The Struggles of Gen Zers at Work

Who are the Gen Zers?

According to the Pew Research Centre, generation Z refers to the people who were born between 1997 to 2012. In America alone, they have become the largest generation, constituting 27% of the US population. The Gen Zers are often stereotyped as tech-savvy, anti-social, "influencers", "Tik Tokers", and "social justice warrior" given that they were raised in the digital era of the internet and social media.

Generation Z has emerged as a population worthy of attention and many people have expressed interest in understanding Gen Zers as they are now entering adulthood and in the recent years, they are making a debut into the workforce. According to Sue Bhatia, by 2020, the Gen Zers makes up 20% of the workforce and the upcoming generation is expected to bring about a sea-change in the workforce landscape due to their values and culture.

Similarly like the other workers from generations X and Y, they also face certain struggles at their workplace. Their difficulties might also be heightened due to the fact that they had to brave through a period of financial insecurity in life and complete tertiary education during unprecedented times of pandemic as well as encounter uncertain future expectations of their employability after they have started working amid the endemic.

Jason Wingard from Forbes noted that from 56% of those ages 18-24 among 5500 workers in an Adobe survey, they are planning to switch jobs in the following year. Not only that, according to research conducted by Microsoft and Bankrate, it was reported that 54% and 77% of the Gen Zers, respectively are thinking about quitting.

What is causing this phenomenon called "The Great Resignation"?

According to the same survey by Adobe, 53% of them had expressed that they would like to spend more time at work pursuing their passions. In addition, the remote workers had noted that they have been experiencing burnout due to their employers' expectation to "look busy" which then leads to 44% working longer hours and 37% skipping lunch breaks, as well as one-third of their workweek spent on mundane, repetitive tasks, with 86% stating that the tasks got in the way of doing their jobs productively. For that reason, the patterns in the workplace cause burnout which consequently leads to disengagement and reduction in the number of employees.

In another survey conducted by the Workforce Confidence survey, it was noted that 65% of the Gen Zers have either switched industries or are considering doing so. This workplace exodus is happening as they are seeking greener pastures. There are several reasons which are factored in when looking for better career prospects such as better compensation, better alignment with interests or values, more opportunities to move or increase responsibilities, better benefits, better job stability, and more flexible working hours.

Furthermore, The Great Resignation might occur due to the Gen Zers' choice to work based on their cultural fit rather than based on the job description. Usually, what Gen Zers look for in their future employer is whether the company's values align with theirs. Last but not least, several Gen Zers stated that they are more likely to start their own company when they think that a business or company is not providing the work culture that they wanted.

Are you a Gen Z who is clueless about your own career potential and inborn skills that you can apply at your workplace? Are you curious about what kind of work culture that you could fit in your next workplace?

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