Faced with a dynamic and ever-changing market, Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2021) cultivates expectations and faces challenges very different from their leaders millennials and boomers. “A good portion of this ‘young crowd’ has already entered or is preparing to enter the job market,” comments Mari Galindo, founder of Nice House, an entertainment platform focused on vertical videos and Generation Z.
“In fact, Glassdoor pointed out that the number of Gen Z professionals would surpass that of boomers (born between 1945 and 1964) by 2024. On one hand, while Gen Z brings several important skills to the current economic scenario, especially digital fluency, ambition for experience and knowledge, and an astonishing (in a good way) adaptability, on the other hand, their massive entry into the job market worries managers and recruiters,” she explains.
Myths and truths about Gen Z in the job market
In January 2024, Resume Builder, software that uses artificial intelligence to help people build good resumes, published alarming data. According to the research, more than 30% of recruiters simply refuse to hire Gen Z, preferring older candidates; still regarding this survey, 30% of managers fired their youngest employees one month after their integration into the team.
Below, Mari comments on the main stigmas that Generation Z faces in their professional daily lives. Check it out:
1. Lack of commitment to work
MYTH. “The difficulty in managing Gen Z in the workplace has to do, in most cases, with the generation’s mindset—how they interpret professional careers and, above all, an attempt to break the patterns established by past generations, now considered outdated or obsolete,” explains Mari.
2. The education received at home contributes to certain workplace behaviors
TRUE. “Some behavioral issues, during interviews and also in the workplace, both positive and negative, come from the education young people received at home. These are not necessarily generational characteristics,” she says.
3. Young people prefer 100% remote work
MYTH. “The Covid-19 pandemic ended up impacting Gen Z more severely. Those who were already job hunting since 2020 were already being introduced to the home office model (or hybrid, depending on the sector), which also shaped young people’s expectations regarding the job market as a whole. In 2021, for example, LinkedIn pointed out that 70% of Generation Z believes that distancing from older coworkers and managers negatively impacts their careers, as it is difficult to learn from them remotely,” notes the founder of Nice.
4. Flexibility between professional and personal life is everything
TRUE. “The same LinkedIn study mentioned above also showed that 38% of respondents prefer the hybrid work model precisely because it helps them maintain their personal routine and also exchange experiences with more experienced colleagues,” she adds.
5. You can’t change Gen Z’s attitude in the workplace
MYTH. “There are ways to bridge generational gaps, such as investing in mentorship and other development programs to improve these young people’s etiquette and performance and even using their ambitions to create growth and innovation opportunities. These measures not only help polish this raw diamond called Gen Z but also learn from them,” she advises.
Even if, sometimes, reluctantly for recruiters and managers, it is extremely important for companies to invest in younger people. “Ignoring the potential they possess is not ideal for any company—in a few years, they will be the majority in the corporate environment, surpassing even the millennials in numbers. Investing in Gen Z goes beyond benefits for companies; it is the main factor for us to have, today and increasingly, a more inclusive, dynamic, and resilient job market,” concludes Mari Galindo.
