What does this mean for the employers of Generation Z?

How does "Gen Z" behave and what does this mean for their employers?

What characteristics are attributed to "Gen Z" and what do they mean for their employers?

Humanity loves generalizations. As a rule, those born from about 1995 onwards are referred to as Generation Z. Certain characteristics are attributed to them - although this is a completely arbitrary definition. The seriousness of this classification does not seem to be better than in horoscopes.

Nevertheless, various studies have shown that certain attitudes and experiences have changed over the last generation. Generation Z grew up differently, experienced a childhood under different conditions than those before. One of the most fundamental changes compared to previous generations is that Generation Z is the first to grow up from kindergarten age with the availability of the www - the worldwide data network.

And: Generation Z grew up under economically very comfortable conditions. Material goods and also information were and are available at all times, as well as an efficient industry and an almost perfect transport infrastructure. Both public and private transportation is a matter of course for Generation Z.

 

Where do the differences come from?

It's not surprising that Generation Z pays little attention to this infrastructure: none of it had to be developed by itself. For Generation Z, the focus is therefore not on building all the important foundations of society or improving general living conditions.

In the perception of Generation Z, the challenge is to get the best possible seat at this richly laid table. But the table itself has "always been there".

In the working life of Generation Z, a shift towards digitalization and away from physical mobility can be observed. In the age of Amazon and smartphones, there is a declining tendency to want to make progress in the MINT subjects in what are perceived as exotic technical fundamentals: the technical processes and physical principles are no longer really understood, but the devices are "naturally" there.

Personal contacts have been largely replaced by digital means by Generation Z from childhood on; the need to establish business contacts in a personal way, for example, is increasingly less understood.

The tendency is rather to increase the comfort and possibilities of existing technology (the most popular way of GenZ to become a self-made millionaire: app programming). The natural sciences are becoming much less attractive, and the social sciences are experiencing a new upswing. Even IT specialists are only working with technical basics that have been around for a long time and are merely refining their function.

If there is a risk of losing this infrastructure and the good supply, Generation Z experiences particular concerns - the need for security is therefore more pronounced than in Generation Y. Someone who knows that he or she can work on certain things anew because he or she has done so before is less worried than someone who has never had to do so. The willingness to leave a radius of 50 km around the desired place of residence for professional reasons tends towards zero (1).

Of course, this does not affect all social classes to the same extent. Especially, and here an important aspect is hidden: the members of Generation Z with foreign roots. For most of them, the self-evident facts described above were not automatically given. Due to the tendency of the German-born population to treat immigrants and their children politely, but not always in an integrative manner, a lot of work had to be done in their personal environment.

 

Migrants with a good education are a strong subgroup

On average, members of Generation Z with foreign roots and a good education are therefore much more eager to advance than the rest of the population. A look at the composition of the national soccer team shows this in an exemplary but particularly transparent manner: The proportion of players with foreign roots is about 50 %, about twice as high as the proportion of this population group in the total population. The foundation potential for self-employment is also significantly higher here(2).

The inner attitude of the members of Generation Z with foreign roots who are willing to perform therefore corresponds in many aspects more to that which is more likely to be attributed to Generation Y in the usual lump-sum calculations. It should be noted that this does not apply to the broad spectrum of the foreign-born population, but it does apply to those who, despite some hurdles, have achieved a high level of education - more had to be done here with more bite!

 

Are there gender differences?

Looking at differences between men and women always carries the risk of cementing these differences. Nevertheless, significant differences can be observed on the labor market.

In general, gender differences are less pronounced in Generation Z than in Generation Y. For many women in Generation Z, building their own professional career is a matter of course, but significant differences in income can still be observed due to family planning. The deliberate turning of some women and men away from a professional career to a family-related activity, even in part, is less criticized within Generation Z than it was in Generation Y. Seen in this light, Generation Z is more liberal towards individuality.

 

What does this mean for the employers of Generation Z?

From the employers' point of view, Generation Z has the following special features:

• Self-confidence and less worries about the future
• very little job mobility
• Expectation of Work-Life-Balance
• Expectation of support to reconcile work and raising children
• rather little flexibility
• Expectation of information and right to a say also as an employee
• Expectation of comfortable digital communication equipment
• Expectation of possibilities to home office in almost all positions
• high need for security
• medium to high income expectations
• only medium job change tendency
• High motivation of well-trained candidates with foreign roots

28.5.20 AL

 

Sources:

(1) https://faktor-a.arbeitsagentur.de/richtig-fuehren/fuenf-dos-and-donts-fuer-arbeitgeber-im-umgang-mit-der-generation-z/

(2) Start-up potential of people with foreign roots: developments, success factors, obstacles. Study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi 2017)