A new study has highlighted a significant perception gap in the workplace between generations, with Generation Z employees often stereotyping older colleagues as less capable, less adaptable and less reliable.
The research, conducted by the University of Queensland, was conducted through workplace surveys in Australia and Taiwan, showing a consistent pattern of distrust from younger employees towards older colleagues.
“Work structures are becoming increasingly horizontal, which means we often see people with large age gaps working in the same roles,” says Dr. Chad Chiu, the study's lead author.
According to him, "young employees often make unfair judgments when they see older colleagues in the same positions and wonder why they haven't advanced more."
The study's findings also reflect discussions that often appear on social media, where young people express frustrations about differences in performance or technology with older colleagues.
One TikTok user wrote: “'These young people have no work ethic,' says my 70-year-old colleague who refuses to learn how to use a printer.”
While another posted a meme adding: "Me looking at the 65 year old who makes double my salary and still struggles with a PDF."
The study involved nearly 400 employees in several experiments. In the first phase, 199 employees at consulting and technology companies in Taiwan were asked about their level of trust in their colleagues. The results showed that younger participants tended to view older colleagues as less trustworthy.
“When younger employees have little information about the real capabilities of older colleagues, they rely primarily on superficial characteristics like age to make judgments,” explains Dr. Chiu.
In a second experiment with 177 participants in Australia, aged 22 and older, a scenario was analyzed in which a 55-year-old engineer faced an urgent production problem. Participants were asked to rate his professional ability.
The results again showed lower levels of trust from younger participants.
“They might see him as a nice or supportive colleague, but not necessarily as someone effective at work,” adds Dr. Chiu.
The researchers point out that these findings suggest the need for more support for older employees, especially in work environments with mixed-generational teams.
“It is a mistake to think that they don’t need support just because they are more experienced,” Dr. Chiu emphasizes.
According to him, the results provide an important signal for managers and companies aiming to create more inclusive and age-balanced teams. /GazetaExpress/
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