06.12.2021
FOUR GENERATIONS WORK TOGETHER IN BULGARIA, WITH GROWING DIFFERENCES
The workforce is aging. Almost every company already has four generations of workers, and the age difference between the youngest and the oldest staff members is large.
Unified, universally valid company systems and views on staff motivation and incentives are no longer effective because each generation holds on to a certain type of work incentive.
This shows the conclusion of a project implemented by the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) and CITUB.
The project was presented by Dr. Tomcho Tomov - Director of the National Center for Competence Assessment at the Chamber, informs BTA. The OPHRD project explores the issue of an aging workforce and makes suggestions on how different generations can work better together.
In our country the labor force decreases by 40-60 thousand people every year.
In the last 15 years the economic activity and employment of people of pre-retirement and retirement age in Bulgaria has increased significantly and is the highest compared to all other age groups. In 2019 in Bulgaria 55% of men and 44% of women aged 55-74 are economically active. The working age population in 2020 is 64%, in 2050 it will be 56%, said Tomov. The data show that currently employed over 55 years are 702,500 people or 23% of the workforce, and estimates are that by 2035 they will reach and exceed 36% or one million and two hundred thousand people.
The number of older people who want to continue working is increasing.
They are also a reserve on the labor market that must be used. The problem is that each generation sticks to a certain type of incentives and working conditions, perceives their impact differently and tends to mobilize its work potential and energy also differently, experts say.
According to them, diversity management is not a preference of one generation over another, but the use of each generation's strengths in the interests of work. The next phase in people management is coming, which requires a transformation of HR policies - from those that put the company at the center to those that put the employee at the center.
What else does the project find?
We work to live, we live to work, we work to have fun - different values and motivations
On the labor market in Bulgaria there are four specific generations of the workforce, which have some similarities, but also deepening differences in their needs, values, motivation, expectations, attitudes, communication, behavioral patterns, attitudes to technology, to work, to change and to the authorities, the project states.
Generation Z are employees aged 18-26. This is the digital generation, which makes up about 11% of the workforce. Generation Y ("Millennium") are workers aged 27-39 who make up about 26% of the workforce, analog generation or Generation X are workers aged 40-54. They are about 40% of the workforce, and generation T (paper generation) - workers aged 55-65 and over, are about 23% of the workforce.
Each generation is motivated differently. The youngest, those under 26, work to improve and have fun. It is important for them to have a high salary, to work in a reputable company with modern technologies. They need diversity and challenges, continuous training. People aged 27 to 39 work to achieve and succeed. They are looking for opportunities for development, fair evaluation and immediate incentives. They hold on to autonomy and independence, as well as to effective organization.
The generation that makes up 40 percent of the workforce - people aged 40-54 - works to make a living. Holds on to high pay. It is motivated by predictability and stability in the work, by competent management. He wants there to be no strict rules, the workload to be moderate, to have good relations in the team.
The paper generation, that of the oldest workers, 55 to 65, lives to work. He wants security in the workplace, healthy working conditions. It is motivated by clear and strict rules, moral values, respect and esteem. Motivation for older workers is also to provide them with the opportunity to pass on knowledge and experience.
People aged 40-50 are openly opposed to change, older workers know that change is needed, but they are afraid of it and experience it in secret.
For the youngest workers in Generation Z, change is an internal necessity. They have a high tolerance for change, moderate anxiety, dissatisfaction with the current situation moves them forward and motivates them to constantly develop.
Workers aged 27-39 are the most confident in their abilities, they are looking for chances for success and development, they are tolerant of change, they want a new challenge. The best-represented percentage generation in the labor market (people between the ages of 40 and 54) experience high anxiety and low tolerance, and open resistance to change. It threatens their security, stability and predictability.
The oldest feel change as an external necessity. They perceive themselves as people with merits left in the past. They experience low tolerance and high anxiety about change. They are unsure of their ability to meet the new requirements, but their resistance is hidden.
The Delayed Maturity Phenomenon
The phenomenon of "Delayed Maturity" in the younger generations is reflected in demographic problems. About two thirds of people in Bulgaria under the age of 30 live with their mothers and fathers - nearly 60% of young women and 80% of young men. Eurostat data show unequivocally that the richer the country, the earlier young people leave the family home, according to the project's findings.
In the other younger generation - Y, this phenomenon is also observed, but unlike Z, they are more affected by the accompanying financial problems, the consequences of economic crises, unemployment, increasing livelihoods. Generation Y is in no hurry to take on responsibilities in adulthood and because of the negative example of their parents, watching their parents divorce and have jobs that they constantly complain about.
The youngest are curious, but the traditional understanding of education as a value is beginning to crack
The traditional understanding of education as a value begins to crack in the youngest generation Z. They are curious and inquisitive, focused on continuous learning and development, but not in the conservative, classical way.
Due to the problems of the educational system in Bulgaria, the standard formal education is rather something that the generation accepts as obligatory, but meaningless. For Z, getting an education becomes "hacking" one. They understand that employers are increasingly focusing on competencies rather than diplomas. Disappointed with the quality of formal education, Z does not want to waste years in something that does not guarantee them a secure future, the project analyzes.
Generation Z realizes that they can make their way as they prepare for their careers by combining various short-term or distance courses, online certification programs, along with gaining real-world practical experience.
Happiness, high income, security and dignity - the different values of the four generations
The results of the study outline significant differences in the values of generations. The primary life goal (terminal values) of generation Z are "happiness", of Y - "high income", of X - "security", of T - "dignity". In order to achieve the goals in life, the young generations Z and Y value and rely more on qualities (instrumental values) such as: "adaptability"; "creativity"; "inspiration"; "curiosity"; "pragmatism"; "courage." In the older generations X and T, traditional instrumental values such as: "diligence" are of paramount importance; "responsibility"; "endurance"; "honesty", "loyalty"; "persistence".
