Stick a pin in 'em. They're done.

Back in high school, I read a book about demographics called Boom, Bust & Echo (David K. Foot) that I've never forgotten. I read it for a seminar I had to do in my Digital Media Studies class, and while it obviously doesn't have much to do with Digital Media, it was the practical applications of the theory that's always stuck in my head.

A quick history lesson for those of you who don't have a clear understanding of Canadian demographics: After our troops returned home from WWII (about 1947), well... they and their wives, they got it on. A lot. All of the couples who weren't able to begin or expand their families during the 8 to 9 years of war and clean-up, now did so eagerly. The same thing happened in the States, Australia, and Britain though their troops came home much sooner so their Booms are considered to have started in 1945. The Canadian Baby-boom lasted until 1966, but between 1947 and 1957 the population increased by a whopping 20% in just 10 years.

Following the Boom, came the Bust. Enter the 60s and 70s. Women's lib, along with other factors like raging inflation and the widespread implementation of birth control (!), meant that a lot less babies were born. Another contributing factor was merely that those of child-bearing years were born during WWII, and there just weren't that many of them. Less young parents equals less babies. This demographic cohort has been widely known as Generation X.

As the Boomers started a'child-rearing in the 80s and 90s, their offspring became known as the Baby-boom Echo or Generation Y. Again, lots of 20-somethings, means lots of babies.

Basically what it means, is the Baby-boom generation has been an undeniable driving force in our culture. Because it is preportionately so much a bigger part of the population, their whole lives, they have been catered to in almost all areas. Advertisers, marketers and all things market-driven have focused on Boomer needs as they age - following the money in such a massive cohort. Since birth, Boomers have always gotten exactly what they've wanted, when they've needed it. Imagine what that has done for their collective psyche.

Obviously this is a pretty simplistic view of our country's demographics, but you get the picture.

And so we get down to why I care about demographics. Well.. because they've got too much power over my life. Once I was made aware of their implications, it's easy to see them at play everywhere. You see, my parents are Boomers. I'm an Echo. Being at the forefront of these demographic cohorts has dictated much of the consequences of our lives and therefore molded the way we've seen our world.

The common complaint against we Echos is that we're spoiled, entitled brats. We've never had to struggle and we think the world is owed to us on a silver spoon. I'm not going to argue that, as I know there are groups of those kids out there, but more and more I'm seeing that same spoiled, entitled, bratty behaviour coming from the soon-to-be-retired Boomers. If the Boomers are our parents, well gee, I wonder where we got it from?!

I work at CBC and have been a permanent employee here for 3 years come July. Like the rest of the broadcasting industry, this recession has hit our advertising dollars hard and we're feeling it to the tune of 800 layoffs across the country. I am very much on the block. Doesn't feel so good, but I don't blame the Corp. I truly feel our management has done all they can to prevent this.

However, if a pink slip comes my way on May 18th, I know exactly who to point fingers at. You see, the Corp's hope was that almost all of the job cuts would be taken care of by voluntary retirements. Due to previous funding cuts resulting in workforce reductions, the CBC is left with a rapidly aging staff. Fulltime staff is dangerously inpreportionately Boomers, many very close to having their retirement numbers if they haven't already got them.

In my mind as an Echo, the retirement incentive is sweet; 1 years pay severance with an unreduced pension. For our generation, the idea of a pension is a bit of Holy Grail. We don't really expect to see a pension ... Ever. We know the Boomers will have drained public and private pension plans dry long before 2045 when the first of us would qualify. There simply aren't enough in the Bust and subsequent Echos to pay into them in any kind of sustaining way. So we've accepted it. It's not in the cards for us. Our retirements are our individual responsibilities; Start your RRSPs now!

My frustration has been mounting over the past few weeks as I hear more and more "should-be" retirees bitching and moaning about how the package isn't good enough. Historically, CBC severance has been a much more lucrative offering - often up to two years pay. My jaw drops at that and then falls to the floor when I hear that despite the differences in the situation and our society's financial woes, that 2 years is still the expectation. Brats. Spoiled, entitled, unneccessarily greedy, Brats.

I've yet to have one of the refusers explain to me exactly what it is they think is owed to them. They have been paid handily for their 30 plus years of service including what are still commonly referred to as the CBC "glory years" where money flowed and ridiculous amounts of overtime and freebees were the norm. Why is it that they should get an extra dime out of the Corp simply for retiring with full numbers? It doesn't make any sense to me. In my mind, you work, you're paid for it, that is where obligation ends. This expectation that your employer owes you more than that for *nothing* boggles the mind. I believe in unions and collective agreements, but this surpasses rights earned through collective bargaining. This is tantamount to greed at it's worst.

And so the frustrations mount. The work environment now pits oldtimers against the newbies in a stare-down that the newbies can't hope to win. We try to appeal to their decency, but their selfishness can't help but outweigh any sense of fairness to their younger colleagues. Precidents have been set, and that must mean they deserve it - earned or not. It is the way of the Boomer.

I don't begrudge them living out their later years on their cushy pensions. Those, they have earned and I envy them their futures. That's why I don't feel I'm asking them to even really give up anything! Go! Enjoy your retirement! Spend time with your grandkids. Travel. Do charity work. Or don't! Do nothing if you prefer. But please, just go. We're your children and you're hurting us.

You see, I ask nothing more than to have the oppurtunity they had. I'd like to have the financial stability to buy a home and start a family. I'd like to count on being able to be a productive contributor to the company and society. Is that so much to ask? That my life be able to begin?

And what of the poor Busters who long ago hit the glass ceiling that is the Boomers in top jobs? They've been waiting decades for Boomers to finally retire out of the best paying management positions, and it looks like they will continue to wait. The Boomers don't realize how comparatively easy they've had it, carving their ways through the world with their sheer force of numbers. Moreover, they don't care. I just wish they'd look beneath them every now and then to see the people struggling in their wake. We may give the impression that we're the silver spoon generation, but we're struggling. Oh man are we struggling!

It's time Baby-Boomers. You've had the last 60 years to dominate the North American Will. Please pass the torch.

Afterall... it's owed to us. We deserve it.

Or so you've taught us...