Jade Cuevas

Rose Rabin-Rodriguez
WRC 1013-024
27 September 2013

Work as Defined by Generations

Since the day a child is born they are usually set with a minimum amount of
expectations from their parents. It does not matter whether the family is rich, poor,
middle class, small, or large, either way a child is expected to go out and get to work at
some point of their life. This age varies for certain cultures and circumstances, but for
the United States, the bird leaving the nest is a guaranteed expectation in life for
most children. Especially of the recent, it has become more and more of the social norm
and notion that every child grows up with a certain amount of education and once an
adult is supposed land a good job, do good work, in order to make good money. While
it may be a simple notion, it becomes tangled and complicated when different
generations start directing other generation about what type of job qualifies as work.
What is work to one generation could easily be irrelevant to another. A farmer may say
diligence is the key to successful work while the son of said farmer would say business
relations are the priority for a farm to be successful. Ultimately, no matter how a
generation specifically defines work, it is absolutely needed to becoming successful.
Oxford Online English Dictionary defines work as an activity involving mental
or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. By this definition,
Oxford dictionaries indicates that work is simply a chore that is completed so a goal
can be accomplished. While this definition is not necessarily wrong, the definition of

work is a much more than just a simple chore. The true definition of work is an
ever-changing one that is based on generational viewpoints, but is ultimately a required
task one must do in order to achieve or maintain ones desired career or calling in life.
This definition means that different generation have different ideas of what work is,
but is generally a duty that is vital to receive or keep a persons wanted profession.
This essay will analyze the tasks and activities that are considered work as
determined by four different generations: the GI Generation, the Baby Boomers,
Generation X, and Millennials. The GI Generation, the oldest generation in the
workforce, is where traditional form of work and sacrifice come from due to the side
effects of the Second World War. The Baby Boomers associate work with competition
by reason of drastically increased population due to the after effects of the post-war
world. Generation X defines work as being self-reliant, exemplified by their great love
of entrepreneurship. Lastly, the Millennial Generation defines work with relationships
and flexibility to change in the workplace. This is illustrated through their constant need
of networking and technologically savvy ways, respectively. Therefore, all four of these
generations define work differently in terms of specific points, but are fundamentally
the same based on the observation that each generation defines work as a necessary
skill of survival in the workplace.
The GI Generation shows this through their extreme form of dedication. The GI
Generation was born between around the years of 1925 to 1942. (DelCampo 8). Also
known as The Silent Generation and Traditionalists, they are the generation that
witnessed major historical events such the Great Depression, the Second World War,

and the passage of the Civil Rights Acts (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35). Due to so much
hardship most of the GI Generation went through, it is no surprise that they view safety
and job security as their utmost importance (DelCampo 9). This generation was also the
youngest generation to get married and have children (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35). Therefore,
it is easy to how the GI Generation certainly dedicates most of their lives to one
particular job or company in order to properly provide for their families (Leuty and JoIda 35). The GI Generation is also famous for being obedient and respectful of
authority, which correlates to the fact that they are incredibly loyal to employers (Leuty
and Jo-Ida 35). This is due to the fact that the GI Generation has faith in organized
groups with good leaders from the examples the military led in the Second World War
(Mitkitka 11). With work being an action that is necessary so one can either preserve
or be promoted to a wanted job, the GI Generation sees work as an obligation that one
should be faithful towards and bring forth all their effort and energy to complete
(Generations in the Workplace).
The Baby Boomer Generation was born between the years of 1946 to 1964
(DelCampo 9). As a well known fact, this generation made waves when it became the
largest generation in American history (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35). Due to the after effects of
the Second World War, Baby Boomers grew up in a time of great prosperity (Leuty
and Jo-Ida 35). Though such prosperity can only do so much good. Due to the massive
amount of people in this generation, they faced immense competition in order to get
and keep a job (DelCampo 9). This ultimately led to people being extremely dedicated
to their work lives- more so than their parents. This generation took dedication to a

new extreme where they centered their entire life with their work as top priority,
ultimately becoming workaholics (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35). Though being a workaholic is
not generally viewed as a good thing, Michael Mikitka states in his article, Managing
the Multi-Generational Workforce, the Baby Boomers are considered well known for
having intellectual capital gained through years of experience on and off the job and
therefore, highly respected among other generations (11). Therefore since work is an
exertion of labor one must do in order to get ahead in life, the Baby Boomer Generation
defines work as taking immense dedication to a particular profession. Overall, they
value strong work ethics and reward for years of hard work (Generations in the
Workplace).
Generation X was born during the years of 1965 to 1980. This generation can be
seen as cynical and skeptical (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35). This could be because they have
witnessed many negative world events like the Cold War, Persian Gulf War, drastic
increase in crime and divorce rates, as well as the spread AIDS (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35).
This generation is special from the other generations in this essay in the fact that they
were the first to fully incorporate technology not only in the workplace, but their lives.
Moreover, this generation grew up in a time where technology was becoming more
diverse and accessible in the economy (Huws 161). Media, mostly television, provided
this generation with more exposure to world events and pop culture than previous
generations (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35). Generation X is known for being the generation
that took care of themselves since it was the first time where most families had both
parents with jobs (Leuty and Jo-Ida 35). With such independence and confidence this

generation grew up with they went into the workplace with a dog-eat-dog world
mentality. Though they absolutely resented their parents workaholic ways of life, they
value skills of independence and resilience (Leuty and Jo-Ida 36). In general, with
work being defined as something a person is required to do in order to advance or
manage their career, Generation X defines work as self-sufficiency in the workplace.
Millennials are the current youngest generation in the workforce. They were born
between the years 1981 to 2000 (DelCampo 10). Due to Generation Xs hatred of
workaholic parents, most did the exact opposite when it came to raising their own
children and became very involved in their childrens lives. This led to higher education
and better forms of diverse skills in the generation. Along with these gifts, parents of
this generation have been known to overly encourage and praise their children (Khan
11). This has led to shock as these children grow up and enter the workplace with Baby
Boomers and Generation Xs brash managerial styles (Del Campo 8). As Emdad Khan
explains in his essay Millennial Values and the Workplace, Millennials have entered
the workplace with skewed visionsexpecting high impactful jobs, to receive frequent
feedback and to be given extensive training. Millennials are just not used to such blunt
methods of authority since their parents promised them the moon and back. As well,
Millennials do best working in groups, contrary to the past generations lone wolf ideal.
Due to growing up with technology always around them, they know how to adapt to
new technology and system changes quickly (DelCampo 10). This all leads up to the
one thing Millennials value most in the workforce: networking (DelCampo 10).
Millennials believe that good socializing and networking can take one much farther than

any amount of hard work will do. Furthermore, with the resources and knowledge to
easily network, Millennials must capitalize on any chance they have to get ahead in the
workplace. Considering that work is defined as a necessary activity that one must do
in life so one may have or keep their desired job, Millennials would define work as
keeping with good relationships and always being flexible, not only with work, but also
with world around you.
Work will be defined by Oxford English dictionaries in simple terms such as
activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or
result. This definition means that work is a sort of chore a person must complete for
an overall goal. Though not at all a wrong statement, it still is not the exact definition
that can be used. Work is defined as an ever-changing one that is based on
generational viewpoints, but is ultimately a required task one must do in order to
achieve or maintain ones desired career or calling in life. Ultimately meaning that
work can be defined and interrupted by different generations, but is in total the duty
one must complete in order to receive or preserve ones ideal profession in life.

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