16 workplace fears, according to every generation

March 15, 2023 5:30 AM

From the rising cost of living and a possible recession to rapid AI growth and cybersecurity threats, professionals have plenty weighing on their minds these days, regardless of their generation or industry.

Yet despite these tumultuous times, many companies are looking to grow, as turnover and job openings remain relatively high. While 80% of HR professionals are concerned about how the economy may impact their organizations, 74% still expect to expand their workforce this year, according to SHRM. It's no surprise that leaders and workers are experiencing professional whiplash.

"The recession and the current global economic condition are a nightmare," says Sam Willis, a millennial and finance expert at business brokerage Raincatcher. "Employees are worried about their jobs, and some are suffering from 'survivor syndrome,' feeling anxious and guilty about those who lost their jobs."

EBN collected responses from 17 professionals across four generations to see what work-related concerns are keeping them up at night. From early-career Gen Z-ers to baby boomers headed to retirement, these workers' insights can help inform how your organization navigates the current talent and benefits landscape in the year ahead.

Workforce management:

Brandon Weber — millennial

Founder and CEO of benefits brokerage Nava benefits

"One of the biggest questions on my mind is where we will land as a society around supporting hybrid-remote work. Employees are saying they value the flexibility that comes with it. However, employers are going back and forth between allowing hybrid-remote and forcing employees to come into the office every day. And they're creating a lot of pain in the process.

"As employers, we'll have to do a better job of supporting what I believe is the new paradigm of hybrid-remote work, such that we get the best outcomes from folks while giving them more flexibility to live where they want and spend their time in the best way possible."

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Roman Zrazhevskiy — millennial

Founder and CEO at personal protective equipment company Mira Safety

"Hackers are constantly launching attacks against businesses, attempting to steal information or hold systems for ransom. It can cause our system to crash, resulting in data loss. It can also damage the company's reputation, causing customers to lose faith in our company. In addition, we could face legal penalties if our business is breached."

Inflation and economic impacts

Solange Charas — baby boomer

Founder and CEO at HR data platform HCMoneyball

"As a baby boomer and someone planning, and close to, my retirement, I worry about my investment portfolio — specifically, if companies are optimizing the return on investments in their organizations. Since most companies spend upward of 50% of total expenses on people and people programs, are they managing the workforce by offering the right opportunities, pay and management to leverage economic value creation through people? As an HR professional for over 40 years, I have personally observed how companies can destroy the very thing that could be nurtured to drive value."

Culture and employee well-being

Brandon Mackie — millennial

Co-founder and chief revenue officer at PickleHeads, an online hub for locating pickleball courts around the U.S.

"My biggest work-related concern right now is ensuring that our company culture remains strong as we continue to grow and succeed. We're hiring new team members and have grown so much in the last year. But I'm worried our company culture could [turn] into something that takes the community and fun out of the thing we're trying to accomplish. I don't want it to be something that slips my mind just because things have gotten more robust and busier day-to-day."

Sam Willis — millennial

Finance expert at business broker Raincatcher

"It is common for co-workers to take advantage of their colleagues and take credit for their work. Not showing up for team meetings and not meeting deadlines and putting the rest of the team in trouble are also ways of deliberately letting someone down. Sometimes managers tend to mistreat lower-level staff by overburdening them with work or not appreciating them for their efforts. These factors lead to higher turnover rates, and employees have to cater to these issues."

Compensation and benefits

Amy Spurling — Gen X

Founder and CEO of HR tech company Compt

"Pay transparency laws and how candidates can still negotiate benefits are top of mind for me as a CEO with a finance background and as someone who is very passionate about pay equity and transparency.

As a Gen X woman, I was trained to keep my head down, not negotiate, and hope someone noticed my hard work. There is plenty of evidence to show that this behavior has not worked out well for my generation and has only enabled companies to create significant pay gaps across women and POC. This cycle of inequality is difficult to overcome, but pay transparency laws are a step in the right direction."

Krizza Buendia — millennial

from euphoricview.com, an Art eCommerce site

"One of my major concerns is whether I'm being paid fairly for my work, especially considering the high cost of living in my area. In addition, I also worry about whether I'm receiving adequate benefits like health insurance, retirement plans and paid time off. The safety of my workplace is also a concern, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began. I worry about whether my employer is taking adequate precautions to keep us safe."

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Matt Wolf — millennial

Senior vice president of business development at Greenlight, a finance resource for families

"Today's challenging economic environment has shifted employee priorities across generations. For millennials, financial wellness and family-focused benefits are top of mind. As more millennials enter parenthood, they are looking for employers that offer benefits for themselves and their families. As a millennial dad of two, I'm constantly thinking about how to help set my kids up for success. I want to ensure that I can do my part to build a healthy financial future for my family while teaching my kids smart money habits as early as possible."

Employee retention

Jessica Chang — millennial

Co-founder and CEO of child care marketplace WeeCare

"The retention of employees who are also parents and caregivers presents a significant challenge for companies today. The high cost of child care and child care provider shortages make it difficult for these top-talent workers to balance their job and home responsibilities. As a result, companies risk losing valuable employees who are often the most skilled, experienced, and motivated members of the team, possessing the energy to drive lasting impact. The loss of such employees can be costly for companies, making it important to find solutions that support child care needs of working parents and caregivers."

Natalie Sannes — Gen Z

Research coordinator at Gen Z research and strategy firm dcdx

"Many Gen Z'ers experienced disruptions lasting multiple school years due to COVID-19 while in college, and we were unable to get in-person internships and opportunities to experience the workforce. This left us in a position when we graduated college to jump in head first and hope for the best. I'm 24 now, and I know many people, including myself, who are no longer working at the first job they got right out of college at age 22.

In my experience, young employees are not leaving due to a lack of motivation or desire to work hard; they are leaving because they found themselves in jobs they didn't want to do, and were only there because they didn't get the opportunities to learn that in college before entering the workforce. For example, my first job out of college was in a clinical research lab, as I thought I wanted to pursue a career in science and clinical research. Turns out I hated it, and now I work in consulting.

Employers need to have patience with their new college grad employees and make sure they are taking the time to support them through their early career journeys, while being understanding of what their relationship with the workforce has been like up until this point."

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Career mobility

Cheyenne Hunt — Gen Z

A democracy-focused policy advocate

"Top concerns for Gen Z in the workplace all tend to revolve around the same core theme: opportunity. We grew up witnessing our parents struggle through the 2008 financial crisis which came with layoffs, pay cuts and mass foreclosures leading to housing instability. As a result, we are far less likely to award unquestioning loyalty to our employers when we know that companies can't love us back.

In order for Gen Z workers to thrive and generate the best results in their roles, they must be presented with opportunities. This includes opportunities for their hard work to be rewarded with promotions and pay raises, opportunities to cultivate work-life balance through remote work or untraditional schedules and opportunities for their work to have a meaningful impact on others."

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Joseph Fitzpatrick — Gen Z

New York-based trade development executive and research analyst with Ireland's Industrial Development Agency

"One of the main challenges Gen Z faces in the workplace is reckoning with the impact of COVID-19 on their career development. They've had less exposure to the traditional workplace environment and have had to figure a lot out for themselves. A significant challenge has been identifying pathways for career progression. Much of this process has derived from the communal office experience, such as interacting with colleagues, building networks, learning about new roles and opportunities, building mentorships — and at least at early career stages it's hard to recreate the same linkages virtually. Given this dynamic, it's small wonder Gen Z are anxious about their future and reporting negative emotional health at work."

Layoffs and an uncertain future

Jenna Carson — millennial

Personnel and operations manager at music entertainment website MusicGrotto

"As an employee, I am very concerned about the long-term profitability and security of my position and industry, particularly considering the increased reliance on AI in place of actual writers, producers, and market experts. How many existing jobs we have now will not be in existence in 10 years, or even five years or less?"

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Kalani Leifer — millennial

CEO and founder of COOP Careers, a nonprofit that aims to help recent BIPOC grads

"This is an anxious moment to be looking for a job in tech, especially among recent grads — and particularly for first-generation college grads. With so much beyond our control, my team feels a sense of agency and optimism focusing on our core hypothesis: In good times and bad, the labor market rewards digital skills and analog relationships.

Even a degree in computer science, the most technical, in-demand skill, cannot guarantee economic mobility. It's difficult to overstate the influence of old-fashioned relationships, even in this digital age. For candidates, follow your curiosity and continue learning new tools, but realize that we are still playing by old rules. Who you know matters as much as what you know. For companies, this means taking a hard look at the unintended consequences of your employee referral practices."