Knowledge, respect, teamwork – this is how the workplace of the future is built

Workplace as a community space between generations

Workplaces are no longer just places where tasks are performed, but also communities where people of different ages, backgrounds, and ways of thinking meet.

“It is typical of almost every workplace that Baby Boomers, as well as members of Generation X, Y and Z, work together – often on the same project, in the same team. This was confirmed by our latest research: more than a third of the employees surveyed work together with colleagues from other generations on an ongoing basis, nearly half of them often, while around 16 percent work together at least occasionally”

– highlights Magdolna Mihályi, CEO of Jobtain HR Service Provider. She adds that the aim of the research was to map out how employees and employers experience intergenerational cooperation and the challenges arising from it.

Four generations, countless perspectives

Around 80 percent of the companies surveyed consider it important to have multiple age groups represented in the workplace – even if every company has experienced challenges and conflicts arising from generational differences. Around 13 percent of employees find it particularly difficult to work with colleagues from different generations, but for the majority this is not a problem. 80 percent of employers reported that they have experienced conflict due to generational differences, despite this, they mostly consider cooperation between employees of different ages to be effective and consider strengthening teamwork to be of paramount importance. Companies also agree that different generations have different expectations of the work environment. More than half of companies have experienced communication difficulties arising from age-related characteristics, and the majority of employees believe that different generations can only be effectively addressed through different communication channels.