"I've been doing talks to the grads as they walk in now, in their early 20s," she says. "I think out to 20 years from now, and one of these people theoretically may be my boss."
She says her experience has taught her that to avoid getting stalled, "you don't want to stay in one box."
Talent War
"Don't be dependent on anything or anyone," Neu says. "It's safest to plan as if the government isn't going to take care of me, companies aren't going to take care of me."
The center's Generation X survey found 41 percent are unsatisfied with their rate of advancement and 49 percent feel stalled in their careers.
The findings come at time when businesses say it's increasingly difficult to find qualified workers, according to Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup, a provider of temporary employees. In the U.S., 52 percent of employers reported having trouble filling positions this year, up from 14 percent in 2010, according to a ManpowerGroup survey.
That makes workers in Generation X, a third of whom have a bachelor's degree or higher and the youngest of whom have been in the workforce for about a decade, a key pool for companies, the report says.
"These are the next generation of leaders, and if we're not taking care of their needs and wants, how are we going to retain them?" says Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Zurich-based managing director and global head of diversity and inclusion at Credit Suisse Group AG, the Zurich-based investment bank. "There is definitely a war for talent out there."
The Generation X survey found that 70 percent would prefer to be their own bosses. They want the flexibility that will allow them to devote time to outside pursuits and family obligations. Less rigid hours and less time spent in the office are very important to 66 percent of women and 55 percent of men in the study, though 43 percent of women and 32 percent of men surveyed do not have children.
For those with children, Generation X members are as extreme at home as they are at work as they try to be the kind of involved parents that many of them -- the first generation of "latchkey" kids -- did not have, according to the report. Sixty-five percent of women and 59 percent of men surveyed feel guilty about the time they spend away from their children, the study found.
"They're trying to create this island of security for their kids, and that creates tension," demographer Howe says. "They're running around taking all these risks while they're trying to create the opposite life for their kids."