Another Generation Gap
There's a bigger picture that reflects a more dramatic generational change. Michael S. Adler, the president of the IEEE, reminisced about the good old days—about 20 years ago—in his column in a recent issue of The Institute, the IEEE's monthly newspaper. In it, he suggests that the "glory days" of most corporate labs are probably gone forever. In every company today, research is closely aligned with the company's business and its bottom line. "Research," he says, "was the corporate touchstone, and labs—and the engineers who worked in them—were revered."
In very general terms, according to a recent survey, it seems that those with the least experience are the most positive, while older workers come off as more passive. That's according to a recent survey of almost 28,000 employees across several industries by research firm ISR.
Employees under 25, the survey points out, are the most optimistic about company leadership and career development. Conversely, the Gen-Xers, those between 25 and 44, are the least satisfied and most pessimistic about their corporate futures. Late Gen-Xers, in particular the 35- to 44-year-olds, are the least satisfied with their companies and the most worried about employment security. Baby boomers who are now 45 to 54 and veterans, those over 55, tend to split the difference in opinions of the two younger groups. However, the veterans, who ISR says should feel empowered to challenge traditional ways, do not seem to exhibit this behavior.
Teks' Byers may reflect the attitude of many young professionals, particularly young EEs, when he says, "I expect to stay hungry, stay aware, and stay productive." Kantack at Agilent has a similar hard-charging attitude: "Almost all customers in the world working on electronic products are using an oscilloscope to validate their designs, and in talking with these customers, I get to see some of the most advanced technologies in the world coming to life." But Lauterbach, the senior member of his company's product development group, doesn't really sound much different. "At LeCroy, we have more ideas than engineers," he says.