On our ‘Engaging People Powering Companies’ podcast this week, Amrit shares some of his frustrations about the hard time Gen Zs are getting,

with accusations such as their expectations are too high, or that they don’t want to work too hard and just wanting everything on a plate. While these things are not said out loud, they are inferred. Are we just blaming Gen Z’s for a lot of problems in the world of work that have always been there, but that we have failed to address? Is it just that our younger generations are now starting to question things we could have been questioning and fixing ages ago?

Some recruiters of late, have been known to find this generation frustrating due their perceived increasing demands, such as flexible working, wanting to work from home, higher salaries, clarity over job roles, details about career advancement and the like. Once a leader of up to one hundred and fifty staff at its peak, I would like to suggest that these requests do not just come from our twenty something’s!

As Amrit suggests in the podcast and I would agree, populations in every generation have existed who take advantage of work, who aren’t committed and were only working for the money. And in every generation, we have those employees who have good work ethics, who want to feel valued and work hard. Perhaps it’s that finding a position in today’s uncertain climate that is the problem. Maybe the fearful news reels, constant social media comparison and the general lay of the land is a tricky path to walk for our Gen Z’s just beginning their careers. I imagine it must feel volatile and scary.  

What was once leave school, get a job, buy a house, settle down, now just feels incredibly simplistic and unachievable, despite this still being (in the main) the blueprint for what people want. In an article for the BBC’s Work: In Progress ‘Are Gen Z the most stressed generation in the workplace?’ Megan Carnegie writes that “economic hardships are monumentally compounding workplace troubles, too” and shares data from a 2023 report by HR-software company Workhuman showing the cost-of-living crisis is causing 84% of UK workers stress and anxiety. Most of the Gen Z’s I know, either live in the family home, or are just scraping by with no hope of ever saving for a deposit.

In the same article for the BBC, October 2022 data from McKinsey was quoted, saying Gen Z are saving significantly less money, and many are living pay-cheque-to-pay-cheque. They’re also struggling more than other generations to hit essential milestones, like homeownership. On top of that, are talks about young people struggling with interpersonal relationships too. I can imagine this all to be true. I used to call my best friend on the land line, and arrange to meet on the corner. I didn’t have to consider how many pictures would be taken, tagged, and posted on an outing. I also went out to work – I had to actually go in, and face people. Relationships seemed cleaner, safer, more overt.

There is a lot of noise around a lack of resilience of the Gen Z and Amrit draws attention to the same report by McKinsey (October 2022) and a quote that states “Some of the differences in how the generations respond to survey questions suggest concerning levels of distress among young people, including an astounding 55 percent reporting having either been diagnosed with or having received treatment for mental illness (compared with 31 percent of people aged 55 to 64 reporting the same)”.

We need to remember just how much work has gone into how people can report and get support for mental health. When reports such as these use language such as ‘an astounding 55 percent” or “concerning levels of stress” when talking about the younger generations, it might be giving a skewed view. Maybe, the world is tough, and they have access to things that previous generations didn’t. The whole point of making mental health less of a taboo and the support more accessible, was so people actually got to take advantage of it! But now it seems we are using the figures to condemn those utilising it.

We often find ourselves talking about how the pandemic has helped change the working world, helping us be more aware of what is truly important to us in life, and re-addressing a much-needed balance in what we value and prioritise, and where we spend our time. Our Gen Z’s could have been starting their careers in this landscape - experiencing their parents taking more of a stand. Maybe this rubbed of, and maybe it needed to.

Can we maybe show some compassion for our young people having to navigate the world at large as well as the world of work? Can we be clear in who we are as organisations and what we expect as employers and help create a more favourable playing field? Can we please help our children understand that they are valued, that they matter. That work can be purposeful and rewarding, an environment to learn and grow and a place to find a sense of belonging in a somewhat crazy world.