Gen Z at Work: What the Youngest Generation in the Workforce Wants from Employers

November 17, 2021

Claire Hastwell

How will you welcome Gen Z at work?

The generation born between 1997 and 2012 may be just entering the workforce, but smart employers are already thinking about how their company culture can attract and retain Gen Z.

Because they’re entering the workforce during the unprecedented health and economic crises caused by the pandemic, this generation has a unique perspective as new workers under extraordinary circumstances.

Here’s what Gen Z says they want from employers in 2021 and beyond.

What Gen Z wants from employers

1. Diverse and inclusive workplace

As Gen Z grows into the workforce, employers must learn how to best manage a diverse team and get serious about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives. This includes:

Ensuring a diverse slate of candidates to secure the best talent
Training other employees (particularly older generations) on DEIB, and
Ensuring there’s representation across the leadership team.

2. Liveable pay

Pay was the number one topic Gen Z employees commented on in our research, with calls for better minimum wage and increased hourly pay. Only 69% of Gen Z employees said they feel they’re paid fairly, which is 7 points below other generations.

Because of their young age and career stage, most Gen Z employees are working in industries such as retail and hospitality, which tend to be lower-paying or reliant on tips. These were also the industries most impacted by lockdowns, leaving Gen Z workers bearing the brunt of COVID-19 furloughs and closures.

According to payroll company ADP, Gen Z was hardest hit by job losses in 2020, losing some 11% of their jobs, well above the national average (6.7%), and impacts to other age groups.

With the current hiring crunch slamming retail and hospitality in particular, employers wanting to attract Gen Z talent will need to offer fair pay and earn the trust of a generation uniquely hit by the crisis.

3. Mentally healthy and safe place to work

Some of the widest gaps between Gen Z and other generations are around feeling their workplaces are psychologically and emotionally healthy.

In our research, Gen Z employees showed a 7-point difference on statements measuring:

Psychologically and emotionally healthy workplace environment
Ability to take time off from work when necessary

The American Psychological Association has identified Gen Z as the most stressed generation, attributed to growing up while the world has faced severe global challenges like gun violence, climate change, political instability, racial reckoning, and a pandemic.

Great employers will need to ensure Gen Z feels emotionally supported in the workplace, through things like regular check-ins and encouragement to practice self-care (although to be clear, that’s something all generations could benefit from after the past year).

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4. Special meaning

Finding purpose and special meaning is something that has typically been associated with the Millennial generation. But our research found the meaning deficit is even more acute for Gen Z at work, who scored their employers:

8-points lower than other generations on how much their work has special meaning
7-point lower than other generations on how much they feel they make a difference at work

5. Warm welcome

Gen Z is still young. Many of them are just getting started in the workforce. A warm and thoughtful welcome can go a long way when you’re onboarding new grads and first-time employees.

With many employers switching to remote or hybrid workplaces post-pandemic, this can present a challenge — the usual practices of showing a new hire around the office or taking them out for lunch may no longer be an option for some workplaces.

But companies like YNAB are making it work. The software firm sends out welcome packages in the mail, timing them to arrive on an employee’s first day. The packages include YNAB swag, a booklet about the company’s vision and mission, personalized welcome messages from the team, and a dinner gift card for the employee to celebrate their new job.

For someone new to the working world, efforts like this can go a long way to keeping them enthusiastic and engaged.

For years, Millennials have been the talked-about generation as brands have worked to woo them, either as customers or as employees (or both). But now that Gen Z is at work, employers need to start thinking now about how they’re going to attract the next generation of talent.