Intergenerational Cooperation and Stereotypes in Relation to Age in the Working Environment

Abstract

The problem of intergenerational cooperation in the workplace is becoming increasingly important, especially because of the ageing workforce. The article presents the issue of companies facing the challenge of changing a work environment that has to be tailored to the characteristics of each individual generation in the workplace. Generational differences and similarities are explained in more detail, especially in relation to work, followed by a consideration of stereotypes and age discrimination in the work environment. The article illustrates the problem of stereotypes related to age at a selected company. In focus groups we found several positive as well as negative stereotypes regarding age in the workplace, which we use in a research questionnaire especially designed for this study. The questionnaire was completed by 394 employees, and the results used to provide answers to the following research questions: Are there stereotypes within the company about the characteristics of different generations? And do different generations have different foundations regarding the company’s expected attitudes towards their work? The results show that in the focal company there are mostly positive stereotypes regarding age. We also found out that there are no significant differences between the different generations regarding the company’s expected attitudes towards their work. The respondents of all ages expected these attitudes to be based on similar foundations.