The Deal Book section of The New York Times recently published an article about the generational divide between business professionals on work-life issues. Some executives think that there are two populations in Wall Street: older professionals who worked long hours to climb the career ladder, and younger workers who are seeking meaningful work and the work flexibility that technology can provide.
Stewart D. Friedman, the director of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania’s Work/Life Integration Project and author of “Baby Bust: New Choices for Men and Women in Work and Family,” believes that there is a generational difference in perspectives on work. Friedman says “There’s a huge gap across the generations in terms of how people look at the whole question of time and commitment and what that means.”
However, a Wharton study contradicts the idea that younger workers are “entitled” and expect to work fewer hours than their older counterparts did. Wharton researchers found that students graduating in 2012 expected to work 72 hours a week, while students graduating in 1992 expected to work 58 hours a week. The 1992 cohort also seemed more passionate about building a family outside of work. 78 percent of graduates in 1992 said they planned to have children while only 42 percent of 2012 graduates expected children.
Young people are increasingly pursuing careers in private equity, hedge funds, technology, and entrepreneurship, instead of trading and banking as salaries on Wall Street decrease. Experts observe that younger workers are putting more emphasis on finding meaningful work instead of focusing on finding a well-paying job. Wall Street firms are also beginning to re-evaluate their long hours, after the death of a Bank of America intern who reportedly worked long shifts before his death.
Friedman told The New York Times that companies need to take note of the shift in the aspirations and employment goals of new graduates, “Where companies don’t provide that sense of meaning and purpose, their brand as employer is weakened. They’re not going to be able to compete for the best and the brightest.”
