At 65 years old, Laerte de Malta Viegas works as a technical consultant at Sesc in Porto Alegre (RS), where he entered the civil construction sector 41 years ago.
Nicknamed “Dad” by his colleagues, he is the oldest in the team, which has members of different ages. Intergenerational coexistence is a challenge and there is a shock especially with the younger generation, considered by him as anxious and immediate.
With the aging of the population, the labor market must increasingly have people from different generations working together. Teams made up of people in their fifties or sixties led by young people, less conventional positions, are also increasing.
Breaking pre-established age stereotypes is essential for good cohabitation in the corporate environment. Experts emphasize that age diversity can bring benefits to companies, but requires good management by leaders.
Contrary to popular belief about older workers, Laertes feels motivated and has no plans to retire in the next five years. It combines work with other activities of interest, such as motorcycling, reading and philosophy.
“I try to disconnect from certain things at work. But every time that happens, opportunities present themselves to do something different, which motivates and delights me,” he says. “The best is always to come.”
Laerte seeks to pass on to younger people the knowledge he has acquired during his years of experience in the market. On the other hand, he struggles to manage the way younger generations interact in the workplace.
“You see a lot of young people working with headphones on…they don’t interact, they don’t talk. So people like me are trying to figure out how do I get the attention of this person who’s not even looking at me?”
For Eduardo Danilo Schmitz, master in human aging from the University of Passo Fundo and doctor in education from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, there is a cultural gap between generations born in radically different worlds.
“At first there is a strangeness and tensions that arise. But what companies discover is that in these differences there is enormous wealth and that this should not be seen as a problem, but as a great opportunity.”
Currently, the labor market has employees from four generations: baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), X (1965 and 1980), Y or millennials (1981 and 1996) and Z (1997 and 2010).
For him, it is important that leaders create a favorable environment for the exchange of experiences, mutual learning and reverse mentoring with employees of different ages, which reduces bias and improves the organizational climate.
Although ageism often targets older people, Schmitz points out that younger people are also targets of this bias.
“There is a label that they are not responsible, that they do not want to work. And there is a huge prejudice against young managers, because that is not what is expected. The social representation of a manager is that of an older person.”
Liziane Mieres, 43, is director of the Sesc operational unit in Caxias do Sul (127.8 km from Porto Alegre), but took her first management position at age 31, in the Bagé unit (377.6 km from the capital of Rio Grande do Sul).
She remembers situations in which being young in a leadership position caused strangeness and cast doubt on her abilities.
“I realize that people still expect the manager to be an older person, a man, taller. I’m a 1.56m woman. There was a time when they didn’t believe I was the manager. It makes me think about what should be hidden behind a position, besides knowledge and skills.”
Today, Liziane rubs shoulders with four different generations working together, which requires management skills to obtain a more profitable result.
“We will no longer have the norm that we had before in the labor market, which wanted the oldest people to be those who occupy the highest positions. I have leaders here who are 24, 25 years old and who are almost ready to take charge of a unit.”
Diego Palma, 32, accounting and costs coordinator at Eurofarma, manages a team of 13 people, nine of whom are older than him.
Among the members is planning and budget analyst Sérgio de Medeiros, 62, with almost 30 years of experience in the company. For Diego, the age difference between employees adds to their daily work.
“I don’t see this as an obstacle. Being almost twice my age, Sérgio can bring this experience not only to me, but to the whole team.”
According to Claudio Leopoldino, professor of administration at the Federal University of Ceará, the most mature professionals stand out for what are called soft skills.
“Older generations are known for their interpersonal communication skills, they handle organizational bureaucracy better and are also more resilient.”
Technological difficulties are not a problem for Sérgio, who asks his teammates for help when necessary. He also manages to bring his critical perspective to the work.
“I love what I do and I think there has to be analysis in everything we do. That’s what I always tell the boys: don’t just push a button.”
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