by Michael S. James, Contributing Writer & Member of Gen X
Generation X workers grew up with tech. Many of us entered our first office job to find computers on every desk, perhaps the first full generation to do so. We blazed the trail as the Internet and social media came into play, and kept adapting as the tech got more complex.
As the oldest among us enter our 60s, we’re still adapting – and, in the process, confronting incorrect stereotypes suggesting older workers tend to resist new tech such as artificial intelligence.
But here’s the truth, as uncovered in the brand-new CWI Works Longevity Outlook Survey:
- 71% of Gen Xers have used generative AI, a number on par with 74% of Millennials, the generation born right after us.
- 87% of employees 55+ who have used AI for work are comfortable using it, and 49% report they are very or extremely comfortable doing so, the survey found.
“We found that an overwhelming majority of older workers are comfortable using AI,” says Gary A. Officer, president and CEO of CWI Works, in a video interview about the survey conducted for CWI Works by Ipsos, with support from T-Mobile.
“In fact,” he adds, “many of them have shared with us through our program that AI has helped them to become more efficient. AI has helped to augment them in completing certain tasks that allows them to focus on bigger things that are on their plate.”
That’s right. Gen Xers, sometimes dismissed in our youth as flannel-clad slackers, never stopped defying stereotypes.
Gen X Never Stopped Adapting
Born between 1965 and 1980, we still might prefer to think of ourselves as mid-career workers rather than older ones.
But let’s face it: Reality bites.
While it’s true that the youngest Gen Xers are only turning 46 and still may be in the prime of their careers, they nevertheless are older than the median U.S. worker, who is 41.6 years old. And on the other end, the very oldest Gen Xers are turning 61, or even 65 using early definitions that considered people born in 1961 as part of Gen X.
That may be why, despite careers spent in tech-saturated workplaces, Gen X is confronting the same stereotypes that have bedeviled the Baby Boomer and Silent generations before us.
The Stereotype Doesn’t Match the Data
You probably know the ones: 76% of U.S. adults agree that people assume older workers are less comfortable with new technology, according to the CWI Works survey. Among adults 55+, that number rises to 81%.
But the CWI Works-Ipsos data points suggest that the stereotype is largely untrue. Not only do they show Gen X is comfortable with new technology, they suggest we aim to keep getting better. Among the findings:
- 41% of Gen Xers surveyed are very or extremely interested in learning AI and digital skills.
- Among unemployed workers looking for work, older workers 55+ are second only to the youngest workers, those 18-34, when it comes to wanting opportunities to update their skills the most – at 31% and 34%, respectively.
“What we have found, both anecdotally and through engagement with our job seekers, is individuals are comfortable with technology because they are in the workforce and they are adjusting to the availability and the use of those new tools,” Officer says. “And that’s why the data that suggests comfort with using technology is present for those who are older: because they are adapting in real time.
The Real Risk: Falling Out of the Workforce
“The challenge occurs when we have exited the workforce,” Officer adds. “When … you return 18 months later, technology has already moved ahead of you. So what we have to do is to find a way of keeping folks in the workforce, allow them to upskill on the job, make sure that they [are exposed] to new tools, so those tools can be used on a day-to-day basis.”
That may not be happening as often as it should.
For one thing, older Gen X workers are overrepresented among the long-term unemployed. The average unemployment duration among 55- to 64-year-old workers in August was 41.2 weeks – though younger Gen Xers, as measured within the 45-54 cohort, were closer to the average at 26.6 weeks, according to federal data via AARP.
Similarly, reemployment rates for long-tenured displaced workers are worse for older workers than for their younger colleagues. As of January, the reemployment rate for workers aged 55 to 64 displaced from jobs they held three or more years was just 57.3%, and it was just 38.6% for age 65+ workers. Younger workers, aged 25-54, were far more successful, at 72.9%.
Difficulty staying in jobs or getting new ones, whether because of ageism or otherwise, often forces older workers to draw down their savings just as a potential happy retirement is within view. That hurts, particularly with Social Security in jeopardy and pensions becoming a thing of the past. And it likely will place added demands on society later.
Remember: These are people who WANT to work and, in the case of Gen X, largely have adopted AI on the job and want to elevate their tech skills further.
Whatever, as we used to say. As a smaller generation wedged between two huge ones, Gen X is used to being the underdog. There were approximately 55 million of us born in America during a baby bust between Baby Boomers (76 million born from 1945 to 1964) and Millennials (62 million born from 1981 to 1996). Those two generations outnumber Gen X to this day.
We’ve had to compete with those larger numbers in the workforce, too. We entered when Baby Boomers were in their primes and mostly ran things along with their elders in the Silent Generation. Now, we’re at least as old as the bosses were then. But even so, the average age of U.S. CEOs has moved away from us. It is now 61, 10 years older than at the turn of the millennium, according to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
These days, Millennials, who are turning 30 to 45 this year, have the numerical advantage at work. There are 37 million employed workers in the older Millennial bracket, aged 35 to 44, versus just 26.6 million aged 55 to 64, largely the older Gen X cohort.
But even against such odds, Gen X rose: As of 2023, more than half of Fortune 500 CEOs were members of Generation X.
The long-term unemployment numbers suggest things aren’t as rosy for Gen X’s age-55+ rank-and-file. But there is hope for them, too, as well as for other older workers.
An Opportunity Employers Can’t Afford to Miss
For one thing, members of the youngest working-age demographic, adults 18-34, are most likely, at 68%, to say working with colleagues from different generations affects their work positively, according to the CWI Works survey. These are workers aging into positions of influence.
For another, the workforce, and the candidate pool, is getting older than it used to be. As of July, there were 40.4 million potential workers aged 55-64, nearly double the 20.4 million workers within that age bracket in January 1977 (although there has been a slight decline from a peak of 42.4 million in April 2020).
Employers could tap into those experienced workers to fill an abundance of open jobs – 7.3 million of them, according to federal data, more than enough to accommodate the 1.2 million unemployed workers age 55+ as of August, and 7 million seasonally adjusted unemployed workers overall.
“What gives me hope is the sheer number of jobs that are available,” Officer says. “When we have a clear skills shortage and a demand for talent, then older workers, because of what they bring to the workforce and the skills that they have acquired through the years, are able to occupy those opportunities, once they give them the chance.”