Gen X and Y employees take a different approach to workplace benefits than their baby boom predecessors and expect and demand different employee perks, according to a speaker at a recent Employee Management Association Conference.

While the baby boom generation is fast approaching retirement age and putting pressure on companies to provide better pension and 401(k) benefits, Generation X and Y workers have a different agenda. Many Gen Xers (those born between 1961 and 1981) expect to work at many different companies and jobs during their lifetime, and they know that they will not benefit from retirement programs that require years of steady service before vesting.

Generation Y workers (those born after 1981) are those most likely to opt out of traditional health insurance, and are not interested in long-term care or 401(k) plans. But they respond to company diversions, such as trips and retreats.

Both Gen X and Gen Y workers seem to need instant gratification, and respond better to more frequent raises, three or four times a year, even if the raises are in lower amounts than a yearly raise would be.

While Gen Xers tend to have a strong sense of family, their own family does not look like the traditional two-parent family. They are more likely being raised by aunts, uncles, single parent, or a grandparent. They are therefore likely to put pressure on the government to broaden the definition of “parent” under the FMLA Act.