Last gasp
/ 01 July 2009
The generation game
One likes Radio 2 while the other’s all about the iPod – don’t be surprised if things get nasty in the battle between youth and experience, says Stewart Gowans
Work certainly defines our identity, and a lack of work – especially over a long period of time – can often lead to its disintegration. I’ve only ever signed on once – they were very kind, but when they asked me what sort of work I was looking for, I replied, ‘independently wealthy man of mystery’. Strangely, there were no such vacancies, so they put me down as ‘not highly motivated’.
It must be hard to get off Job Seekers Allowance when there are no suitable jobs around. Just think of the prospects if you’re a French chanteuse looking for work in Cumbria, or a shepherd looking for work in central London. Or even an ex MP looking for an honest job. It can’t be easy.
It’s personal
One of the greatest truths in life is that ‘people buy people’ and, given candidates of identical qualifications and experience, employers are always going to hire the ones they like most. All things being equal, our personal brand, our personality, gets us jobs and wins us promotion. This, of course, explains much about my ‘career’, but I can’t change that now. I wouldn’t say my colleagues disliked me, but I once overhead two of them speaking. One said, ‘I’ve taken an instant dislike to Stewart Gowans’. The other replied, ’Well, why waste time?’ I could see their point.
Psychologists always reckon that better looking people have more successful careers, and the latest research has just revealed that the taller you are, the more money you earn. But can that really be true?
Just take a look at the photo of the average board in any annual report – mostly, it’s balding blokes in suits. And let’s not forget S’ralun (have you noticed that all the candidates on The Apprentice address him that way, merging his title and first name into one word?) Fighting for their lives in the boardroom, the obnoxious attention seekers all hopelessly bleat, ‘I’ve got the qualities you need, S’ralun’. Anyway, my point is that the grizzled S’ralun is hardly Orlando Bloom, yet it doesn’t seem to have hampered his success.
There’s a growing trend to define your identity by your generation – whether that’s a baby boomer, Gen X-er or Generation Y. There’s a lot of debate about what exactly constitutes Generation Y, but a simple way to think about it is that they are the generation currently in their 20s – people who think the 1980s are ‘so retro’, who know who the Fleet Foxes are and who can’t remember a time before lattes.
Mark my words, there’s going to be trouble over Gen Y, who are unlike every preceding generation. All the commentators agree that they are many things: questioning, bright, high performing, high maintenance, not afraid to challenge the status quo, keen on self fulfilment and independence. They even embrace change. It makes you sick.
Above all, they’re technologically savvy – email, texting, blogging and social networking are all second nature to them. In some senses they are the digital generation, whereas anyone over 40 is definitely analogue, or at best FM. It’s clear that Gen Y is going to be much more demanding than their older colleagues, and I’m not sure that most employers can handle it.
One of the most interesting consequences of Gen Y coming into the workforce is intergenerational conflict – Gen Y versus Gen Radio 2. According to one report, more than 60% of employers are experiencing tension between employees from different generations. Another survey found more than 70% of older employees are dismissive of younger workers’ abilities, and that younger employees think their older colleagues are ‘problematic’.
Office offensive
I can picture the scene. Open warfare could break out between Gen Y and Gen Radio 2, with the oldies throwing used teabags and stale digestive biscuits over the partitions at the massed ranks of Gen Y, who retaliate by throwing uneaten pizza crusts and iPods back at the oldies. It gets heated, and while Gen Radio 2 reach for their landlines to phone for help, Gen Y start tweeting for support.
Another potential conflict is, bizarrely, over dress codes. I thought we’d all got over that one, with most organisations accepting casual dress, but Gen Y’s favoured attire is, apparently, flip flops, tattoos and capri pants. This, I think, stretches most corporate dress down days to the limit. I can’t see S’ralun wearing flip flops.
Me? I’ve just had a tweet from my tailor that my new Capri pants are ready. I’m Generation XXL, but that’s another story.