Jason McCormick, left, works with Bill Sheikewitz at Red Rock Resort's sports book. Sheikewitz is McCormick's senior by 30 years, but says the age gap doesn't prevent a smooth working relationship. Photo by Samantha Clemens.

Jason McCormick and Bill Sheikewitz have a fairly typical working relationship.

McCormick, director of the race and sports book at Red Rock Resort, supervises Sheikewitz's activities as a race and sports ticket writer. McCormick sets betting lines, monitors incoming wagers and helps set Sheikewitz's and other ticket writers' work schedules.

There's just one peculiarity between the two: At 61, Sheikewitz is old enough to be his 31-year-old supervisor's father.

It's a story familiar to anyone who's seen the 2004 movie "In Good Company," which tells the tale of a seasoned advertising executive placed under the management of a fresh-faced boss half his age.

In the Hollywood version, angst ensues.

For Sheikewitz and McCormick, however, harmony has prevailed.

"The age difference isn't a factor," Sheikewitz said. "If the manager you work under leads by example, keeps a constructive relationship with you and treats you with respect, age doesn't matter. Jason listens. He leads by example. He keeps constructive relationships. He's extremely approachable and he's honest."

McCormick said he's never felt unappreciated by Sheikewitz, or any other older staffer.

"You need to offer respect in return," said McCormick, who estimated that about 200 of the 250 people who report to him are older than he is. "If I have respect for them and what they want to accomplish on the job and in life, that respect is returned to me."

National numbers tabulating how many young managers have older workers under their purview are difficult to come by, but Dianne Durkin, president of New Hampshire consulting firm Loyalty Factor, said an aging population has meant more management opportunities for workers in their 20s and 30s.

"Older generations are going into retirement mode," said Durkin, who studies the dynamics between young bosses and their elders. "They're not necessarily advancing anymore."

That's how Sheikewitz ended up on McCormick's staff.

Sheikewitz retired from a 40-year career with the New York Stock Exchange, where he ultimately ended up as director of floor operations. Four years ago, he retired and moved to Las Vegas to pursue his "fantasy job" of working in a race and sports book. After writing tickets at a smaller casino, Sheikewitz joined Red Rock when it opened in April. He sees having a young boss as a natural part of his second career.

"Most people in the work force today are going to be younger than I am anyway," he said. "There was a time when I was a younger manager, too. You've got to expect fine, young managers if you want to get back into the work force at 61."

An October survey from job-search company OfficeTeam revealed broad acceptance of the younger manager/seasoned worker scenario.

Among those surveyed, 51 percent of workers said they would be very comfortable reporting to a younger manager, while 33 percent would be somewhat comfortable with a younger boss. Eleven percent and 3 percent said respectively that they'd be somewhat uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with a younger supervisor.

Also, 70 percent of respondents said they'd be very comfortable managing an older worker, while 19 percent said they'd be somewhat comfortable supervising an older employee. Nine percent said they'd be somewhat uncomfortable overseeing the work of an older employee, and 2 percent said they'd be very uncomfortable watching over an older worker.

Sean Paaga and Nina Rasmussen of IT Strategies International Corp. in Las Vegas say they're completely at ease in their working relationship.

As a vice president of IT Strategies, Paaga, 37, manages Rasmussen, a recruiting director in her late 50s.

"It's not ever awkward, because you know what you know," said Rasmussen, who's tasked with finding contractors to handle computer-consulting services for IT Strategies' clients. "We sit down and talk daily. We really are a team."

Paaga has been a manager for nearly nine years, including holding down supervisory jobs with placement firm Robert Half International and overseeing recruiting at more than 30 Western offices for Aerotek Staffing Agency. In his earliest days as a boss, he fielded a little attitude from his older charges.

"They thought I was wet behind the ears," Paaga said. "They said, 'Who is this guy? He excelled at sales, and now he's a manager? Why is he a manager?' I heard that a lot."

Today, though, Paaga senses no resentment whatsoever. Nor is he worried any longer about whether his more seasoned employees respect him.

"I've been in the trenches doing their jobs," he said. "Recruiter, salesperson -- I still do it every day. A manager has to lead by example. I don't ask people to do anything I wouldn't do."

Plus, Paaga's supervisory style has changed over the last decade, from "bull in a china shop" to thinking instead about how he and his employees can work as a team.

Durkin said more workers will, like Paaga and Rasmussen, have to get comfortable with the generational switch in management roles. As baby boomers reach their twilight years over the next two decades, many of them will downsize to part-time jobs or to less-stressful positions with fewer responsibilities. That career downshifting will increasingly open management opportunities to members of generations X and Y, the demographic cohorts born between 1965 and 1998.

"You've got a very bright, energetic, idealistic group of individuals coming up in the ranks," Durkin said. "They're technologically savvy, and they want to learn and grow and make a difference in the world. They are progressing at a great level above baby boomers who are thinking, 'I'm tired, I've done it all and I want to enjoy life for a change.'"

Durkin said efforts to understand the differences in generational work habits could smooth relations between younger managers and their older charges. Tension isn't inevitable, she said; after all, many boomers are choosing to step back from the management fold.

Twentysomethings who find themselves supervising employees in their 50s or 60s should think of their elders as mentors first and foremost, Durkin said.

"Respect their knowledge base, and respect their relationship capabilities," she said. "Respect their hard work and the corporate commitment they've had for so many years."

Sheikewitz said that high regard cuts both ways.

"Don't just look at the age difference," he advised his peers. "Try to respect the person, especially if he has decent management skills and he treats you well individually."

Older employees can also help guide their younger overlords in relationship-building and the development of communications skills. Many Xers, even those who land jobs as supervisors, have no management training, so be patient and be helpful, Durkin said.

Paaga said communication has been essential to his working relationships. He seeks the opinions of everyone on his team, and he advocates tailoring communication styles to specific workers.

"Ask people, 'What's my best approach to talking to you and bettering the team?" he suggested. "The only way I'm successful is if I learn to manage and communicate correctly with the people on my team."

Paaga also recommended that managers with older workers check out "In Good Company" for an understanding of how some May-December management relationships might unfold.

Rasmussen said she adapts to younger coworkers by keeping up with the latest technologies.

"(Generations X and Y) love their toys and their BlackBerrys," she said. "You want to know what they're talking about" when the subject of gadgets and gizmos comes up at the office.

And boomers who launched their careers two decades to three decades ago, when advancing up the corporate ladder required 60-hour work weeks and weekends at the office, need to know that Generation Xers who clock out at 5 p.m. to catch a child's school play or soccer game aren't lazy, Durkin added.

"Older workers can learn a lot from younger workers about balancing life and work," she said. "(Young managers) will get the work done, but they also are totally committed to themselves and to their families. Generation X works to live, as opposed to living to work."

McCormick urges other young bosses to "know their stuff."

"As a young person, leading people who are older than you are, you can't fake your way through things or guess at things," he said. "These people have years of experience, or they've encountered similar situations before. You need the utmost confidence in what you're doing."

Handled well, relationships with older employees can offer a more fulfilling work-place environment, McCormick said. Based on their experiences with children and grandchildren, McCormick's staffers can offer him loads of advice and anecdotes pertaining to his own small children. And chatting often about events on and off the job has yielded a "family atmosphere."

"It's great to come in to work and see 20 smiling faces, shake their hands every day and get a genuine smile when I ask them how they're doing," he said. "They share stories about their wives and kids and grandkids, and they ask me about my family. That's the most rewarding thing, knowing that each person working for me definitely enjoys their job and enjoys coming to work."