Wallingford Business Insurance: Defining the Generations

Two significant changes have altered the modern workforce. People are living longer. The average life expectancy of a U.S. citizen is 78.8 years. As a result, more older adults are working longer, pushing past the traditional retirement age of 65 years. And as the youngest generation of college graduates enter the work force, it created a new work dynamic that was previously unheard of. So what exactly are the three generations? What distinguishes them from each other?

Right now Baby Boomers, Generation X and millennials make up the majority of the workforce. The Baby Boomers are the oldest generation in the workforce, born following World War II roughly between 1946-1964. In general they are associated with a rejection of traditional values. In the workplace, professional accomplishments are extremely important to Baby Boomers. They can be known as workaholics and thrive on competition, personal fulfillment, quality and involvement. Baby Boomers prefer to communicate with one-on-one meetings.

Generation X is the generation born after the post-WWII baby boom between 1965-1980. Many Gen X-ers grew up in a two-income family and tend to seek more of a work-life balance. Gen X is known for being entrepreneurial and enjoying more freedom and autonomy in the workplace. They would rather communicate through email rather than meetings.

Millennials are the newest generation, born between 1981-1999. They grew up multi-tasking and can have a short attention span. They have high expectations of the workplace and are confident in their abilities. They are also extremely comfortable with technology and prefer to use it to communicate. They also are more likely to favor flexible working arrangements such as telecommuting.

Each generation brings a set of different social and cultural differences. While it is a great opportunity for collaborative innovation it can also simultaneously bring up conflict. Managing inter-generational relationships in your Wallingford business will become increasingly important over the next few years.

At Sinclair Risk & Financial Management, we’ll develop creative, unique solutions that are in step with an ever-changing and challenging economic landscape that affect your Wallingford business, insurance and risk management strategy, and profitability. Give us a call at 203.265.0996 for more information on our New Haven County Business Insurance programs.