Attitudes toward Work
Surveys have indicated that there is a possible decline in the work ethics values, which features as the main cause of conflicts in workplace among people of this generation. Generation X is termed as the Slacker Generation by the employers who say that the workers of this generation are less committed to work and do not like working extra time if desired by the management.
It is often believed that the workaholic Boomers have started the non-committal trend, however the perceived view is that the Traditionals are the hard workers and the Generation-Y people do not work as hard as their older peers do.
Simola & Sutton, one of the surveying agencies has conducted a comparative survey of workers between the age bracket of 27 and 40, versus those in the age bracket of 41 and 65, first among those living in 1974, and those living in 1999. The survey suggested the following
Number of workers who felt a sense of pride in doing their work has dropped drastically in both the age groups in 1999 survey, in comparison to the survey conducted during 1974.
Both groups of 1999 registered a drop in the work value among managers in comparison to 1974 groups. Managers had started treating workers like resources instead of contributing members of the organization.
Both the groups of 1999 did not agree to the concept that the manner in which one does his job should be taken as an indicator of his commitment towards his organization. A person’s value should solely be calculated on his output.
It is believed by the groups of 1999 that work should not be termed as the most important part of one's life and there is no relevance of hard work if a person’s personal life is not fulfilling.
It is further concluded that the young workers have developed a less idealized view of the work as compared to the younger ones after witnessing the lack of employer's loyalty towards its employees.
In contrast to the earlier view that the work ethics has come down of ages, another agency Tang & Tzeng has reported that the work ethics has declined as the age increased. In other words, they supported that, a younger employee has higher work ethics than older ones. Now it is a point for debate, whether to associate, the approach of an individual to a task along with the hard work.
Boomers are also characterized by their process-oriented approach, while on contrary the younger generations are result-oriented. They believe in high productivity and have the ability to meet deadlines, but they want flexibility. However, this point is not included in the current studies conducted by various researchers.
