Reena Koh/Insider
- Gen Z will make up a third of the workforce by 2030, but there's uncertainty about how to effectively manage them.
- Gen Z, who came of age during the pandemic and now faces geopolitical crises, is misunderstood and exhausted.
- I'm a Gen Z who recently joined the workforce — here are three things I want my future bosses to know.
As a Gen Z who recently joined the workforce, reading the heaps of "how to deal with Gen Z at work" guides online both perplexes and amuses me. Only in recent years did I begin to realize how alien and intimidating my generation seemed to the generations before us. We are often viewed as "disconnected", "sensitive", and "self-entitled". It's as if we're a generation to be frowned upon or feared.
These common Gen Z stereotypes always crack me up. Sometimes because they sound really absurd, but more often because of how we get framed in the most negative and malicious way possible. Something as benign as "wanting more time for our personal lives" would be interpreted as "being lazy and wanting to slack off", or "wanting to leave a toxic workplace" would be twisted into "not being resilient enough and disloyal to the company".
In other words, Gen Z has fallen victim to the "kids these days" tradition, the phenomenon of an older generation nitpicking a younger generation's behavior.
Typically defined as anyone born between 1997 and 2015, Gen Z will soon make up a third of the workforce. What we want is quite simple, and our "demands" will benefit not only us but also change the workplace for the better.
Here are the three things I would want my future bosses to know about managing me as a Gen Z employee:
1. I don't dream of labor. I will take breaks when I need and want to.
I no longer plan on subscribing to hustle culture, an outlook that many of my peers also seem to have.
Work doesn't, and rightfully shouldn't, require huge sacrifices on my part as an employee.
Especially with wages stagnating despite living costs continuing to rise, selling my body and soul to a corporation and still not being able to afford decent housing just doesn't seem logical to me.
Unlike Gen X, where working hard and earning an honest living was enough to make the dream of housing within reach, it's virtually impossible for Millennials and Gen Z to own property without racking up substantial debt.
Work has simply become a means to afford my living expenses. Enjoying my life outside of work has become my only rational coping mechanism.
2. I won't be dedicating my whole life to a company and will not hesitate to leave for better opportunities.
My workplace is where I'll spend most of my waking hours, which is why I won't think twice about job-hopping if a better offer is presented to me. This doesn't necessarily mean a higher pay, but also work that better aligns with my values, helps me grow as a person, and suits my working style.
Given that companies never hold back when it comes to laying-off employees to cut costs, there is no reason for me to pledge allegiance to a business that sees me as disposable.
As part of the generation that is most politically involved with a strong resolve to enact positive social change, how my company treats environmental and social issues will also matter a lot to me.
3. I'm not trying to be rude or unprofessional by forgoing corporate jargon, I just think it's a waste of time.
It's laborious to go through the unnecessary mental gymnastics needed to understand complicated corporate jargon. Phrases like "close the loop", "have the bandwidth", or "circling back" don't inherently mean anything on their own. The time I'll need to get used to this corporate lingo can definitely be better spent doing something that will actually benefit the company.
Getting straight to the point not only saves time and effort, but also avoids any chance of miscommunication on either end.
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