Generational Shifts in the Workforce Adding to the Problems of the Russian Economy, Tushaliyev Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 18 – The Russian economy faces a number of serious challenges, but one of these that so far has received little attention is the generational one, the fact that in a single workspace there are currently representatives of three distinct generations and what works with one doesn’t necessarily work with the others, according to Aleksandr Tushaliyev.

            The editor of the Russian journal, A Sovereign Economy, and a frequent commentator for the Readovka portal says that if the two oldest groups, those born between 1965 and 1980 and between 1981 and 1996 are somewhat similar, those born between 1997 and 2010, “the zoomers,” are fundamentally different (readovka.news/news/235526/).

            If the first two most highly value stability, status and respect for the collective, he says, the third gives priority to flexibility, comfort and their own mental health. This difference has led to the dismissal of many zoomers, but those companies who have adapted to them have been able to take advantage of their special psychology, Tushaliyev says.

            Because managers typically come from the older age groups, he continues, they often adopt strategies that work for people like them but don’t work with younger people who are less concerned with the things the managers value and more concerned with maximizing their own values.

            This has led to rapid turnover among the young many of whom don’t find it easy or even acceptable to conform to the business habits of older generations, and that in turn is creating problems not only with staffing but with production, thereby adding to all the other problems of the Russian economy.