We have always thought that the world is outside of us, but it is inside us. We perceive the external world through our inner world. Practically, we react to our experience, not to reality itself. The collective historical destiny and the environment in which we grow up, the accepted values, thought patterns and patterns of behavior, form our generational "angle of view". The problems between "young" and "old" have existed for centuries, but nowadays the distance between the different generations is becoming more and more tangible and is more and more often the reason for the emergence of the so-called "generational conflict".
At work today, there are four different generations who sometimes find it difficult to communicate, difficult to understand and, moreover, difficult to endure. There are many reasons. They can be sought both in the development of technology, economic upheavals, the unpredictability of the environment, demographic changes, as well as in the change in lifestyle, values, traditions and assessment of the past and future.
At the heart of the generational gap is ageism – misunderstanding, bias, negative attitude towards individuals and groups based on their age. According to the definition of the World Health Organization, ageism refers to stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or ourselves based on age. selection, training, development, pay, privilege of one age group at the expense of another, underestimation, neglect, exclusion, even harassment for age-related reasons.
Data from a BIA survey (2024), conducted within the framework of the project "Together for Sustainable Employment", show that prejudices and stereotypes about age are rooted in the public consciousness and affect relationships in the workplace. Over 70% of the surveyed persons (including managers) share to one degree or another erroneous or at least controversial views about the abilities of people of different ages. Almost every second of the respondents claims that there have been cases when they have been subject to (or observed in relation to other colleagues) sarcastic, neglect, damage or discriminatory treatment for reasons related to age. Over 50% indicate that there have been cases of conflicts arising from contradictions arising from age differences, and 15% claim that this happens frequently or constantly.
Prejudice and discriminatory attitudes towards age are most often manifested in critical situations. Although the law requires the criterion of dismissal of people with lower qualifications and efficiency to be applied when reducing staff, some representatives of different generations, including managers, have their own (age-specific) views on fairness (Fig. 1). "If layoffs are imposed on people in the enterprise, which of these approaches is the fairest?", 20% of Generation X (40-54 years old) and 15% of Generation T (55-65 years old) accept the release of young people as fair, because it will be easier for them to find another job. At the other pole are 13% of Generation Z (18-26 years old) and 11% of Generation Y (27-39 years old), who believe that elderly people should be released because they are not full-fledged. One in three of the younger generations believe it is fair to lay off people who have reached retirement age, even though the company needs them now.
The distance in age creates serious problems in communication and interaction between generations in the workplace (Fig. 2). The generations of the youngest – Z, and the oldest – T – find it most difficult to find a common language and understanding among themselves. On the other hand, the intermediate generations X and Y have the most difficulties in communicating and understanding with both the youngest and the oldest colleagues.
The consequences of ageism are serious for both people and organizations, and lead to a deteriorating work atmosphere, stress, low team effectiveness and turnover of valuable specialists.
The diversity of the workforce provides a unique opportunity to get the best out of each generation and become a unique competitive advantage. Traditional management practices will not take us into the future. If they want to succeed, companies need to rethink their approaches and focus on creating an inclusive work environment where people feel respected, valued and encouraged to express their potential, regardless of age.
