Posted on 05/07/2019 8:40:06 AM PDT by fireman15
We’re in the midst of two tectonic demographic shifts in the workplace that, at first glance, seem to be at odds with each other. We’re living longer and working longer–either by choice or necessity (it’s hard to finance a 30-year retirement with a 40-year career). The fastest-growing age demographic of employees in the workplace is 65 and older, which has experienced a 35% jump in numbers over the past half-decade. In fact, nearly half of the age-demographic increase in the number of people participating in the U.S. labor force between 2016 and 2026 is attributable to those 60 and older. So, many of us are surprised today to find ourselves at midlife and mid-career.
At the same time, there’s such a growing reliance on DQ (digital intelligence) that companies are desperate to hire and promote digital natives. Nearly 40% of Americans now report to a younger boss, and this will become the majority by 2025. Seven of the 10 most valuable companies in the world today are tech companies. The average employee age at giants like Facebook, Apple, and Google isn’t quite 30. And we’re seeing startup entrepreneurs in their early 20s become global disruption billionaires before they turn 30. Sixty may be the new 40 physically, but when it comes to power in the modern workplace, 30 is the new 50.
(Excerpt) Read more at fastcompany.com ...
She never comes in. Thinks things take about 10X as long as they do--in other words, she sucks pretty bad. (She's actually quite bright just a very strange work ethic).
It works for me though. I can operate on one cylinder and look like a rock star.
As a 65yo who reports to younger people in all the places I work, it is a bit like being the CPO reporting to the ensign; a smart ensign knows to make use of the experience, a non-smart ensign is just another Son of Brazil to learn how to work around.
I don’t care how old my supervisor is as long as they are competent.
I have plenty of 28 to 35 year olds in my workplace. 30 most definitely is NOT the new 50 in terms of workplace power and authority. At least in my industry. There are some 50 year olds who are duds and aren't going anywhere. But none of the 30 year olds have the skill and knowledge to be in charge. Many are smart and driven, but they just aren't there yet. Maybe this is a tech industry thing.
Somebody had to do the work for them and make them look good.
Maybe this is a tech industry thing. It is not just a tech industry thing. My wife does a lot of volunteer work. At the museums she works for they put these kids in charge of the older volunteers and 90% of them are completely incompetent.
They pop out of college thinking they can run your company at 23.
They actually acquire that power at 30.
At which time they are still emotionally arrested at age 13.
This can’t end well.
I don't know that anyone cares about this if their supervisor is competent. What I have a problem with is when someone who is incompetent gets their position because they have a worthless degree and then is put in charge of people who know their jobs and then mucks everything up. And this happens a lot these days.
When tech skills are prized more than people skills you know we’re screwed.
Let’s pin a rose on your ass then.
Thanks for making my day.
I don’t care how old my supervisor is as long as they are competent.
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I agree to a point, my first Assistant Manager was 27, male, single and thought that me at 75 should be able to stand for 8 hours and no problem...
My second Assistant Manager can’t seem to understand what ‘part time’ and ‘full time’ mean and when I said I would prefer ‘part time’ she put me on ‘full time’ because she needed someone smart enough to take care of customers that haven’t the slightest idea how to run a ‘scan and go’ check out machine, the young employees don’t know either...
There are good points, you can look ‘busy’ and not do anything and your an all star!!!
“mil about smartly”
In my company (multinational megacorp), it takes 10 years for someone to just fully understand how the different parts of the company work together. It takes at least 5 years to see several mega projects through their entire life cycles, just to build experience from initiation to decommission.
We do promote mid-career people into leadership positions, but those are growth positions with lots of mentoring and room for failure, not "the new 50."
-PJ
I retired with 33 years in at 58.
No problems so far.
I’ve had a few younger supervisors. I’m fortunate that all have valued my experience, they usually take a hands off approach and let me run with my own ideas. I make them look good.
I concur with your assessment. I have managers who could be my kids and I deal with it in the same way.
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