With the rise of remote work, digital advancements, new expectations around employee benefits and more, employers have been continuously redefining what work looks like\u2014and what that means for talent attraction and retention. However, with all the question marks surrounding the fluid future of work today, one thing is for certain: Generation Z is going to be a big part of it. In fact, it already is.<\/p>\n
By 2030, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce will belong to Gen Z\u2014those born between 1997-2012. In fact, about 13% of the workforce is already comprised of Gen Z employees. The addition of a new generation to the workforce means that employers will need to learn how to balance five different generations of workers\u2014when it comes to benefits design, workplace design and much more. But that\u2019s not all: Like no generation before it, Gen Z brings an entirely new set of expectations to the workplace, which creates new challenges\u2014as well as opportunities\u2014for HR and recruiting managers.<\/p>\n
Gen Z has come into the world of work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as hybrid and remote work became temporary-to-permanent solutions for many organizations. That sets flexibility up as no longer a nice-to-have, but rather, a must-have benefit for any company looking to attract Gen Z workers; a recent study by GOBankingRates, for instance, found that only 16% of Gen Z workers surveyed prefer to work entirely in an office setting. That\u2019s not a stat that employers can afford to ignore: ADP found that 70% of Gen Z workers said they would resign if they were required to report full-time in -person.<\/p>\n
Beyond expecting flexibility around where they work, however, Gen Z employees also anticipate a corporate culture where flexibility is embedded throughout\u2014from user-friendly onboarding, to policies that allow employees to work when and how they perform best, to career development programs that enable workers to try out new skills and roles. In that vein, Gen Z takes a much more flexible approach to employment than previous generations; a LinkedIn survey, for instance, found that, since the pandemic, Gen Z workers are job-hopping 134% more\u2014compared to Baby Boomers at just 4%. That means employers today need to be prepared to pull out all the stops to keep this younger generation engaged and eager to stay on the job\u2014because they\u2019re likely already looking at their next opportunity.<\/p>\n