Retirement and the Older Generation in Executive Positions

The phrase ‘respect your elders’ has been in full effect lately, as people find that virtually every field is full of not-ready-to-retire folks. Many executives in accounting and other areas are of the older generation who get too much pride and enjoyment out of their job to retire. This leaves businesses in a tricky situation – is it better to have older or younger talent? This blog examines how this situation affects younger workers and business relations in companies with boomer executives.

Affecting the Younger Generations

As Derek Thompson puts it in a recent column: “As older workers remain in advanced positions in politics and business, younger workers who would have ascended the ranks in previous decades are getting stuck in the purgatory of upper-middle management.” As people increasingly live longer and better, they have no desire to stop working and retire. They can complete life achievements at increasingly older ages, and more importantly, they want to. Just take a look at current news: Joe Biden is the oldest president in history, the average age of CEOs is very likely at its record high, Tom Brady just can’t decide if he’s ready to retire, and the first season of the Golden Bachelor is currently being released.

However, this aging workplace results in younger workers hitting a career ceiling earlier than expected. Unless they join a younger company or a startup, they are stuck in these upper-middle management positions, waiting for the higher-ups to retire and give them a shot. It’s no wonder these workers don’t want to stay at a job where they have no chance of reaching their goal. With an increasing societal reliance on instant gratification, they just can’t stand the wait.

Affecting Business Relations

So, if the older generation inhabits these executive positions, what is the result for their business relations? This is a bit of a two-sided coin – they are great in some situations and an issue in others. When it comes to partnering with other companies or handling senior consumers, these older executives can relate to other older people and know how to form a good relationship with them. They understand shared values and can navigate in the aging world.

On the other hand, technology is advancing at a rate never seen before. So fast, in fact, that by the time graduates enter the workforce, what they learned is hardly relevant anymore. This affects the skills that need to be taught in various education stages, but it also means it is even more absurd to expect older generations to be able to keep up with it. In this aspect, older executives are left in the dust when dealing with younger startup businesses and the technologies and innovations they are working with.
It seems that the older generation is not going anywhere, but you can control how your business plans for the benefits and drawbacks of the situation. TCOBI has been providing senior financial and leadership expertise to a variety of organizations in a number of different industries for 40+ years – contact us today!