Start-up employees prefer reporting to younger bosses: Survey

In a clear shift from the past, employees in the start-up industry favour working with younger bosses, says a TeamLease report.

As per the report, around 75% of male employees in the start-up industry are open to report to a younger superior, while in the case of females, the figure is 52%.

A younger boss is more understanding and practical, reasons why employees prefer them more, said the headhunter firm in its report.

"The shift in 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," Kunal Sen, Senior Vice-President, TeamLease Services, said.

"For long-term growth, organisations will require a good mix of talent, both old and young, with capabilities to handle many complex situations a company will face in its journey to growth."

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

Although there is a penchant for youngsters, there is a strong wave of resentment towards their leadership style as well. More than 57% of the entry to mid-level employees across industries favoured working with a younger superior while around 75% of professionals 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, the report said.