Remote Work: Battle Royale Between The Boomers And Millennials

almost 3 years ago

This is something that is worth watching.

What is the new normal? Is it going back to the old normal before the pandemic? It appears, in spite of rhetoric to the contrary during the pandemic, companies are pushing it to be the later.

About a week ago, I wrote an article detailing how Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan bank, was pulling people back into the office. He knows that it was going to be met with resistance but he doesn't care.

This shows how obtuse he really is.

It is now to the point where people need to stand up to these corporations. They were perfectly willing to furlough employees or reduce their numbers in favor of automation when it serves them. Now, since they believe that it is in their best interest to get employees back into the office, they are doing just that.

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Of course, who is they? To answer this, we need to look at who is still in control. For the moment, it is mostly the Boomers who are still around. They are the ones in the upper ranks with the Millennials now just starting to get into some lower positions of authority.

This is going to be a huge battle royale going forward.

In fact, here is a quote that about sums it up:

“They feel like we’re not working if they can’t see us,” she said. “It’s a boomer power-play.”

That about sums up the feeling. Remember that Dimon, a mid 60s Boomer himself, is done with Zoom meetings, opting to go back to the old way of doing things.

It does appear the younger generation is starting to fight back. Workers are now quitting their jobs if they are forced back into the office. Many were able to reprioritize their lives during the pandemic, hence questioning the intelligence of spending all day in an office.

This is something that could really affect those companies that take a hard stance on this issue.

But as office returns accelerate, some employees may want different options. A May survey of 1,000 U.S. adults showed that 39% would consider quitting if their employers weren’t flexible about remote work. The generational difference is clear: Among millennials and Gen Z, that figure was 49%, according to the poll by Morning Consult on behalf of Bloomberg News.

Here we are looking at a sizeable figure. Keep in many that may jobs are frontline, meaning they cannot be done remotely. Thus, when we remove those such as stocking shelves or treating patients, we see that almost half the Millennials and Gen Z is willing to quit as opposed to being pushed back into the office.

These are the technology generations and they are not about to be forced into the old system that, quite frankly, did not embrace the technology offered over the last decade. Now that a sizeable portion of the working population was exposed to something different, the cat is out of the bag. People are not going to comply with the wishes of those who are averse to technological change. At the front of the line is the Boomers on this one.

Many might be tempted to say, so what? There are plenty of Boomers and Gen X who are willing to come back to the office. That is true since those are the age brackets that have little choice. Their options are severely reduced as compared to the younger generations since they cost more. Not only do they tend to make a higher salary but their expense to the health insurance premium is astronomical. Companies often look to get rid of those employees between the ages of 55-65 to reduce both these costs.

That option might not be available if they are going to try to push the Millennials into the office.

Workers also found out there is a definite cost to going into the office. This is something they are looking to avoid.

The lack of commutes and cost savings are the top benefits of remote work, according to a FlexJobs survey of 2,100 people released in April. More than a third of the respondents said they save at least $5,000 per year by working remotely.

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Ultimately, workers need to look out for their own self-interest because the companies are not going to care one bit. Everything that took place over the last 40 years has basically favored the corporation. The world changes and they were able to adapt. Employees, on the other hand, were stuck having to accept what took place.

Here is a chance of the workers of the country to unite. Well not really especially since unionization is about worthless these days since we are in a technological era. However, there can be a show of force simply by opting out. The old "vote with your feet" idea comes into play.

If enough workers demand remote work, companies will be forced either to give in or suffer not being able to get any top talent. This is becoming a hot button for many people and companies will have to adapt even though they are not the ones pushing the change.

Of course, an easy solution is to get rid if some of the insecure managers who are costing so much on the company health insurance premium and opt for younger managers who understand and can implement technology.

Either way, this is going to be a fun battle to watch. I do not next the Millennials to back down from their stance in this area. Even if the survey was a bit high, even reducing it to 33% is still a large number of people. It is also important to keep in mind that the first of this generation is moving towards their peak earning years. This is going to be a powerful force to reckon with.

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