Generation Z is definitely different from previous generations, and its most noticeable and characteristic element is constant change. Gen Z doesn’t like boredom! Raised in the age of the Internet, they focus on development, gaining knowledge and climbing the career ladder, but there is one condition – it must happen quickly. “Digital natives” are the first people to grow up in a fully digitized society, so it should not be surprising that they have a different approach to many things, especially work.
Who exactly is Generation Z?
This is a generation of people born from 1995 to 2012, just entering the labor market. They are distinguished by features such as:
- Planning the future in an entrepreneurial way
- Focus on quick information search
- No problem with openness
- The need for contact with peers
- Focus on building relationships
- Most importantly… they love sharing information through social media.
Due to the fact that Gen Z is the youngest generation that is just entering the labor market, it is difficult to predict what kind of employees they will be. According to forecasts, they will be perfect for all positions related to social networking sites and internet portals. They are perfect for the following industries: IT, marketing, PR, game design, websites and advanced IT. They value work that will ensure continuous development. The stereotype of thinking about Generation Z is that they will often change their place of employment or create their own businesses. This may be due to growing up in the era of the Internet and social media, which change every day and provide a dose of new information and impressions. The generation raised on constant receipt of many stimuli may want to strive for the same in professional development, which is why Z representatives will not be satisfied with a position without the possibility of promotion on the career ladder or financial gratification.
This is a generation that is just entering the labor market, so we should give it a few years to find itself and then make judgments and create stereotypes. Let’s give it time and it will certainly change the labor market.
Who will express their needs and feelings better than representatives of Generation Z? Let’s take a look at one of the best social media campaigns of 2022. We are talking about the Rocket Jobs campaign, a platform that calls itself the “job portal of the future”. Their campaign was based on a series of #WorkConversations videos featuring interviews with Gen Z people.
Gen Z’s True Expectations as People’s Words:
- “I value my time, I need to have a balance between my private and professional life.”
- “Time is the most precious thing, no one will give it back to us.”
- “Let’s say a month of unpaid internship is fine, but it shouldn’t last longer because at some point it can start to turn into exploitation.”
- “You take sick leave because you have, for example, pneumonia and we treat it as a disease, we say take your medications, stay at home, then we should treat mental illnesses in the same way.”
- “We should make the workplace a friendly environment for everyone, a place where we like to be.”
- “I would like to have such a relationship with my employer that I feel appreciated in his eyes, that if I know that I will do a great job, he will tell me, you did a great job, it’s good that you are here.”
To sum up the campaigns, the brand became the voice of Generation Z and showed what values Gen Z pays attention to. Understanding the new generation by the older generation is difficult, which is why stereotypes and understatements about what this generation actually is like appear. After watching the video or reading a few quotes, you should think that:
Generation Z are open people who respect each other, care about their individualism and respect time. Career is important, but in life you also need to take care of your psychological, mental and spiritual development.
Thanks to the campaign, we can understand the approach of this generation, appreciate their courage and learn from them that living in harmony with oneself should be a priority.
The world is changing, the labor market is changing too, we should follow the changes and try to understand the young view of the world. If you are an employer, sooner or later you will employ a person from Generation Z. You may disagree with the new generation on some issues, but it has already arrived and each of us should try to understand it.
Sources:
fragment of the infuture institute report – Gen Z. How to understand the generation of tomorrow today?