52% women, 75% men prefer to work under younger bosses: Study

More than 52 per cent women and 75 per cent men in the start-up sector preferred working under younger superiors as women felt that younger bosses were less prejudiced and more open to diverse point of view, a recent TeamLease study pointed.

The study titled The Younger Boss — Older Subordinate Relationship that analysed India's evolving world of work, said that the liking for younger bosses is not just restricted to women, even male employees preferred younger bosses.

Around 75 per cent of men, in the start-up industry were open to report to a younger superior indicating a clear shift in the qualities that define leadership. Though there is a penchant for youngsters, there is an equal and strong wave of resentment towards their leadership style, TeamLease said.

While more than 57 per cent of the entry-to-mid level employees across sectors favoured working with younger superior, around 75 per cent of the seasoned professionals (talent with more than 20 years of experience) looked forward to working with older bosses.They attributed the older chiefs with better capabilities to handle complexities, ambiguity, people and organisational transformations.

Commenting on the report, Kunal Sen, senior vice-president, TeamLease Services Limited said: "The shift in the power equation is mainly due to the increasing thrust on technological prowess. Apart from tech-suaveness, the young brigade is perceived to be agile and innovation friendly. However, for long term growth, organizations will require a good mix of talent both old and young with capabilities to handle the many complex situations a company will face in its journey to growth."

Further, from a sectoral perspective barring automobile sector which has expressed a higher preference (73 per cent) for older and more experienced leaders, both IT (69 per cent) and the non IT sectors (58 per cent) chose youngsters.

 

TeamLease is a human resource service company that has eight offices and 1,400 clients across the country.