Gen-Y making Gen-X feel insecure at work

Melbourne, Apr 21 : There's an inundation of Generation Y in the workforce, and this boom in working youngsters has made Generation X Aussie employees insecure, so much so, that a survey has found almost 70 percent of them are unhappy with their work conditions, says a report.

Conducted by, organisational culture firm Human Synergistics, the study revealed that Generation X (born from around 1965 to 1982, according to Wikipedia) felt less valued than their younger Generation Y and baby boomer counterparts.

The findings of this survey of 235,884 workers across 1500 organisations on their satisfaction in the workplace, highlighted the fact that 30 something people, who were moving up to middle-management positions, did not feel challenged and appreciated by their employers anymore.

Not only this, 62 percent of them confessed that they did not share fulfilling relationships with co-workers, and 69 per cent asserted that they feel detached from organisational culture.

Quentin Jones, Australian director of Human Synergistics, owed these results to the general preoccupation prevailing in organisations that ask for Generation Y employees.

"When Gen-Xers entered the workforce they were the focus for employers - the new recruits. Now that they have demonstrated their loyalty and are in the realm of management, they are no longer being challenged or appreciated in the same way, leaving them feeling tired and dejected,'' News.com.au quoted him, as saying.

The report underlined a much higher level of personal growth and development in baby baby boomers and Generation Ys, who claimed to have more work-related accomplishments than Generation X workers. Besides, they were also more satisfied in their personal lives than their older counterparts.

"Family life, leisure time, health and personal growth were all areas Gen-X reported feeling dissatisfied. This trend should be of serious concern to Australian employers, as not only are Gen-X being affected by current conditions but also their families and friends,'' said Mr Jones.

Mirela Lane, director of human resources for hotel Hilton Sydney, said that while Generation Y employees had career advancement as their foremost priority, Generation X looked for both stability and the chance to rise through the ranks.

She added that if the Generation Xs are willing, the company had developed a range of avenues to give employees of all ages the opportunity to advance and develop their career.

"If a middle manager is ready to go to the next step and we don't have that in Sydney, they are able to apply for a job via HR Alerts (an internal intranet which shows job vacancies for all Hilton hotels). We've had lots of people - for example, middle managers - that don't necessarily want to move up, but move across. That might mean moving to a different country in a similar position or level they were at, so we provide that opportunity as well,'' she said.

According to Jones, one of the best resorts for companies to drive employee motivations was to tap into their sense of purpose.

"All generations have shown they respond to organisations who speak to their aspiration of 'making a difference in the world'. When individuals align their personal values and goals with those of the organisation, this produces a deeper and more sustainable motivation - a sense of common purpose,'' he said.

ANI