Conventional wisdom says that when five different generations are working side-by-side (the first time that has ever happened in the U.S.), generational differences will impact the workplace. Especially since workplace trends have tried to cater to the largest portion of the job market as of 2016 – millennials.
However, there is evidence that despite the trends, there are actually more similarities than differences between all generations. A multi-generational, multi-country study from six different industries showed that the three largest generations in the workforce today – Millennials, Boomers, and GenXers – share the same attitudes toward work values.
Studies show a trend that has a much more predictable arch – youth is wasted on the young and wisdom comes from experience. KPMG found that there was, at best, a five degree difference on 70% of valued traits between millennials and their generational counterparts. In 2015, CNBC found that all generations preferred the same things from their employers: diversity, a good reputation, work/life balance, eco-friendly practices, ethical moorings, and a healthy profit margin with future growth.
Nonetheless there are differences, and some of the workplace changes are trending around those small but important differences. Five of these generation-related workplace changes are:
#1: Business and Physical Space Branding to Attract Workers
Just like retailers and those in multifamily, the office sector is using the building as part of the attraction to recruit workers. As the majority of workers now review their potential employers online before applying, branding has become a buzzword in commercial real estate; even in sectors that never used to worry so much aboutmarketing and advertising through the physical space. Now, the building itself is the attraction for workers.
#2: Office Market that Caters to Unique and Engaging Workspaces
Unlike previous generations, millennials and GenXers are by-and-large working non-traditional work schedules, and sometimes not working in an office at all. This requires effort on the part of office developers to lure workers to the office. Using unique and engaging workspaces, developers are mixing in the right perks, amenities, and values-driven rewards to make the building more attractive to younger workers.
#3: GenX-Driven Experiments and Innovations in Workspace Trends
Boomers would have never thought to ask for some of the worker-centric innovations and experiments trending in today’s office. Though millennials are the ones demanding it, it is GenXers are the ones in charge of these offices and aremore willing than their older counterparts to experiment with new workspace designs. On-site work cafes, lounge areas, mobile desks, and free gourmet lunches are all part of the many new experiments with amenities for the current and future workforce being driven by GenX.
#4: Moving HQs to Where the Talent Is – the City
For the last few generations, jobs have chased workers out to the suburbs and away from the city. Now that the reversal has been in full swing for several years, companies that have lived in the suburbs for decades are moving their headquarters to the city where the talent is in order to better attract young, highly educated workers.
#5: Boomers and GenZ Affecting Labor Shortages and Shrinking Office Space
Labor shortages due to immigration strife in the U.S. coupled with Boomers hanging on to jobs longer and the wave of them leaving the workforce is shrinking the traditional office. The rise of remote and shared work, coupled with the growing number of GenZ workers now looking for work in a tightening labor market will continue to shrink office space in the near and long term.
The Long Term Effect of Generations on the Office Sector
A tectonic shift has occurred in the office sector over recent years. With the changes of the American workforce plus advanced technology, large offices full of cubicles and stationary desks are no longer needed. Instead, what will matter to recruits going forward will be a company’s brand, the attractiveness (not just aesthetically but functionally and emotionally) of the office space, and a willingness to experiment with new and innovative work styles and designs.
Talented job seekers who will increasingly be highly educated and in high demand in the up-and-coming generations want to work for a company that stands for something good. They want to excel in their profession and grow just like generations before them, as well as be engaged in work that they find rewarding and fulfilling. Regardless of generation, these are winning strategies for any business now and into the future.
