The Alienation of the Younger Workforce

They are the future of our nation's workforce. They are highly educated, creative, experienced with technology and are willing to take their organization to the next level. They are also a major contributor to this nation's high turnover rate. They are choosing to leave their jobs because the older workforce does not know how to manage them properly. They are the alienated employees of America, also known as Generation X.

Generation X, as they are commonly referred to, are those employees born between the years of 1961 to 1980 or 1965 to 1976. Generally, Generation X employees are those between the ages of 19-34; they are the twenty and thirty-somethings you work next to everyday.

Together, Generation X has experienced national events such as Watergate, the creation of MTV, the Challenger explosion, the falling of the Berlin Wall and the AIDS epidemic. They are the products of a single parent household or grew up as latchkey kids and have seen the careers and salaries of their parents (my father particularly) change considerably due to downsizing or the dissolution of privately owned companies.

The majority of the Generation Xers are college graduates; some with multiple, advanced degrees, engrained with a core foundation of critical thinking skills. They grew up with the information revolution and are not afraid to ask "why?" They are the reactive members of our society, the soul searchers who have an inner drive, are willing to go the extra distance and often have a love-hate relationship with authority.

These experiences and common characteristics have contributed to the way Generation Xers think about their work, their future and their expectations of an employer.