean, of course, I’m giving you eight facts as ammunition for a more substantive discussion at work. I’ll see you again in September!
1Many different divisions into generations are used.
I chose, quite arbitrarily, these: Baby Boomers (1945-1960); Generation X (1961-1980); Millennials (1981-1995) and Generation Z (1996-2010).
Generation X is currently the largest group in the workforce. According to Peter Hein van Molijn of CBS, they make up 39% of all workers. That’s followed by millennials (30%), Gen Z (24%), and baby boomers (7%). So it’s surprising that we talk about baby boomers so often, because they’re now a significant minority.
2DrGeneration X had to struggle hard to get a job early in their careers.
Because there were more of them at the same time, and they were in crisis more often. Maybe that’s why they make so much noise. There are far fewer Generation Zs, in today’s tougher job market. As a result, they can enviously make more demands on employers than Generation X did in their early years.
3This is the first time that four generations are working in the labor market at the same time.
“In terms of age structure, the labour market has never been so diverse,” says van Molijn. That’s because people are living longer and working longer. “If you include part-time jobs for 14- and 15-year-olds, there are already five generations,” says Ton Welthagen, professor of labour market at Tilburg University. That’s probably why everyone is talking about generations at work these days. Because there are so many!
4The oldest Generation Zer, born in 1996, turns 28 this year.
This is for all you baby boomers who think 1980 was twenty years ago.
5It does not rub between generations.
There is no research to suggest that, says Ton Welthagen. Complaining about younger generations is timeless. The ancient Greeks complained about it, and so did Leo Beenhakker of course, with the “French potato generation”. The current generation of footballers are taking their own ranks to the European Championships, but you won’t hear me say they are cowards. I’ll be watching.
6Generation Z is significantly more likely to work part-time (less than 35 hours per week).
That’s 65 percent, compared to 39 percent of millennials and 43 percent of Gen Zers. People who criticize Gen Z for not working enough hours should say the same about older people. Or that they can’t even work a few more hours! A bunch of part-time princes and princesses.
7Young people report more ‘mental fatigue due to work’ than older people
In the group under 25 years old, 8.7% said they had suffered from it in 2014, and in 2023 this figure was already 17.1%. In the 25-35 age group this figure rose from 16.6% to 25.8%. For older age groups, this figure was around 16%. Let’s look for the causes and solutions to this problem, instead of saying that young people can no longer take the beating. We really need young people in the coming years with an aging population.
8Our problems with the baby boomers and Gen X will solve themselves.
In 14 years, everyone born before 1971 will retire, including me! – and the entire country will collapse. Fortunately, we still have a few great years together!