The Generational Blame Game is in full swing, with stereotypes, memes, and combative headlines being hurled from all sides. Our newest trend report explores what Gen Z and Millennials really feel about older generations…
The generational strife between Gen Z, Millennials, and older generations is no secret. Headlines like “Millennials Are Too Lazy To Eat Cereal” and “Millennials Want Money, But Not Hard Work” are often written by Xers or Baby Boomers—many of whom have also helped to spread stereotypes about younger generations (snowflakes, etc.) It’s no wonder tensions are high. Many—65%, in fact—of Millennials and Gen Z think that the way they’re treated by other generations is unfair. But how far does the generational divide go?
We dug into what Gen Z and Millennials really feel about older generations (and each other) in our most recent trend report, Generational Blame Game. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many Millennials are not thrilled with the generations that came before them. Almost six in ten Millennials (and five in ten Gen Z) believe that Baby Boomers have made the world worse for their generation—a statistic made clear by the explosion of “OK Boomer” memes (and hoodies and stickers and videos). That’s far more than those who believe that Xers have made the world worse for their generation – so it’s clear who the generational strife is mostly aimed at.
YPulse explored what these generational tensions mean in the workplace as well as outside of it. We found that young employees believe that they get along better with coworkers their age and that they value the idea of balancing hard work with time to rest and recover—more so than other generations. This makes a lot of sense for a generational cohort often referred to as the Burnout Generation. In fact, over half of employed 19-37-year-olds believe that they work harder than their older coworkers.
However, all hope is not lost. We found that a majority (58%) of both Millennials and Gen Z disagree that people from different generations will never be able to understand each other, and about two thirds of 13-37-year-olds believe that they do understand older generations.
Download the full Generational Blame Game report to learn more, and check out our infographic spotlight on the trend here:
