Attitudes of Gen Y Employees Give Cause for Concern - as published in HR Bullets

Generation Y employees have the most negative attitudes towards older employees, part-timers and flexible workers, according to research from Doyle Clayton.

Based on interviews with 1,000 employees across a range of organisations, Doyle Clayton’s Age before Beauty? report looks at age and gender discrimination, and attitudes of employees towards colleagues who work flexibly.

Its findings include that Gen Y are the most negative when it comes to discriminatory attitudes towards older workers and people who work flexibly (typically mothers with young families and older workers). This, says the firm, is particularly important as not only are Gen Y a large element of the workforce, they are the public face of many organisations and, as front line managers, involved in appraising, monitoring and recruiting staff.

Tina Wisener, a partner at Doyle Clayton, says: ‘It is surprising that Generation Y has the most negative attitude towards flexible working and are most likely to see older colleagues and those who work from home or part-time as less committed to their jobs. [These employees] are characterised as needing to be treated with kid gloves; on the other hand they are the very people whose attitudes make them likely to object to, and perhaps even thwart, initiatives to include working mums and older workers - the people who most appreciate being able to work flexibly. Generation Y are in supervisory and junior management roles, and are frequently involved in recruitment and appraisals. People in their 50s and 60s applying for a job have a lower chance of a fair hearing when interviewed or appraised by Generation Y’.

This article, featuring comment from Tina Wisner, was originally published in HR Bullets at http://www.hrbullets.co.uk/hr-news/attitudes-of-gen-y-employees-give-cause-for-concern.html