They’ve arrived: With this year’s graduating class, it’s fair to say that the Gen Z workforce is at the door of U.S. workplace culture. And make no mistake, these are not Millennials. In fact – as is often the case with successive generations – they are in some areas diametrically opposed to Millennials. The citizens of Gen Z were born in the late 90s, generally, and there are 69 million of them. That’s greater numbers than the Millennials or Baby Boomers can attest to. Did we mention that 92% of them have a digital footprint? For companies across the U.S., the time has come to adjust to the world that this new generation brings with them. Here are nine things Gen Z will be looking for in the candidate’s market of tomorrow… that just happens to right around the corner.
1) Be as close to the cutting edge of technology as you can– Gen Z is the first generation for whom technology is as natural and expected an element of their environment as oxygen. Forget memes about Millennials being glued to their phones. The new generation is fully through the technological looking glass. They are swimming in waters that will seem very strange to the rest of us but that will always seem to them as natural as a the first breath from a baby. So make sure they get the sense right away that your company is dedicated to keeping on the cutting edge of technology or they will likely look elsewhere. In many ways, companies will be defined for them by the technology on hand.
2.) Cater to their entrepreneurial spirit– Three quarters of Gen Z high school students are interested in starting their own business, so hitching their wagon to someone else’s train is low on their list of ideals. For many, jobs they get at existing companies will serve as stepping stones and learning opportunities, rather than potential long-term home bases. This may not do wonders for retention, but it may be our new reality going forward. So make sure to offer them plenty of opportunities for training and growth of the generalized kind that has value outside of the company.
Study: Highest-Paying Entry Level Jobs in Tech
3.) Take diversity seriously – The new generation is far less likely to respond to lip service about diversity initiatives and plans for the future, and far more likely to expect to see diversity already in action. Like every generation, they want to change the world into a better place, but their childhoods were spent observing a U.S. on the verge of fundamental, profound cultural shift – there’s an urgency to the righting of social ills among young people that this country certainly hasn’t experienced since the late 60s. Expect cries of “Show me the diversity!” For many Gen Z’ers, if your company is still mostly aging white men, they’re going to keep looking.
4.) Think about ditching open space plans for a return to the private office – Yes, you just rearranged your workspace to accommodate the Millennials’ interest in collaboration and shared work environments. Unfortunately, it will soon be back to the drawing board for floor planners, as Gen Z has shown a preference for focusing on solo work and individuality. This means a job that offers an office has a leg up on one that can only offer a communal space.
5.) Take your job search website profile seriously – Gen Z is fully aware of websites like Comparably, Indeed, and Glass Door, which differ in intent and interface, but which all offer job seekers a snapshot of your company based on what your employees have to say about working for you. If you’re used to churning through employees with no visible culture and an eye only on the bottom line, it will no longer take new workers a few months in your employ to figure out what the score is. It’s all there in plain English from your (hopefully satisfied) employees both old and new. This generation is not as likely to be swayed by corporate double-speak as the previous ones.
6.) Offer them an avenue to mental health support – For a variety of reasons, experts predict Gen Z will have more profound mental health issues than previous generations. Only 45% of Gen Z reports good or excellent mental health, compared to 56% for Millennials and 51% for Gen X. One can hardly blame them, since they have come of age in a cacophonous and often terrifying era of mass shootings, political chaos, racial and gender strife – not to mention multiple screens offering them clashing, often inflammatory takes on all these topics at a blinding pace. Because of this and because of the loosening of the stigma against mental illness, Gen Z will expect their employer to offer them some avenue for mental health care when and if they need it.
7.) Be serious about your Corporate Social Responsibility plan – Again, the era of getting by on paying lip service to social concerns is over, at least if you want to attract Gen Z talent. Gen Z will be looking for you to have a real, demonstrable CSR plan, and they’ll be diligent about keeping you honest. This is a generation living with some well-earned but intense anxiety about the state of the world and the future, and by and large they won’t feel comfortable working for a company that isn’t serious about doing good in the world.
8.) They favor in-person communication– According to studies of Gen Z, the pendulum has swung again from communicating via text, e-mail or IM back to in-person interaction and communication. It makes sense that a generation raised on so much screened content would respond to more traditional forms of communication, at least for the important stuff. So show them a human face and a handshake.
9.) Offer remote positions – A group as tuned in to technology as Gen Z will probably never see the logic in having everyone on your workforce gather in one building, sit together, and work for the same nine hours every day. The need for such a rigid formation of your workforce is receding, and the Gen Z talent you’ll be looking to acquire will expect the sense of work/life freedom a remote position offers them. So offer it to them, or they’re bound to keep looking.
