Watch out, young career-seekers, you may be for ever branded as spoilt sluggards who should be sidelined in favour of older workers. Or so says a survey by a British company specialising in “attitude research”.

If we are to believe the conclusions of Sirota Survey Intelligence’s study of more than 300,000 workers in more than 50 organisations, then Generation Yers should be renamed Generation Why? Huh. Whatever.

The report says that workers over the age of 60 have the highest levels of job satisfaction, pride and motivation of all staff. “They feel [that] their skills are being best used, and they are best able to understand how their job connects to the overall goals of the company,” the study concludes.

Older workers’ biggest advantage over Gen Y is their “willingness to go the extra mile”, the report says, adding: “It takes younger workers years to readjust their high expectations to match their real-time experiences on the job.”

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Hence Sirota’s dismal (for twentysomethings) suggestion that companies prefer older workers over younger, particularly in hard times, to get the most out of every employee.

But another survey, by the Chartered Management Institute, says: “Generation Y managers do not demonstrate the impatient, self-absorbed and disloyal characteristics often accorded to them. The ‘I want it all and I want it now’ myth cannot be [farther] from the truth. They do not shy away from hard work, but expect that hard work to pay off.”

So where does that leave us, apart from confused? Perhaps it just shows that the “tut-tut, kids today” attitude is as prevalent as ever – and one can only fear that older employers will be persuaded by this kind of prejudice.

As for Gen Yers seeking work, what about a career in fashion retail. When was the last time you saw an over40 selling cool gear?

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