this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2024
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  1. We're trying to improving working conditions and pay.

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It's funny how the narrative changes when a group can actually fight back. Most of the Gen-Xers I know in tech aren't going back to the office, not because they are ultrawealthy but because they are getting old, are virtually irreplaceable, and are prioritizing life over work after having survived the pandemic.

Also, sure Millenials and Gen-Z are "choosing" to go back. They aren't compelled in any way. Right.

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[–] [email protected] 87 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Is there anything that's more obviously a "divide and conquer" tactic than all this unhinged generational bullshit? I'm gen x, and I've got more in common with my poor millennial and gen z neighbors than I do with some rich fuck my own age.

And the "ultra wealthy" reference in this article is laughable. The ultra wealthy have always done whatever tf they want while the rest of us suffer.

This article is just "young people don't want to work anymore" in a fake nose and glasses.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago

On the nose. Only fight is the class fight

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The generational divide is real in a way because different generations had different possibilities financially.

A few years back you could get cheap loans now you cannot. If you finished university after 08 you could not get a job that paid the same as before or at all etc. These are ups and downs in the market of course but things put you on a trajectory.

I don't know if I will ever own anything and it does not look better for future generations.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Yeah, true. Thanks to investors and the fact that we treat housing like a commodity that can be bought and sold, it was inevitable.

The only reason I was able to buy a house was because I live in bumfuck, South Dakota, I have a husband who applied for the loans along with me, and we got on two programs. But that was in 2019, and it's gotten worse since then, even here.

But yeah, I do understand what you're saying. I just think the blanket statements about entire generations are wack. They called us Gen Xers "slackers" in the 90s and said we didn't want to leave our parents basements, etc. -- they say the same shit about every generation, and it's like we get amnesia about it every time. It's so ignorant when I hear people my age say the exact same things about Gen Z and millenials that they said about us.

[–] [email protected] 70 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

My company is full of Gen X (I myself am just on the X/Millennial cusp) and they are honestly some of the best allies that Millenials and Z aren't tapping into. Gen X pull weight and equally don't give a fuck, due to the latchkey-COWABUNGA-go-play-in-the-streets timeframe they grew up in.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The only thing that stopped us taking over was being outnumbered, and that’s changing fast.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm rooting for y'all. I consider myself to be a decently successful person, and behind my success at multiple pivotal moments, was an influential Gen X person supporting and/or vouching for me.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Thanks!

We had to learn altruism to survive the neglect, so our parents accidentally trained us not to pull up the ladder like the Boomers. Lord of the Flies debunked.

To be honest the neglect was better than when they did pay attention, for all we complain about it. No parenting was better than shitty parenting.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

I found star trek TNG as a role model but also Beavis and butthead trained me. I mean we lived when ypu could pick up a phone daily random digits and prank a stranger, we were invisible when we wanted to be.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I have a feeling GenX are also the first generation that won't be allowed to retire, so we're going to be working with them for a long time.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Maybe some. But some of us got in on 401k and ira and stuff. I know some didn't though. I worry about millennials and especially gen z, though. Us progressives and those even further left gotta start running for office and fix this shit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This Gen Xer is planning to die relatively young. Retirement definitely is not in the cards. I have a permanent chronic health condition. My wife has already fought cancer once. Healthcare is impoverishing. I will probably die at my desk. I hope I doesn't demoralize my younger coworker friends.

I guess I could easily slave another 25 years. Mostly I hope to live long enough to pay off my house, so my kid can actually own one. I feel like I should have bought him one ten years ago, but I couldn't afford to.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Don't give up skeleton!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Because we (GenX here). Are bookended by the two largest generations ever and we are the smallest one. So here we are both paying for our parents retirement and paying for our kids who don't have careers yet.

We are totally fucked. I don't plan on ever retiring. I'm too important to too many people that matter immensely to me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

The boomers have been really successfull in simultaneously punching down across the generations and making us punch down on each other at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It me, though ultra-wealthy is a disingenuous choice of words: unless you can live off of your capital alone, you’re not ultra-wealthy.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

It’s just more shifting the goalposts.

By lowering the bar on what “wealthy” is, it starts targeting those chanting “eat the rich” at each other.

Timmy the Zer sees Dave the Xer with a house and car and equates that with wealth and starts blasting. While the actual wealthy hide away in their riches and are left alone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Right? I'm just sitting here like "I got $1000 in the bank, a nice job that lets me travel, living comfortably within my means; we're all in the same metaphorical boat."

[–] [email protected] 27 points 8 months ago

GenX here. I'm getting my ducks in a row to early retire if I want. I'm not ultra wealthy by any means. Just saved and invested back when that was easier for worker bees to do. I'll work another year or two, but it's nice knowing I can walk.

I'm also hard to replace. I feel sorry for the poor person who gets stuck with my job.

I like my younger coworkers. They are funny and smart. The boomer bosses, not so much. The boomers ask us for shit, we make it happen, and then they take all the credit for it. Anything that goes wrong they blame it on us, of course.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Gen X here. I am, indeed, irreplaceable. I have multiple conversations in a week about contract to hire, or other nonsense, in a week. I know what I'm about, I know what I can do, and I will not stand for this kind of stupidity in hiring.

I am more effective working at home. I have been doing it for 10 years now.

You do not want me in your office. My jibes are too much for the boomers.

To wit, leave me alone, I just want to quietly do my job, and I don't need you blathering about it in my ear.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

Well can you at least uncover your camera? We really want to at least see you. Please?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago

I’m a xenial with a tech job and have reached irreplaceable status. I’m very fortunate to have been able to give the RTW ultimatum. I can assure you that I am anything but wealthy, let alone ultra wealthy.

I simply have a job that allows me to work from home, and I have a unique skill set. For which I am extremely grateful.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

I was going to force the RTW issue since I loved working from home, but they actually ponied up a shitload of money, and well, I love money more. Hopefully it doesn’t mess with my work/life balance too much.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

How are you all so wrapped up in fake generational war ?? What the fuck , you’re all mental.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I agree that the generational mud slinging is a waste of energy and meant to distract. The entire narrative around generational divide is created and pushed by corporate media. It's the same story over and over, sow a social divide and keep the "have nots" infighting while the "haves" rob us blind. And the significant majority of us are not in the latter group and never will be no matter how much we fund our 401k and save.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Probably could have stopped at “ultra wealthy”.

If you’re well positioned enough to have made yourself ultra-wealthy, you’re probably in a position to be calling some of the shots and can dictate when and where you’ll be. Doesn’t matter which generation it is.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I agree with OP's comments but the article, not so much. Like OP the Gen Xers I know that are close to retirement with their financial ducks in a row do not prefer to be in the office. Being irreplaceable means you have the leverage to successfully negotiate a WFH arrangement.