Gen Z, the 68 million-plus Americans born between 1997 and 2012, seem to be the living embodiment of the late Rodney Dangerfield, the self-deprecating comedian who built a career around five famous words, “I don’t get no respect.”
Dangerfield, born Jacob Cohen, got no respect from nobody, not even from his parents. “When I was a kid my parents moved a lot,” he told us, “but I always found them.”
He got no respect from women. “A girl phoned me the other day and said, ‘Come on over. There’s nobody home.’ I went over; nobody was home.” He even got no respect from his shrink: “I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous; everyone hasn’t met me yet.”
While every generation since the beginning of recorded history has been misunderstood to some extent, perhaps no generation has presented more contradictions than Gen Z.
But much of what you’ve heard is simplistic, or even untrue, and most of it won’t help you engage with the Gen Zers in your company or in the recruiting process.
Gen Zers Are Coming, And Opinions About It Vary
Why is there so much focus on Gen Z? Because they account for about 20% of the U.S. population, according to a 2024 report by Glassdoor, and they’re increasingly important to the U.S. economy, both as consumers and employees, where their numbers already may have overtaken the Baby Boomers.
Unfortunately, many companies are finding “that Gen Z isn’t the easiest generation to work with,” CNBC reports.
Read More: When Change Is Needed, Your Employees Become Your Customers
The rap on Gen Z is complex: The suggestion is that they’re fearful, fragile and full of themselves. Many, we’re told, were raised by so-called helicopter parents. Rather than learning the hard lessons of life, Z-critics say, they’ve grown up receiving participation trophies. Tragedies in their schools or communities have brought on the grief counselors. And studies raise questions about their readiness for work and careers.
A December 2023 survey of 800 U.S. managers and executives involved in hiring, for example, found that 58% consider Gen Z college grads “unprepared for the workforce”; nearly 40% try to avoid hiring them.
But companies can’t avoid hiring them. Without Gen Zers, where will they find the employees, managers and executives they need? And who will start the new businesses of tomorrow or develop the new products and technologies that will make lives better? Gen Z is the future, just as the Boomers were the future after World War II.
In some ways, the Gen Zers may be among history’s “best prepared” for the real world, because the world of work that they’re entering is a world that relies heavily on the hands-on technologies they’ve grown up with. Previous generations witnessed similar technological advances, but the technology was often prohibitively complicated and expensive, so early use was limited to academic, corporate and government experts and, in some cases, the wealthy. Not so today’s new technologies, especially digital technology. Everyone has the opportunity to be a player—and, as a group, nobody plays better than Gen Z.
This is not to suggest that Gen Z employees are easy to please. They know what they want and many tell us that they’re willing to “walk” if they don’t get it—though that could change if the job market further tightens and job-hopping becomes risky business again.
The Truth About Gen Zers Is Complicated
The truth is that Gen Z is a complex generation, with more complex attitudes about work than the pundits would have you believe.
Consider these three (apparently contradictory) observations from my own experiences with Gen Zers; I’ll discuss them in more detail in future columns:
1. Flexibility. Surveys routinely show that Gen Zers highly value flexibility, and want to have the option to work remotely. But at the same time, they mostly prefer working in the office, where they can interact with others and gain experience from those who have it.
2. Values. More than previous generations, Gen Zers care that their employers share their values. They care about diversity at work. They care about climate change and the environment. But they also show a practical streak, reporting that misaligned values aren’t always a dealbreaker.
3. Mental health. Gen Zers focus intensely on their mental health, and want their managers to look out for it as well. But at the same time, most say they won’t raise the issue themselves.
In upcoming columns we’ll delve deeper into the three workplace issues—flexibility, values, and mental health—that are most important and most complex for Gen Z, and discuss how leaders can best create a desirable workplace for this increasingly essential generation.
