Generation Z, a.k.a. “Gen Z,” a.k.a. “Zoomers,” are poised to become the largest cohort in the American workforce in a few short years. By the end of the current decade, they’re expected to make up 30 percent of the U.S. workforce.
A Look at Gen Z
It’s crucial for employers to understand what makes this cohort tick. What are their strengths? Their weaknesses?
It’s easy for some observers to see Gen Z as ready to hit the ground running: they grew up immersed in the latest tech, true digital natives.
At the same time, more time spent in the cyber world often means less time spent engaged in genuine human interaction and the social skills learned through such interactions. The fact that millions of Zoomers entered the workforce in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this challenge by depriving these workers of the crucial in-office acculturalization many readers benefited from at the start of their careers.
COVID and Gen Z
“In some ways, Gen Z employees are thriving in the new world of work,” Writes Alex Christian in an article for BBC Worklife. “They’ve entered the workforce at a time when flexibility is commonplace, digital communication is ubiquitous and employees have the leverage to ask companies for what they want.”
At the same time, though, Christian points out, some experts worry that remote and hybrid work arrangements will leave some of these early-career workers behind. “Many of these worries revolve around the absence of workplace intangibles: a lack of the casual conversations and informal observations that traditionally teach young employees how to act,” he says.
These entry-level workers may also be missing out on certain “vital cues” that would guide their behaviors and interactions with peers—cues that may not be accessible in remote interactions. The fact that many of the newest entrants to the labor force may not have teamwork or networking skills as developed as their colleagues from previous generations doesn’t mean those skills will never more fully develop.
Employers can help speed the process along by encouraging participation by Zoomers in mentorship programs or starting such workers out with more in-office time, even if the company has a robust remote work program.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.