Gen Z in the Workplace

A headline about a young woman bemoaning the fact that she has to work a 9-to-5 job in marketing recently caught my attention. In a TikTok video that has gone viral, Brielle Asero, 21, was in tears as she said, “I want to shower, eat my dinner and go to sleep. I don’t have time or energy to cook my dinner either. Like, I don’t have energy to work out, like that’s out the window. Like, I’m so upset. Nothing to do with my job at all, but just like the 9-to-5 schedule in general is crazy.” This inspired me to investigate Generation Z (also known as Gen Z, meaning those born between 1997 and 2012) behavior and attitudes in the workplace as well as managers’ perceptions of them. I believe this is related to the coddling they have received at universities; you can read more about that coddling here: https://keithpetersenblog.com/2021/10/06/coddling-in-american-universities-and-churches/

Here are some things I discovered while reading several different articles about this topic. The first two bullets are from an article by Dana Wilkie on shrm.org; the next three are from mckinsey.com; the final four are from a New York Post article by Rikki Schlott.

• About one-third of Gen Zers demand a say over their work schedule. More than one-third say they won’t tolerate being forced to work when they don’t want to or being denied the vacation days they request.
• In spite of prolific smartphone use, 75% of Gen Zers prefer face-to-face interactions when getting manager feedback, and more than one third prefer to communicate with colleagues face to face.
• Of all generations, Generation Z is the most likely to be stressed about work and to report poor mental health.
• Gen Zers are more likely than other generations to work multiple jobs and to be concerned about the stability of their employment. As a result, they are much less likely than other generations to expect to ever own a home.
• On the other hand, Generation Z is more likely to think the economic future is “brighter” than Generation X and baby boomers; millennials have the “brightest” economic outlook.
• 65% of managers said they have to fire Gen Z workers more often compared with other generations. In fact, 13% of managers said they have had to fire a Gen Z worker less than one week after their start date.
• Many managers have reported that Gen Z employees are hard to deal with when it comes to language. One manager named Peter who refuses to give his last name says, “I don’t want to offend anyone or trigger someone. I always have it in the back of my mind that I’m going to get angry one day, and I’m going to get freaking canceled.” In a similar vein, another manager, Matt (also refusing to give his last name) reported that Gen Zers “dominated [workplace] culture with social justice fundamentalism.” Peter added that Gen Z employees had a hard time looking him in the eye during conversations.
• Alexis McDonnell, a content creator who managed Gen Z employees at a tech company in Dallas, says that distractibility is an issue: “We would be on team calls, and you’d be able to tell that they were on their phones. If we called on them, it was like deer in the headlights, and you could tell that they hadn’t been paying attention.” Another comment regarding phone use comes from an anonymous (another one!) manager, who used the phrase “phone zombies” to refer to Gen Zers during breaks.
• Inappropriate informality–using a manager’s first name early on, for example–was also reported as a Gen Z problem.

In summary, Gen Z employees are more likely to have a sense of entitlement than other generations; they are more easily offended, at least in terms of their expression of it; they are more easily distracted; and they are more likely to communicate inappropriately in the workplace. In a bizarre twist, some Gen Z subordinates seem to think they have the right to spout their social justice views, while their managers are walking on eggshells around them. All of these negatives make Gen Zers less likely to be long-term employees at a given job. Perhaps this helps explain why Generation Z is much more likely (51%) than other generations (36%) to work independently, which is defined as contract work, freelancing, and gig work.

The following statement (from mckinsey.com) may also shed some light on Gen Zers regarding their behavior in the workplace: “Gen Z respondents report alarming levels of negativity about themselves, their confidence in the future, and their ability to find contentment in American life.” I believe that a lot of this comes from their obsession with social media, which so readily invites comparison with other people. Admittedly, other generations can easily become obsessed with social media as well, but this obsession is very clearly on display with Gen Zers. One positive about this overall negative view that Gen Zers tend to have about themselves is that they are much more likely to seek help; this provides an opportunity for the church to step in.

What does the Bible have to say about our attitude toward work? Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” As believers, this should be our mindset; the Lord knows how we are working, whether our boss does or not. I would hope that Gen Zers who are believers would have that focus.

I am retired now, but I was recently reflecting with my wife about two summers when I was in my early 20s. I worked from 8 to 5 (with breaks) at an azalea nursery, and sometimes, a farming friend of mine would need help in the evening baling hay, so another guy from the nursery and I would head out to the farm. It was exhilarating out there in the field, tossing bales of hay on a wagon and bantering with each other while my friend’s dad drove the tractor at the perfect speed. After we had gathered all of the bales, we’d head to the barn, throw the bales onto a hay “elevator,” and stack them in the haymow. And then to top it all off: we’d head into the farmhouse, where my buddy’s mom would have sloppy joes ready.

I have a hard time understanding the crying 9-to-5 girl that I mentioned at the outset; those days when I was her age and sometimes working 12-hour days are wonderful memories. There are many reasons for this contrast. I think that one prominent reason has to do with relationships, both the ones I had at the nursery and the ones with the guys I baled hay with. Admittedly, the COVID lockdowns had a lot to do with making people feel even more socially isolated, but as I mentioned before, this is where we as the church have the opportunity to step in. There are preteens, teens, and young adults who are hungry for authentic relationships; some of them are already part of our churches, and some are not. And on the most fundamental level of all, they need a relationship with the Lord Himself.