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GENERATIONS: WHO ARE THEY?

In the United States, five generations are now represented among adults active in work and community life. These are:
TRADITIONALIST BABY BOOMER GEN X MILLENNIAL GEN Z
before 1945 and before2 ~1946-1964 ~1965 -1980 ~1981- 1995 ~1996 -
a.k.a. “Greatest a.k.a. Me Generation, a.k.a. Generation X, a.k.a. Generation Y, a.k.a. i Gen, Centennials
Generation”, Silent, Woodstock Generation Busters, Post-Boomers Nexters, the Internet
Veterans, Builder Generation
 Great Depression  Prosperity  Challenger Disaster  Tech Boom:  Tech revolution – on
 World War II  Space race  Fall of Berlin Wall, Computers, e-mail, the grid 24/7
 New Deal  Cold War Glasnost internet & cell phones  Ipads, smartphones
 Korean War  The First TVs  Energy Crisis  Columbine, Oklahoma  Helicopter parenting
 Rural Life  Suburbia  Stagflation City. 9/11  Obama
Defining  Automobiles  Civil Rights &  Latchkey kids  Reality TV  Terrorism and
 Telephones – party women’s movements  Single parents  “It Takes a Village”. Endless wars –
Events &
lines  Viet Nam  AIDS  Multiculturalism Afghanistan, Iraq
Trends  Golden Age of Radio  Kennedy & MLK Jr  Computers  Princess Diana  Recession – 2008+
 Big Band music, Glenn Assassinations  Wall Street frenzy  Tiger Woods  Media on demand =
Miller  Rock ‘n’ Roll, Beatles.  Video, Computer  School debt streaming TV, music,
 The Silver Screen Elvis (Presley) Games  Grunge, Alt Rock movies
 Labor unions  MTV, Disco, Punk, U2  Mark McGwire,
 Family-School-Faith  Michael Jordan Sammy Sosa
 Duty, honor, country  Work ethic = worth  Independent, Self-  Optimistic  Social media
 Loyalty ethic reliant  Individualistic, yet  Instant results;
 Conformity.  Success is visible  Desire for Stability group oriented constant feedback
Blending. Unity.  Optimistic  Diversity  Social Commitment  Skill gaps
Popularized Patience  Consumers  Thinking globally  Digital Native  Lower expectations &
Characteristics  Hard times, then  Defined by job  Techno-literacy confidence
prosperity.  Personal  Friend of parents  Global mindset - local
 National Pride Development  Informality reality
 Doing a Good Job  Health and Wellness  Cynical. Pragmatic  Infinite diversity
 Age = seniority – retain youthfulness unique to them

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Sources: Fry, R (2015, May 11), Millennials surpass genXers as the largest generation in U.S. labor force. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-generation-in-u-s-labor-force/ft_15-05-11_millennialsdefined/; Center for Generational Kinetics (n.d.) Generational
Breakdown: Info about all of the generations. Retrieved from http://genhq.com/FAQ-info-about-generations/; Lancaster, Lynne C. & David Stillman, (2002) When Generations Collide, New
York: Harper Business; Zemke, Ron, Claire Raines, & Bob Filipczak,(2000) Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace,
New York: AMACOM.
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NOTE: Years for generations vary slightly among scholars and practitioners.