Bridging the generation gap in the workplace

Day 4/30 #blogjune

The idea of "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" has been largely debunked. Research shows that while age is not a determining factor in digital lives, the key factors are familiarity and experience using technology. Yet there are some different ways of approaching work and this video highlights how often technology can be a point of difference. This can be a particular challenge in the libray workforce, as early adopters of technology in a heavily tech based industry with an ageing workforce.

Baby Boomers and the age wave

Australian economist, Ross Gittins has some interesting observations to make about the much maligned baby boomers and their effect on the imminent age wave.

"increasing longevity and declining fertility are the two dominant influences over population ageing... had there been no baby boom, population ageing would have started a lot earlier than it did, with the age dependency rate (the ratio of those aged 65 and over to those aged 15 to 64) higher than projected until the mid-2030s... so the main effect of the baby boom has been to defer population ageing and make its onset more pronounced."

For a fuller and much more eloquent explanation see Ross Gittins (2007) Gittinomics, Chap 10 "Our ageing population" ISBN 978 1 74175 0928