That being said, attitude is an important part of the puzzle – at least on an individual basis. Simply being Gen X isn’t going to destory all hopes of success, just make it harder to acheive than for Boomers or Y’s.

Gen X does have a special job to do. Simply hold it all together as the Boomers effectively go socially supernova at the end of their lifespans. And believe me, no one wants us to fail at that.

I very much appreciate the well written comment to. Thank you.

As a loud-and-proud member of Gen Y, I tend to scoff at the cynicism coming off Generation X. My immediate reaction is that maybe if you hadn’t come into everything with such dismal attitudes, you’d have gotten further when it comes to work. But, thinking objectively, there are two key differences between the Generations X & Y, neither of which have a lot to do with attitude: demographics & technology.

Demographics is simple. You guys had to deal with the Boomers hovering over your head. They took all the jobs and were not going to let go for younger people. You never even had a chance in a lot of industries. Gen Y, on the other hand, is facing the equivalent of a job bonanza, as the boomers are all looking to retire within the next ten years.

Technology is trickier, but it has to do with employee who can bring something new to the table. When you get right down to it, there wasn’t a great deal of difference between the skills a boomer brought to the table when compared to a Gen X worker. Y, on the other hand, has the benefit of being on the cusp of all this business technology that, in a lot of cases, we understand (and can operate more effectively) than our older compatriots.

In any case, my point is this, I suppose: anyone who chalks the generational differences in the workplace up to simply attitude is missing the point.

Matt
yworking.com

I think that lumping in with Generation Y is a big problem. And it feels like all the market research is aimed directly at Generation Y and we’re tossed in there as an afterthought. Any time you hear a mainstream media news report about “Gen X and Y”, it’s actually about Gen Y.

I don’t think Gen X hates Gen Y. We’re annoyed by their constant chatter and what honestly seems like purposeless networking, but we’re also protective of them.

I think we’re hopeful for Gen Y. At least we know we need future generations. The Locusts plan to eat everything before we get there. Just look at reverse mortgages. The national debt. Social Security. They plan to leave us nothing.

Clean up on Aisle 5

We’re here to clean up after the Boomers… it’s not Gen Y’s fault for that, but we’re kinda jealous that they will reap more of the benefits from it than we will.