Young employees through the eyes of the experienced: Older employees‘ views on younger generations in the labour market

In our research, we looked at how older employees (40+) perceive yo­unger colleagues, Generation Z (18–29 years old). Research shows that younger employees are more likely to be made redundant. As older people face more di­scrimination in the workplace, discrimination against young employees is often overlooked. We asked two research questions: what older employees think of yo­unger employees and whether there are any differences in the perceptions of yo­unger employees among older employees. The sample consisted of 174 participants aged between 40 and 65 years who have experience of working with younger employees. They completed an online questionnaire, which we designed based on the literature we read. We found that older employees mostly see young people in a positive light. They perceive them as confident, cooperative and ambitious, while rejecting stereotypes such as laziness and low quality of work. Although they perceive young people as less experienced, they recognise their willingness to learn. The study found no significant differences in perceptions according to the age group of older employees (40–50 and 51–65 years old), suggesting a uni­form perception of younger colleagues. The study contributes to the understanding of the challenges of the young generation in the labour market and encourages further research focusing on intergenerational relations and young people in the workplace.