The Power of Negative Blogging

I ran into this transcript of a radio editorial by Dan Drezner about boomers and retirement on PublicRadio.org. He whines about Baby Boomers, then in the comment section, Boomers whine about Xers, who then whine about Baby Boomers. Ah… the internet.

The reason I even bother to bring it to your attention is that his assumption that all the Boomers would retire at 65, like it was mandatory and the law, is a common assumption for many of the younger generation. I’ll let Dan tell you in his own words (you can hear the podcast if you prefer). Another sidenote on public radio: Can they get anyone one with a dynamic voice to do these things?? It’s always the same bland, boring voices. I’m not looking for the zany drive time bunch, but some inflection now and again would be nice!…Back to your regularly scheduled blog post:

The financial downturn has left all sorts of casualties in its wake: more unemployment, depressed wages, and greater economic uncertainty. But I’d like to direct my angst at a different target — the baby boomers.

A hidden effect of this crisis is that, in the workplace, as in popular discourse, they simply refuse to get out of the way.

To understand my lament, you have to realize that the oldest of the baby boomers are on the cusp of retirement. For younger generations, this should be a cause for relief. For decades, Gen X-ers like myself have had to hear the standard declarations about the uniqueness of the baby boomers. Maybe they were not the Greatest Generation, but they were the ones who glorified the whole idea of generational identity. For decades, Gen X-ers have had to hear complaints about our political apathy, our popular culture, and our musical tastes.

We have suffered many of these critiques without complaint.

(Sorry…it’s me again. As a gen-xer myself, I know this is BS. Xers are known complainers and are never satisfied. It’s one of the reasons we’re so effective. We see something, find what’s wrong with it and try and make it better. But we complain. He’s flat out lying if he thinks otherwise. Ok…back to it!)

Why? Because so many of us worked for so many of them. They were the bosses of the business world. And they were supposed to be retiring very soon, but the recession has changed all that.

In 2008, U.S. workers aged 55 to 64 who had 401(k)’s for at least 20 years saw their retirement balances drop an average of 20 percent. A recent YouGov poll showed two-thirds of this generation have not made the necessary adjustments in their financial planning. This is not a recipe for leaving the workforce anytime soon.

What does this mean for the rest of us? Younger workers who expected promotions when the boomers cleared out are going to have to stew in their own juices. With this job market, looking for a better opportunity elsewhere is not in the cards. Which means that Gen X-ers are going to have to listen to baby boomers doing what they do best — talk about themselves.

Office politics across the country are going to get a lot nastier. Of course, it could be worse. Generation Y not only has to deal with the boomers, they have to cope with people like me complaining about them.

Ego and irritating voice aside, this is the perception of many Xers. They know the Boomers are hitting their 60’s and should be retiring. But even before the financial crisis, the trend for Boomers not retiring was starting to get into full swing. 65 is not the same as it was a generation or two ago. They’re not decrepit old people, wetting themselves in their adult diapers needing a nurse. The fact that Americans have been living longer and with a better quality of life have led people to think “Why should I retire? I’m still productive and can whip anyone who takes me on thanks to my experience. What am I going to do if I retire? I’m too active to just golf and watch “The Price is Right” all day.”

And they’re right.

The bottle-neck is coming. Actually it’s here. It’s going to take another 10-15 years to unclog all the boomers who stay at their jobs. A job they have every right to have. The younger generations are going to have to find new ways of climbing the ladder, evolving into leadership.

Probably by actually showing leadership skills, not just because you’re the next in line and you can’t wait your turn.