The Gen Xers Who Waited Their Turn to Be CEO Are Getting Passed Over

Gen Xers, typically defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, are having fewer chances to lead

- Callum Borchers

When it comes to the C-suite, Gen X might be doomed to live up to its "forgotten generation" moniker. More baby boomers are working past traditional retirement ages. By the time they are ready to pass the torch, millennials will be reaching for it.

This is already happening at more companies. In the Russell 3000, 41.5% of chief executives are at least 60 years old, up from 35.1% in 2017. Over the same period, the share of CEOs in their 30s and 40s has grown to 15.1% from 13.8%, according to research by the Conference Board and ESGAUGE.

That leaves Gen Xers, typically defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, with fewer chances to lead. People in their 50s held 51.1% of CEO seats eight years ago. Now they occupy 43.4%.

Many Gen Xers say they operated on the belief that if they paid their dues, their time would come. But as they enter what is usually the prime, C-suite career stage, more businesses are retaining their aging leaders or skipping a generation in search of the next ones.

"We're starting to see a barbell phenomenon in the CEO role where Gen X is being squeezed in the middle," says Matteo Tonello, head of benchmarking and analytics at the Conference Board.

Maybe it's fitting that workers dubbed "slackers" in their youth would reach the top less often, though Tonello says companies don't necessarily lack faith in Gen Xers. Their predicament is largely a result of bad timing.