One-Third of Us Work for Someone Younger

If you work for someone who was born the year you graduated high school, you’re not alone: A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found that one-third of U.S. workers reported that their manager was younger than they are.
The survey of 3,800 people who work full time and 2,200 hiring managers found that 34 percent of those surveyed said they work for someone younger than themselves. In addition, 15 percent of those working for younger bosses are more than 10 years older than their manager.
The survey found that older workers didn’t much mind worker for younger folks, and vice versa.
Some other interesting findings: Younger workers tend to have a shorter work day than older workers.

  •  Workers aged 25-34 tend to work fewer than eight hours a day than do workers older than 55 (58 percent of older workers worked fewer than eight hours while 64 percent of the younger workers clocked out under eight hours).
  • Younger workers also tend to arrive after 8 a.m. but leave after 5 p.m.
  • Younger workers tend to work after leaving the worksite (69 percent do so, compared to 62 percent of those aged 55 and up).
  • Younger workers also believe it doesn’t matter as much when the work gets done, so long as it gets done (29 percent for younger workers who said this, compared to 20 percent of the older workers).

Older workers, who started working before e-mail, said they preferred face-to-face communication at work more than e-mail or texting. Most of the younger workers also preferred this method of communication: Sixty percent of those aged 55 or older prefer in-person communication, while 55 percent of those aged 25-35 preferred face-to-face interaction.
Younger workers preferred e-mail and texting more than their older counterparts, but hardly anyone liked talking on the phone as their primary mode of communication: 12 percent of older workers said the phone was their go-to form of communication while just 10 percent of younger workers preferred the phone.
All this on-the job interaction (whether in person, on the phone or via e-mail/texting) takes its toll: Sixty percent of both older and younger workers said they preferred eating alone at lunch rather than eating with coworkers.
What about you? Do you have an older boss, or is your supervisor as old as your youngest child? How do you feel about that? How do you get along?
If you’re looking for a new position in Anchorage, Tacoma, Seattle, Chicago, Portland, or Lake Oswego, send your resume to the Opti Staffing Group. We can place you in great temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire opportunities with your town’s top employers. Contact us today!

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