What Gen Zs Value In The Workplace

People often speculate about Gen Zs, what they want, their attitudes, their goals… I wondered aloud what Gen Zs REALLY think? So, I asked a few what they want. Here’s what I found out from my Gen Z daughters.

One of the first questions I asked was what’s the biggest assumption people make about you guys’ generation?

They both responded the same way. “ You guys don’t think we work hard or that we don’t want to work.”

They said they’re eager to find work, just that it has to be fulfilling work. Multiple jobs, dubbed poly work, are not uncommon either. Fortune magazine found that roughly 33% of Gen Zs hold two or more jobs or side hustles due to high prices. With inflation rates elevated and wages stagnant, they say almost all their friends work two or more jobs and go to college part time.

Maintaining a healthy work life balance is a high priority as well. One of my daughters said that her mental health is more important than being a workaholic, or earning a few extra dollars.

They said a diverse work environment with different perspectives is really important as well. A survey conducted by Monster indicates that roughly 80% of Gen Zs consider a company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to be important when researching prospective employer.

Meaningful work benefits rounded out the top three. Remote work and flexible work schedules are common must haves for Gen Zs. In fact, my daughter said that she is not afraid to pass on job offers from companies that don’t align with their values.

While we all suffer a bit from “experience bias” from time to time, Gen Zs are very versatile and hard working. They also realize that life is about life and not work. Our parent’s generation thought that we were slackers and didn’t think we had what it took to succeed. We turned out okay.