While U.S. employers focus on aligning retention and workplace culture efforts across multiple generations, one generation may be overlooked: Generation X.
Gen X, which includes individuals born between 1965 and 1980, comprises about 30% of the U.S. workforce.
Here are seven things for leaders to know about Gen X in the workplace:
1. Feeling overwhelmed by change: Sixty-seven percent of Gen Xers said they are overwhelmed by how quickly their job is changing, according to a September global survey of more than 20,000 professionals.
2. Career concerns: More than half of the 67% in the same survey expressed worry about being left behind in their careers due to the pace of workplace changes.
3. Workplace safety: In 2023, 43% of Gen X healthcare workers reported feeling unsafe at work, according to a survey conducted between December 2023 and January 2024. By comparison, 46% of millennials and 33% of Gen Z workers reported feeling unsafe.
4. Burnout trends: Gen Xers and baby boomers were the least likely to report improved burnout in the past year. Twenty-eight percent of Gen X respondents said their burnout decreased, compared to 22% of baby boomers, 33% of millennials and 44% of Gen Zers, according to the late 2023 survey.
5. Leadership roles: Millennials are on pace to outnumber Gen Xers in leadership positions across U.S. industries in 2025, according to a September report from LinkedIn. However, Gen X workers still accounted for 45.7% of C-suite- or vice president-level leaders in 2023, compared to 44.8% of Millennials.
6. CEO hiring trends: The average age for CEO hires in 2024 was 53.5 years old, making most hires belonging to Gen X. While this age has decreased in recent years, it is still higher than it was a decade ago, according to a summer 2024 report.
7. AI skepticism: Twenty-nine percent of Gen Xers doubted artificial intelligence would significantly impact their jobs, according to a fall 2024 LinkedIn survey. This was lower than Gen Zers (41%), who were most skeptical of AI's impact.