Hiring managers, it’s time to pack up your Pokémon cards and download TikTok. Generation Z is entering the workforce, and its members have a different outlook on employment than their Millennial predecessors. Their priorities: influential jobs and careers, work-life balance and a work environment that values employee well-being. Companies that hope to tap into this tech-savvy, flexible-thinking workforce would do well to consider their approach and policies around those areas. It’s key to attracting Gen Z talent.
Attracting the next generation of employees requires organizations should start by focusing on the following items:
Location, Location, Location
Many workers on the post-pandemic employment landscape have discovered the joys of work outside the traditional in-office, Monday-through-Friday 9-to-5. But no group of workers has embraced nontraditional employment models more wholeheartedly than the newest generation of employees.
In a new report from ADP Research Institute titled “People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View,” the organization surveyed over 32,000 workers worldwide, finding that 71 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds said: “If my employer insisted on me returning to my workplace full-time, I would consider looking for another job.” That number easily tops the percentage of older workers who were asked the same question. The ability to work from home, at least on a part-time basis, is a key perk for Generation Z.
Making a Difference
Gen Z is the most hyper-informed age demographic yet, its members plugging into the news as it happens on Twitter, Discord and other social outlets (yes, including TikTok). Known for having strong opinions on social, political and environmental issues, Gen Zers are often drawn to businesses that make a difference in the world, such as those that focus on sustainability or protection of marginalized populations. Some even consider it a requirement.
The ability to make a greater impact within an organization can also win over workers from this generation. Small ponds often give young employees opportunities to operate as big fish, accelerating their professional learning curve and career growth.
Salary and Benefits Aren’t Unimportant
The number on a paycheck isn’t the only priority of most Gen Zers, let’s face it: money still talks. The priority for young people in today’s labor market, however, is finding work that pays appropriately for the job. For example, a contractor asked to prepare audit documents for an accounting firm as part of a broader project might command a lower pay rate than another contingent worker tasked with overseeing the entirety of a client engagement.
These are the sort of philosophical questions Gen Z seems to weigh with a more critical eye than many workers of the past. If an employer provides pizza on Fridays, are they doing it in lieu of paying employees what they’re worth? Do a beer fridge and ping pong table in the office offset the lack of an attractive benefits package? A generation that is being squeezed coming and going, graduating with unprecedented levels of debt into an economy of skyrocketing inflation, is far more practical and frugal than it’s given credit for. Gen Z is hardly too cool for health insurance and a 401k.
Ultimately, the Gig Economy offers the alternative to staff work that many younger workers seek. By scratching the itch for variety and the ability to indulge in life outside the office, employers are more likely to connect with an entire generation of up-and-coming employees with the skill sets to meet both today’s and tomorrow’s workplace challenges.
Interested in attracting Gen Z talent? Reach out to learn how PeopleCaddie can help.