OH BOOMER
Where art thou?
GENERATIONS AT WORK
A tale as old as time
GENERATIONS AT WORK
A tale as old as time
GENERATIONS AT WORK
A tale as old as time
The workplace, an environment where all generations interact daily, offers us a unique opportunity to disentangle generational myths and realities.
For this year's report, we analysed our global employee experience benchmarking data, including over 3.6 million responses from employees aged 16 to 66+ across industries, roles and regions, to understand how perceptions of work seem to evolve over time. What emerged was not a story of generational difference, but of progression.
Rather than Gen Z, Millennials, or Gen X experiencing work fundamentally differently, the data points to a consistent workforce lifecycle where optimism, pressure and eventual stability unfold in recognisable patterns as careers develop.
16-25
The Optimists
Mindset: Hopeful, enthusiastic, and values-driven. Sees potential everywhere and believes the organisation wants to do the right thing.
Experience overview: Highly positive across leadership, culture, and wellbeing — but lowest sense of belonging. Still forming identity, networks, and confidence.
What they need: Connection, inclusion, and reassurance they belong.
Risks: Optimism fades quickly into disengagement or early exit.
40% of 16-25-year-olds across 30 countries say they often feel lonely at work, in comparison to a total population average of 33%.1
Mindset: Motivated but questioning. Ambitious, capable, and increasingly aware of gaps between intent and reality effecting trust levels.
Experience overview: Noticeable dip in positivity as the 'honeymoon' ends. Trust and confidence in change decline, yet intent to stay rises.
What they need: Transparency, follow-through, and visible progress.
Risks: Scepticism hardens into cynicism.
According to people across 30 countries, 26-35-year-olds rank #1 as the age group most likely to be at ease with digital tools, with artificial intelligence, and to be innovative in the workplace.1
26-35
The Realists
36-45
The Squeezed Middle
Mindset: Committed, responsible, and stretched. Carries delivery, people leadership, and organisational friction simultaneously.
Experience overview: Strain and workload are high due to process and tool barriers, yet pride, enjoyment, and commitment remain resilient.
What they need: Better systems, clearer priorities, and reduced friction.
Risks: Burnout and quiet withdrawal.
Globally, the 36-45 age band over index on responding to emails or work calls outside of their working hours, performing tasks outside of their role, and working unpaid overtime. This pattern is even more pronounced among G7 countries.1
Mindset: Grounded, pragmatic, and steady. Values clarity, predictability, and respect for experience.
Experience overview: Positivity mirrors 36–45 but with lower strain. Less excitable than younger cohorts, yet content and loyal when conditions are stable.
What they need: Consistency, autonomy, and recognition of expertise.
Risks: Disengagement through loss of trust or sudden change.
46-55
The Stable
56-65
The Selectively Positive
Mindset: Experienced, discerning, and intentional. Invests energy where it feels worthwhile and authentic.
Experience overview: Lower confidence in communication, development, and executive trust — but higher enjoyment, values alignment, and belonging.
What they need: Respect, honest communication, and meaningful contribution.
Risks: Selective disengagement or earlier than expected exit.
Across 30 countries, public perception is that the 56-65-year-olds are the age group who would most often feel like different age groups don’t respect them. In fact, they’re the least likely. Actually, just 21% of this older group of employees say they often feel like this, with this sentiment much more prevalent among the 16-25-year-olds (40%).
What this means
There is a strong narrative that today’s younger workforce - particularly Generation Z - are fundamentally different, more optimistic, and more values-driven while mid-career Gen X employees are innately equipped to absorb sustained pressure without protest. While generational differences do exist, when you look at workforce data over time, that narrative doesn’t fully hold.
What we see instead is a pattern that repeats itself. Early optimism gives way to realism, then pressure, and eventually a more grounded, selective relationship with work. That does not mean the experience is uniform; context, culture and leadership all shape how work is experienced, but the underlying progression is remarkably consistent
Ultimately, this is not a new workforce story, it’s a familiar one playing out in a modern context.
Thought starters
How can you provide the 16-25s with opportunities to embed themselves into your organisation and cultivate a sense of belonging?
How can you maintain career momentum as positivity about career development continues to drop in older age bands?
How can consistency and respect offset negativity around workplace change?
Footnotes
1. Ipsos Global Advisor. 22,693 adults under the age of 75 across 30 countries, interviewed between 20 February and 6 March, 2026.
