October 2020
Many large companies are viewing time away from the office as an opportunity to tackle dramatic workplace remodels, replacing their open offices with dynamic workplaces. While the open office hoped to accommodate the daily grind, the dynamic workplace is designed to be an optimal location for collaborative efforts – with employees working solo welcome to check-in from home. (The Wall Street Journal)
COVID-19 is now being spread primarily by people in their 20s and 30s, but it’s not due to Millennials and Gen Z being unnecessarily irresponsible like one might imagine. Rather, these risk-averse younger adults are simply more likely to be enrolled in school, employed in service jobs, or in dire financial straits, all higher-risk situations that make them more susceptible to catching the virus. (National Geographic)
Workplace diversity initiatives are undergoing a seismic shift as companies have been forced to grapple more seriously with issues related to gender and race. It's about time. Much of this push has come from younger generations of employees (and consumers) who are more inclusive, more diverse, and unhappy with increasingly outdated corporate diversity initiatives. (Bloomberg)
Gen X was the least likely to put their Coronavirus stimulus check towards savings (with only 10% doing so), compared to a quarter of Silent Generation recipients. While older Americans were more likely to save their stimulus, and younger ones were slightly more likely to use it to pay down debt, the “sandwich generation” was again caught in the middle – Gen X was most likely to have used it to pay for expenses. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Fully 62% of employers feel “extremely” responsible for their employees' financial wellbeing, compared to only 13% in 2013. The finding comes amid growing evidence that financial stress hinders worker productivity, and as a trend is likely spurred by Millennial employees who are more welcoming of a holistic approach to mentoring than previous generations. (Bank of America)
Despite getting a majority of their news from social media and digital news sites, Gen Z is less likely to believe or share fake news online. Researchers believe this is at least partially due to their understanding of social media algorithms and their greater exposure to online content, but this generation’s deference to experts and institutions may be another factor. (Axios)
Anne Helen Petersen, author of the new book Can’t Even, believes that much of Millennials’ “generational malaise” stems from Baby Boomers’ style of parenting. While hands-on, sometimes overbearing parenting is characteristic of this generation’s childhood, a good deal of Millennial stress and exhaustion can also be attributed to their coming of age during a period of societal crisis. (The Atlantic)
Research shows that employees tend to respond more negatively to feedback from female bosses compared to male bosses, but that this discrimination is less stark among younger workers and disappears among workers in their 20s. These findings are critical for female managers: Many who have adopted unconventional management strategies to cope in the past may be able to take a fresh approach with a new generation of hires. (IZA Institute of Labor Economics)