In a period dominated by TikTok dances, social justice warriors, and self-care, it can’t be denied that a particular generational group comes to mind: the Gen Z era. With the majority of this population falling within the 18-25 age bracket, Gen Z is largely responsible for charting the course that the planet will take. While older generations feel the greatest disconnect between Gen Z and themselves, there are certainly many qualities they possess that the rest of the world can’t help but commend.
WHY DO GENERATIONAL PATTERNS MATTER?
Generation Z, commonly “Gen Z,” is defined as those born after 1997, following just behind their millennial predecessors. Currently made up of those aged 9 and 24, the Gen Z population makes up about 22.5% of the American population and roughly 32% of the global population. So, what exactly is Gen Z, and what makes this such a distinct generational group? To dig deeper into this phenomenon, let’s first go over a primary generational breakdown:
Traditionalists or Silent Generation: born before 1946
Major Shapers: The Great Depression, World War II, Radio and Movies
Baby Boomers: born 1946 – 1964
Major Shapers: The Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, Watergate
Generation X: born 1965 – 1976
Major Shapers: AIDS Epidemic, Fall of Berlin Wall, dot-com boom
Generation Y or Millennials: born 1977 – 1995*
Major Shapers: Columbine Massacre, 9/11, Internet Explosion
Generation Z or Gen Z: born 1996-2015*
Major Shapers: Post-9/11, The Great Recession, Technology, and Social Media
It’s necessary to preface that the cutoff between Millennials and Gen Z isn’t an exact science–while cutoff estimates often vary 4-5 years between sources, these spans should merely be viewed as tools for analyses rather than definitive rules.
WHAT IS GENERATION Z?
To understand Gen Z, we must first dig into their native habitat: the internet. Unique to Gen Z is their familiarity with technology, particularly as their generation comes only after the “Internet Explosion” of 1994-1996. This phenomenon has since revolutionized the way we communicate, socialize, and conduct business. According to Pew Research Center, “Social media, constant connectivity and on-demand entertainment and communication are innovations Millennials adapted to as they came of age. For those born after 1996, these are largely assumed.” Yes, video games, social media, and streaming services often come to mind, but what’s lesser considered is that the Gen Z population embodies a knack for talent that was only recently brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic. As technology is now incorporated more than ever into the education system and ingrained into everyday life, it’s fair to say that most Gen Z individuals simply don’t remember a time without laptops, tablets, and smartphones by their sides. Googling your way to success might sound a little odd, but is actually one of the most viable ways Gen Z use technology to succeed. Gen Z has grown up as a generation of problem-solvers and has been able to adapt to the ever-evolving world of technology in an extremely short amount of time. Their swiftness with a keyboard and expertise around the web make Gen Z individuals natural-born experts in working with technology and using it to their advantage.
How Gen-Z is Redefining School and Work Culture
It goes without saying that the Gen Z era is sweeping through and conquering the business world. The generation born in the 21st century is now moving past the millennial generation to infiltrate businesses across the globe. The effects of growing up not knowing a life without the internet and smartphones have created the first-ever demographic of extremely tech-savvy young adults entering the workforce. Gen Z is on a different educational trajectory than their predecessors, as they are more likely to attend college and have at least one college-educated parent. While this is not a limiting factor for measuring a child’s educational success, higher educated parents give their children the benefit of having educational role models and economic stability.
In following racial and ethnic patterns, it’s interesting to note that Gen Z is projected to become majority nonwhite by 2026. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, those born within the Gen Z timeline have experienced and were dramatically affected by numerous racial injustice-rooted movements such as Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI Hate. As such, we have a strong and outspoken newer generation changing the framework for DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in the workplace and forcing companies to make changes to outdated practices.
As Purdue University Global suggests, we are living in a time period where, for the first time in history, there are five different generations in the workplace: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. Surely, this combination could make for the perfect recipe for disaster, right? Interestingly enough, adjusting to multigenerational teams from an inside-out approach could be the key to employers seeing better results in their sales or overall performance. Five different generations, each equipped with their strengths and skillsets, encourage different approaches to capturing various markets. A multi-faceted approach allows team members to tether off of each other’s strengths and cumulate five generations’ worth of expertise.
Gen Z in the Workplace
So what exactly is Gen Z up to these days, and what can we learn from a generation of young adults fascinated by technology? For starters, it can’t be ignored that these past few years have been met with an upsurge in young entrepreneurs, many of whom use social media as a catalyst for their business endeavours. The Gen Z population often experiment with fresh ideas and combine their passions with their technology skills to create their own businesses. For many, what began as posting content as a hobby on social media has led to successful business ventures and immense success. For example, social media influencers use their platform to earn money by partnering with companies to advertise services or products, like lipsticks, to their followers. As they harness a larger following, they can then choose to launch their own businesses with the help of a loyal fanbase and industry connections.
While used commonly for mindless browsing and keeping up with friends, social media has also transformed into an invaluable tool for aspiring business owners and entrepreneurs. The “be your own boss” mentality is ingrained in the minds of young people and, luckily for them, the world is their oyster. Be it through browsing quick 30-second micro-lessons on TikTok or following YouTube mentors, Gen Z has defied old norms by deterring away from the rigid boundaries of the traditional 9-5.
Social Media has fundamentally changed the way we communicate, connect and do business. It’s a great place to find new customers and find new employees. Since the emergence of networking platforms such as LinkedIn, Gen Z is more likely than any other generation to use social media when looking for a job. According to Pew Research Center, 41 percent of Gen Z say they have used social media to search for employment opportunities in the past year.
In “The 37-Year-Olds Are Afraid of the 23-Year-Olds Who Work for Them,” Emma Goldberg explains:
“Older generations were much more used to punching the clock,” Mr. Kennedy mused. “It was, ‘I climb the ladder and get my pension and gold watch.’ Then for millennials, it was, ‘There’s still an office but I can play Ping-Pong and drink nitro coffee.’ For the next generation, it’s ‘Holy cow I can make a living by posting on social media when I want and how I want.’”
It’s common for Gen Z to see the millennial workaholic lifestyle as a red flag because they’ve seen its adverse health effects. As business owner Chelsea Cohen suggests, “they’re a generation of observers and refiners – those are the people employers will be seeking soon to manage our technology-driven work culture.”
Separate from the entrepreneurship route, the greater emphasis placed on work-life balance, schedule flexibility, and mental health are just a glimpse of the new values upheld by Gen Z in the workplace. This group of individuals has used the internet to become more independent than any generation that came before them. Gen Z is creative, complex, and forms opinions out of a desire to change the world. This generation embodies a different set of values than those that came before them, which means that employers, in turn, should understand how they operate in order to drive desired results. Gen Z is spearheading a coming of age in an era where job opportunities lie beyond traditional boundaries.
The takeaway
The continuously-evolving differences between generations make it easy to see that standards of work and social behaviour are constantly in flux. And while millennials are currently the most well-known generation at work today, the Gen Z floodgates have opened. It’s evident that we’re in the midst of a large generational shift unlike any other–and I, for one, am hopeful about the direction that we’re headed.
What skills do you think we can learn from our Gen Z counterparts? Leave a comment and let us know!
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