You think Generation Y workers maintain high professional expectations? Think again, because their demands are peanuts compared to those of Generation Z.
For the first time in history, four generations now coexist on the labour market: Baby Boomers (born after World War II), Gen X (1960-1980), Gen Y (1980-1995) and now Gen Z.
Born in the mid-1990s, they form a unique category of workers, reveals a study conducted last summer for the European branch of Ricoh, a multinational digital equipment provider. Much more demanding that workers of previous generations in terms of environment and working conditions, Gen Z is a major challenge for companies, as one learns.
What attracts them?
When choosing a job, Gen Z is mainly attracted by the possibility of achieving a balance between personal and working life (48%) and that of working in a company of talented people (47%). The flexibility of work schedules and benefits are in third place on the priority scale (42%).
Philanthropists, 34% of Z members like companies that seek to improve mankind, compared to only 13% of Baby Boomers and 14% and 15% of the X and Y generation. As opposed to workers of other generations, Gen Z is three times more attracted to organizations providing technological tools to work more efficiently.
However, they are easily frustrated: if the workplace does not match their expectations, they do not hesitate to look elsewhere.
Communicate!
On this side of the Atlantic, the results from the Y to Z survey- conducted in spring 2015 by Ipsos Reid for the human resources firm Randstad Canada – corroborates the fact that Gen Z members have a vision of their own for the work world. For 87% of them, the ideal employer is involved in the community, particularly because it creates jobs locally. Just as in the European study, the Canadian Generation Z values employers who care about their well-being: almost a third of the group also expects to benefit from flexible working hours.
Even if we believe they are constantly glued to their mobile devices and social networks, nearly half (47%) of Zs believe that face-to-face communication is the most effective means of communication at work. Only 4% of them want their bosses to use an online community to facilitate collaboration. Consequently, their managers’ main asset should be communication skills, 41% of Z members say.
Even more so than Gen Y, workers from Generation Z have the power to transform organizations, the Canadian study concludes. For them, telecommuting, collaborative working methods and flexible hours are a given. Same for gender relations: almost 9 in 10 respondents stress the importance of working for an employer that promotes equality between the sexes. Will the famous glass ceiling finally crack under them? You can certainly believe so…