Younger workers are feeling undervalued, stressed and lonely in the workplace.
The 2024 Work in America Survey from the American Psychological Association found that 45% of workers 18-25 felt lonely at work whilst 48% feel stressed or tense at work.
“The two most significant contributors are the age diversity of the workforce and titanic changes in how people interact. Many people who would be retired now are still working; there’s less in-person, face-to-face interaction and more “connection” through social media, which is full of memes that demonstrate the stark and sometimes hilarious differences between Boomers, Gen X-ers, Millennials, and Gen Z-ers. When it comes to the workplace, though, those differences present real problems for people who work together,” Shane Owens, PhD, a board certified behavioral and cognitive psychologist told Theravive.
32% of workers surveyed said that in their workplace, those who are not close to them in age don’t see the value in their ideas. 48% of workers aged 18-25 reported feeling this way, compared with just 16% of workers aged 65 and over.
Those aged from 18-25 and 26-43 were significantly more likely to report that they are more comfortable working with people their own age rather than with other age groups.
92% said they appreciate the opportunity to work with people of different ages and 87% see having a variety of ages in the workplace as advantageous.
But a quarter of survey respondents say they are worried for their job security due to their age. 29% reported that they were self-conscious about their age at work. 43% of workers aged 18-25 reported feeling this way.
The poll also found that workers who are comfortable expressing themselves in the workplace and raising issues that may be difficult without worry of a negative consequence typically report having better experiences at work. This is what psychologists refer to as psychological safety.
Those who experience high levels of psychological safety were more likely to report that they felt like they belonged and felt comfortable being themselves in the work place.
Owens says that could partially be due to the workplace, but is likely also down to the people who work there.
“Those statistics might be only somewhat attributable to the workplace. The problem may be a bad person-environment fit. While we put appropriate pressure on workplaces to be psychologically safe, a lot depends on the individuals who work there,” he said.
“Workplaces can contribute to individual well-being by providing balanced opportunities to achieve and grow both as an individual and as part of the group. Employers must also write, promote, and enforce policies that respect the ever-changing values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Finally, employers should support their employees’ physical and mental health through robust benefits packages and easily accessible immediate access to those services.”
Those who had a disability reported that they experienced lower levels of psychological safety at work. 48% with a mental, learning, emotional or cognitive disability said that their company culture respects time off. By comparison, 63% of people without a disability felt the same way.
57% of workers who had a physical disability said they are concern AI could take some or all of their duties in the workplace in the near future. 37% of workers without a disability reported feeling the same way.
“We have a lot more work to do in building genuinely inclusive workplaces. Good employers pay a lot of attention to making workplaces accessible and equitable. Still, we’re constantly learning new ways to accommodate people with different abilities. People with all kinds of disabilities need to see that employers are listening and working toward enhancing their ability to work for their achievement and that of the company,” Owens said.
He says those who have work related problems can have difficulties not only during work hours, but when they’re not working as well.
“Many people who have difficulty at work engage in this vicious and apparently inescapable cycle: They spend a lot of time at work thinking about and doing anything but work and a lot of time outside work worrying about their job,” he said.
“Essentially, unhealthy workers in unresponsive workplaces never leave work. This pattern often manifests as poor performance, an inability to get along with others, and frequent unnecessary absences.”