A young worker sparked controversy at her workplace after trying to use Excel shortcuts to speed up her workflow. Recounted in the “Boomers Being Fools” Reddit forum, this poster suggested her office’s generational divide not only inflated tension between co-workers but also clearly harmed productivity.
Like many other Gen Z workers, she felt demeaned for her knowledge. Despite knowing it would speed up workflow, her boomer boss simply told her, “No.”
A worker turned to Reddit after her boomer boss reprimanded her for knowing how to use Excel shortcuts.
“I’m working for a small family business owned by boomers,” she wrote. “They have some unusual ways of doing things… To track employee time off, they have a spreadsheet.”
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“They were showing me how to use it,” the worker wrote. “This is a large spreadsheet, so I use CTRL+F to find the employee in the list. Ensure frantic yelling.”
Confused by her boss’ anger, she asked what happened. “Don’t do that,” her boss screamed. “Scroll! Scroll! I just don’t like that!” After trying to explain the Excel shortcut and how it can help speed up the process, her boomer boss simply shut it down.
“They are not interested in [learning]. They go on to explain to me that it will delete something. It is at this point that I learn they spent hours manually entering every day of the year into the spreadsheet… I politely offered them the driver’s seat to scroll to their heart’s content.”
Despite saving time, the boomer boss insisted that using shortcuts they didn’t understand would inevitably ‘delete’ something.
With the speed of technological advances and even the perceived threats of AI, it’s not surprising that many older generations of workers are uncomfortable with new workflows, especially in spaces they’ve succeeded in for many years.
However, their preference to do things “the old ways” only hurts productivity and underutilizes younger workers’ knowledge base.
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A 2024 survey reported on by Newsweek found that not only boomers but also Gen Z workers are impacted by this divide, revealing they’re “struggling” with healthy office relationships and productivity.
“It’s not just about age or generational gaps,” HR consultant Bryan Driscoll explained to Newsweek. “It’s about changing attitudes toward work, evolving technologies, and differing communication styles. Ultimately, the old ways of work simply don’t work for younger generations.”
Many workplaces are grappling with varied technology skill sets between co-workers of different generations.
More focused on maintaining work-life balance, personal identity, and general well-being for themselves, many Gen Z workers are criticized by older generations for attempting to change the traditional workplace culture.
Instead of being labeled as “visionaries and change-makers” older generations have scoffed at their perceptions, calling them “lazy and unmotivated.”
Differing comfort levels with technology aren’t the reason for the animosity between generations but rather a symptom of it. Just because boomer employees might’ve had to bear the burden of “traditional” expectations or technology doesn’t mean everyone else has to.
Our world is changing quickly. Resentment won’t cure our divisiveness, but respect will.
Whether it’s in the office, on the streets, or in your own family, approach conversations with an open mind — you’ll learn more than you think.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.
