ABSTRACT
This story from the July 9, 2006, edition of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead 1 illustrates the increasing media attention and public interest in recent years toward
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
understanding and explaining generational differences. As Engeseth points out, the United States is in a unique period of increased age diversity in the workforce. This topic rose in popularity in the mid-2000s when the early members of Generation Y began graduating from college and finding full-time jobs. At the same time, members of the older generations are living longer and are in better health than their predecessors. Therefore, many are choosing to remain working and to stay active well past their 60s. This increased interaction among the generations has attracted attention from researchers, businesses and journalists. As a result, generational differences are an important fault line for you to consider in your work since, as we will discuss throughout this chapter, your age and your experiences growing up also play an important role in how you perceive the world.
