A new MetLife Mature Market Institute study, conducted in partnership with Boston College’s Sloan Center on Aging & Work, indicates that the economic downturn has had a greater psychological effect on younger workers than it has on workers of the Baby Boomer and Traditionalist generations.

The results of the study are summarized in the report, “Engaging the 21st Century Multi-Generational Workforce.”

The primary focus of the study was on whether generational differences matter when it comes to employee engagement.  In short, the answer is yes.  Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., director of the Sloan Center says, “We found that different factors ‘drive’ the levels of engagement of different groups of employees.”

While the insight into engaging the different generations is reason enough to read the report, I was particularly interested in the findings related to how different groups of employees are weathering the economic storm. 

Employees from both Generation Y (age 26 and younger) and Generation X (age 27 – 42) reported a drop in engagement, while employees in the Baby Boomer and Traditionalist generations reported almost no change in engagement. 

This phenomenon may be due to the fact that employees of the first two generations have never experienced tough times, whereas older employees have.  Having lived through previous downturns, Boomers and Traditionalists may have learned that things ultimately do get better.  As a group, workers over the age of 43 may therefore have developed more resiliency. 

The study reminded me of a recent BusinessWeek article about how the recession is impacting the country’s youth.  According to their Age of Anxiety piece,

” They (the millennial generation) are entering the workplace at a terrible time, and their first career decisions could have financial implications that last for years.”

So What?

Both the study and the article both point to the fact that we need to do more to help younger workers cope with the anxiety of living and working in a recession. 

If you are a Baby Boomer or Traditionalist boss, find time to have conversations with your younger workers about how they are feeling and coping. You may feel that you don’t have time to “coddle” younger workers given all of the other demands you face.  However, my own research and that from Harvard professor Bob Sutton, shows that employees can become paralyzed by anxiety which then results in decreases in productivity.

So taking some time to share your own stories of recovering from previous downturns and suggesting strategies that helped you cope in the past may ultimately improve the your younger workers’ productivity and your team’s results.

I recently worked with a Vice President from a defense company to create a town hall meeting that allowed and encouraged her more tenured team members to connect with the newer folks.  The experienced employees shared their suggestions for dealing with chaos, anxiety, and overwork.  The immediate result was a palpable sense of relief in the room and a heightened level of energy across the team.