Steelcase joins forces with Oxford Institute for Ageing

Earlier this month, leading academics in ageing research, facilities and human resources managers, architects and designers gathered at a conference hosted by Steelcase, in conjunction with the Oxford Institute for Ageing, to discuss how office designers can address creatively the challenges presented by increasing age diversity in the workplace.

Research undertaken by Steelcase’s Workspace Futures team shows that there are now four distinct ‘generations’ of people with vastly different working characteristics operating side by side in today’s offices - ‘Traditionals’, ‘Baby Boomers’, ‘GenXers’ and ‘Millennials’.

Catherine Gall, Head of Workspace Futures Research, for Steelcase said: “The needs and workstyles of people at either end of the age scale are as polarised as ever before. This creates very serious issues for business managers relating to conflict in the workplace, communication and turnover of employees.
 
“The youngest generation expect greater flexibility and mobility in the workplace and are more in touch with environmental considerations. They are less concerned with private workspaces, less susceptible to auditory interference and more aware of the level of daylight in offices.
 
 “Companies have to figure out the best ways to recruit and retain these individuals and to enable them to work easily with older generations. There are big financial implications if they do not.”
 
The latest projections from the Office of National Statistics indicate that nearly a third of working people in the UK will be over 50 by 2020. Increased life expectancy and decreasing birth rates are creating an aging workforce. And yet the youngest generation already make up 11% of European office workers.