What’s Up ‘Boomer”?

 Recently, I was accused of being a Boomer due to my lack of knowledge about a current internet app. Of course, I had to correct my accusers and tell them that actually I am of the Silent Generation. Ugh! I’d rather be considered a ‘Boomer.” Off by only one year to put me into this (in my mind dynamic generation) I had to educate my critics. I thought our readers would enjoy checking out the different generations.

This information comes from the PEW Research Center. Thank you for all your hard work, PEW!

 Generation Names and Dates

• The Greatest Generation (GI Generation): Born 1901–1924.

• The Silent Generation: Born 1928–1945.

• Baby Boom Generation: Born 1946–1964.

• Generation X: Born 1965–1980.

• Millennial Generation or Generation Y: Born 1981–1996.

• Generation Z or iGen: Born 1997–2010.

 What years are Gen Alpha? Gen Alpha is the generation following Gen Z and currently includes all children born in or after 2010—the same year the iPad was born.

 “Silent Generation”; Sometimes called Traditionalists 1946 and earlier; Patient, slower paced talking generation; Nuclear Family; Loyalty!!; Financially Safe; Match their tone and pace of voice; be consistent, nothing flashy and new

 Baby Boomers (live to work) 1946-1964; Defines you by your profession; Competitive; Relationships and recommendations “No excuses” generation; Optimistic, hopeful; Wealthiest of any previous generation; Center of attention, get to know them on a personal level; Don’t come to them with excuses, only results; Solve their problems for them, dont create more

 Generation X  (work to live) Mid 60s – early 80s; Value work/life balance, saw their workaholic parents lose jobs; “Prove it” generation; Divorce rate rising, Women took on head of household; Self-reliant, trusts themselves more than others, Tracking number example; Skeptica, impatient; latchkey children, empty homes; Always be able to provide evidence to back your claim; Embrace hands-off management; Disdain for structured work hours; Technology adept; Enjoy humor, fun in the workplace

 Generation Y; Also called Millennials (equality generation) 1980s-mid 1990s; Helicopter parents, doctors office paperwork; Need to feel protected, provided for; Everyone gets a trophy; Self-confident, wants things to be fast paced and fun; Care more about work environment then they do about $$$; Allow them to use technology as much as possible; Prefer to work in teams and make team decissions; Give them frequent, immediate feedback; Expected to retire later inlife, because they entered workforce during hard times; Nothing wrong with someone answering the phone while serving them

 Generation Z (equality gneration) Mid 90s-mid 00s; More in common with baby boomers; Seeking longebity in the workplace; Innovative, grew up with the newest technology; No trophy for just showing up; Seeks recognition for accomplishments; Turns passion into $$$, think Ninja, backpack kid, makeup tutorials; 25% of the US population, 3 trillion is spending power by 2020; Spend betweeen 6 and 9 hours absorbing media; 1 in 6 marriages are interacial marriages; Hands off Parenting; View religious leaders as better role models than celebrities, athletes, political leaders; Expect everything to be online

 Lost Generation, a group of American writers who came of age during World War I and established their literary reputations in the 1920s. The term is also used more generally to refer to the post-World War I generation.

 The generation was “lost” in the sense that its inherited values were no longer relevant in the postwar world and because of its spiritual alienation from a United States that, basking under Pres. Warren G. Harding’s “back to normalcy” policy, seemed to its members to be hopelessly provincial, materialistic, and emotionally barren. The term embraces Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, E.E. Cummings, Archibald MacLeish, Hart Crane, and many other writers who made Paris the centre of their literary activities in the 1920s. They were never a literary school.

 Gertrude Stein is credited for the term Lost Generation, though Hemingway made it widely known. According to Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast (1964), she had heard it used by a garage owner in France, who dismissively referred to the younger generation as a “génération perdue.” In conversation with Hemingway, she turned that label on him and declared, “You are all a lost generation.” He used her remark as an epigraph to The Sun Also Rises (1926), a novel that captures the attitudes of a hard-drinking, fast-living set of disillusioned young expatriates in postwar Paris.

 In the 1930s, as these writers turned in different directions, their works lost the distinctive stamp of the postwar period. The last representative works of the era were Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night (1934) and Dos Passos’s The Big Money (1936).

 Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. The end of World War II and the economic prosperity that followed led to a boom in births; hence the name “baby boomers.”

 Here are a few characteristics of baby boomers:

• They are competitive and driven. When boomers reached working age, they faced higher competition for jobs because of the rise in population. This led to a generation of determined workers who take pride in their career.

• They value visibility into their work. This can make remote work environments challenging for them. In a recent GetApp survey, 48% of small business employees over the age of 56 said that their job satisfaction was higher when they were working in the office or worksite.

• They have had to adapt to technology. Unlike the generations that came after them, boomers were not born into technology. By the time commercial Internet access was being sold to customers in 1995, boomers were well into adulthood, with the youngest of them 31 years old and the oldest, 49.

• They are retiring later than previous generations. Improved life expectancy combined with baby boomers’ strong work ethic has led to a majority of them retiring later than previous generations. According to Gartner, 36% of the current workforce in the United States is made up of employees above 65 years of age, and this percentage is expected to increase to 45% by 2028. Japan, Germany and Italy are also facing a “silver tsunami,” with more than 20% of their populations above the age of 65.

 Generation X includes individuals born from 1965 to 1980. Though there are theories about the origins of the moniker “X,” many believe that the “X” refers to an unknown variable or to a desire not to be defined.

 Here are a few characteristics of Gen X’ers:

• They value autonomy. Often the children of two working parents, Gen Xers became independent and learned to solve problems on their own early on in life.

• They are well educated. The decline of manufacturing jobs at the time Gen Xers were leaving for college led to a generation that used education as a means for professional advancement. In a Gartner survey, 43% of Gen X respondents stated that they had graduated college (full content available to clients).

• They are comfortable with technology. Gen Xers grew up on MTV, video games, and cable news. Because of that, Gen Xers are very comfortable with technology like computers and smartphones, along with learning new software or programs.

• They prefer to create a clear separation between their work and personal lives. More so than their predecessors, Gen Xers value work-life balance. According to Business Wire, 41% of Gen Xers ranked time off as the number one perk.

 Millennials (also known as Generation Y) were born between 1981 and 1996. This group got the name “millennials” because the oldest of them were entering adulthood at the turn of a new millennium (2000).

Also known as digital natives, millennials are those born between 1982 and 1994 and technology is part of their everyday lives: all their activities are mediated by a screen.

 Here are a few characteristics of millennials:

• They prefer to collaborate. According to research from Workfront, 61% of international millennial workers say collaborating across many teams is critical to them staying at a job. As a generation, millennials would rather approach their work with consideration for different points of view than take direction from the top-down.

• They are motivated by meaningful work. Millennials prefer work that uses their creativity, leverages their talent, and makes an impact on others. We asked small business employees what they consider to be the most important factors when considering a job after the pandemic. Of those 26 to 35 years old, 39% say doing work they are passionate about is a top factor when considering job opportunities in the future.

• They are digital natives. Early versions of wi-fi were available starting in 1990, which means that millennials grew up with the internet and have watched technology like virtual reality and artificial intelligence grow from their early stages. This exposure has led to a generation with an intuitive knowledge of technology.

• They are amenable to feedback. The majority of millennials are currently in either an entry-level, intermediate, or mid-level position. As such, they are focused on their own professional development and place a lot of value on feedback and mentorship from their managers.

 Generation Z, also known as Gen Z or “zoomers,” were born between 1997 and 2015. The term “zoomer” is a portmanteau of “(Generation) Z” and “boomer.”

Here are a few characteristics of Gen Zers:

• They value social responsibility and diversity. According to Pew Research Center, 95% of 13 to 17 year olds have access to a smartphone. This has led to Gen Zers growing up with immediate access to the internet, news, and social media. In fact, social media has allowed them to express their thoughts on political and cultural issues before they were old enough to vote.

• They expect to work with modern technology. Gen Zers were born into a digital world, so it makes sense that they expect technology to be interwoven into their jobs. Our survey from this January backs up this idea; we asked small business employees aged 18 to 25 how many digital tools they use for different aspects of their work, and the majority claimed to use multiple tools for everything from personal organization, to storing files, and learning and development.

• They’re breaking away from institutional structures. More than previous generations, Gen Zers are inclined to take a non-traditional approach to their education, finances, and work. For example, Gen Zers are investing their money in cryptocurrency while boomers are more likely to choose traditional investments like bonds. From an educational perspective, Gen Zers are still going to college, but they are also using tutorial videos, online classes, and real-world experience to tailor their learning towards their unique, personal goals.

• They want stability AND flexibility. Events like the Great Recession and the student loan crisis have caused Gen Zers to focus on generating security through their choices. As much as they want a stable income and benefits, they also want work environments that offer flexibility in place and time. Our earlier mentioned survey found that pay and benefits and the option to work remotely are two of the most important factors for those 18 to 25 years old when considering a job post-pandemic.