Popular advice about multigenerational workplaces often sorts people into labeled generations and assigns each one traits: one group is loyal, another wants constant feedback, another is independent. It is an appealing shortcut. The evidence for it is weak.
A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examined whether generational categories are meaningful for managing a workforce. The committee concluded that many findings attributed to generational differences may instead reflect changes in the nature of work that affect everyone, or ordinary differences that come with age and experience. It noted that most studies compare different age groups at one point in time, which cannot separate three things: age effects, which come from life stage; period effects, which come from events and changes that affect everyone at once; and cohort or generational effects. Studies using stronger methods found little evidence of generational differences in work values. The committee cautioned that categorizing workers by observable attributes can lead to overgeneralization, improper assumptions and even discrimination, and that generation can function as a stand-in for age in legal terms.
So what does work? The committee recommended focusing on the needs of individual workers and the changing context of work, instead of generational stereotypes. On a DHS team, that means asking each person how they like to get feedback rather than assuming by age, offering flexible options for learning new systems so no one is singled out, and noticing that needs often come from life circumstances like caregiving, health or commuting rather than birth year.
Contact across ages helps. The World Health Organization identifies intergenerational contact as one of three strategies that reduce ageism, alongside policy and law and education. At work, contact is most useful when people share real tasks as equals. Two-way mentoring, where each person teaches something, mixed-experience project teams and rotating who leads are practical forms of it. The goal is not to erase differences in experience, which are real and valuable. It is to see the person rather than the label. If you catch yourself explaining a coworker's behavior by their generation, try asking them instead.
