The Acceleration of Career Angst

Monday Morning Pep Talk

Anecdotally, I have observed people are worried about careers at an earlier age. When the idea of blogging about aging in the workforce first came up;  I consulted a variety of people  and one consideration was should age should I target-- 40+ or 50+. Initially, I wanted to align with AARP’s age of 50. However, feedback prevailed that earlier career management gave workers more options in their 50s and 60s. The 40-year-old age also aligned with protections offered by the Age Discrimination Act. Work, Careers & Jobs@40+ was born!

Now employees in their early-40s are having the types of  job issues that were once reserved for workers in their 60s. I wanted to focus on experienced workers in their 40s and older; then 37-year-olds started telling me about the problems they face with Millennials in their workplace trying to push them out. This week the I was stunned at an encounter with a very intense 14-year-old concerned about his “career.” Returning from a professional conference, I sat next to the high achiever and his parents in the airport boarding area. The young man struck up a conversation because my (free) laptop case is emblazoned with the name of the pharmaceutical company I once worked for and he may be interested in a career in drug research and discovery. Both parents were involved in healthcare and it was obvious they supported their son’s brilliance. Without my asking, they volunteered their son was assigned a gifted/talented track at a private school in third grade. He was allowed to take 3 days off school to attend the conference we  attended and had assignments related to his experience. The son was trying to decide if medical school had better ROI than medical research—at 14!

Younger Americans are down on themselves, the economy and the country in general according to a study by the Institute for College Access & Success. To them, the American Dream has become more elusive and unobtainable than at any time in the past 80 years. Tax firm H&R Block surveyed American young adults and teens, and what they're worrying about financially and eight of every 10 teenagers (ages 13 to 17) are worried about finding a good job as an adult.

It is not just a U.S. problem, the career angst felt by younger workers is global. Work and career distress by young adults in the United Kingdom is well-documented. Having angst and becoming anxious won’t help, mature workers from any country will confirm. According to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), nine million Americans took a full week off in July 1976, with July traditionally being the most popular month for summer vacations. In July 2014, just 7 million did, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. That’s especially startling considering the fact that 60 million more Americans are employed today than in 1976. So, this week plan some time away from work for 2015 and realize the younger employees you work with are stressed out and maybe even more than those of us that have been around awhile.

Horrible Bosses

People asked if I went to see the movie, Horrible Bosses, that came out a few weeks ago with Jennifer Aniston and others. The answer is, “No.” Nothing against Jen & friends, but I’ve survived horrible bosses, so I didn’t need to see the screen adaptation. I’m not being cranky or anything (okay, maybe I am) but anyone that’s worked a while has survived their share of supervisors that were far from super and managers from hot places with pitchforks.

Personally, I can report being happily managed by a guy who is supportive and encouraging. That’s not always been the case, but I have been more fortunate than most. In the sales part of my career, so much is about producing results; if the numbers are good, you are rarely disturbed. Many of my human resource roles had very tangible outcomes with deadlines and project milestones that allowed me a fair amount of autonomy. You probably see a theme, that freedom and not being micromanaged is very important to me. But, I’ve had some real doozies—and I won’t bore you with them here

Horrible Bosses, the movie, exceeded financial expectations grossing $28 million for the weekend after 4^th of July and it earned $10 million the Friday night it opened. This is an R-rated comedy about employees plotting to kill their bosses.  A lot of people must have had a really rough week at work. On a more serious note, bosses are changing a lot. With fewer dollars to invest in leadership development; employees end up with managers, bosses, supervisors and not real leaders. I hear about managers that would have never been promoted 20 years ago—who have made it because of their tech savvy.

There is an absence of training for leaders in companies to understand how to manage multiple generations in the workforce. Today there are potentially four generations working together at your workplace. The Traditionals—born before 1946. Baby Boomers born 1946-1964. Generation X-born 1965-1981. The Millennials (aka Gen Y) born after 1981. No wonder the directors, leaders, managers, supervisors, team leaders are bewildered. Each generation has a different view of being motivated, rewarded, recognized, and their work ethic, attitudes on work/life and perspective on life in general is shaded with the lens of their entire generation. With budget cuts, recessionary fears and new regulatory environments in many industries; I’m enjoying my role as an individual contributor. Leaders have a tougher role than ever. HR professionals (I am a lifetime member of the HR community) have a tough job designing employee benefit plans, compensation arrangements and employee relations strategies to attract and retain these disparate communities.

So, I won’t be visiting the local multiplex to see Horrible Bosses, I lived through that already. You can share your views on today's bosses (horrible or not) anonymously on this post by clicking the comments button and choosing "comment as" anonymous.