In today’s multigenerational workforce, companies may emphasize the needs and expectations of younger staff – i.e. millennials and GenY. This attention may come at the expense of older staff – i.e. Gen X and Baby Boomers. However, one issue increasingly common to all generations is diminished hearing. Whether through genetics, aging, noise exposure or perennial use of earbuds and headphones, today’s employees are losing their hearing at an unprecedented rate.
Acceptable acoustics is a common component to the multigenerational workplace. Acknowledging aural advocacy is critical to achieving successful and inclusive workplace environments. Successful workplace planning needs to support aural advocacies for all generational users. Today’s workplace cannot be uniformly effective unless adequate acoustical design and planning solutions are integrated to address the needs of all staff.
Speakers:
Carolyn Stern, Director of Outreach and Strategic Initiatives, Center for Hearing and Communications
Josh Loar, Principal, Charcoalblue, LLC
Dustin Giannelli, Founder, HearsDustin.com
Tracey Needles, Accessibility lead, Google
David Weinberg, Director, WRNS Studio