SPOTLIGHT: Demands of young workers pose challenges for employers
According to a new survey of US workers by Yooz, frustrations over “low-tech employers” can lead young talent to look for a new job and even a new industry.
50% of US workers under age 25 say they agree that “the way my industry views adopting new technology is a barrier to my career advancement.” Only 30% of workers over age 25 agree.
32% of workers under age 25 say they are among the first to experiment with and use new tech, compared to 22% of workers 35 and older.
More than two-thirds of workers under age 25 say they “spend most of their work lives using workplace technologies.”
"Companies that fail to invest in workplace technology or provide training risk losing young talent to competitors that are more forward-thinking and committed to innovation.”
Read more via Yooz
Deloitte is out with new research into what young workers want. The research “reveals a disconnect between what Generation Z actually wants at work and what their bosses think they want.” Gen Z workers, born between 1997 and 2012, are increasingly entering the workforce. Like all generations before them, Gen Z workers pose a unique set of challenges for employers.
Three main challenges for Gen Z workers and their bosses:
Gen Z workers place a higher value on empathy than their bosses: According to Deloitte, Gen Z workers say empathy is the second most important trait in a boss, yet bosses ranked empathy on average "a distant fifth.”
Gen Z workers say they aren't getting enough mental health support: Deloitte found that Gen Z workers “feel that they are not getting the mental health support they need in the workplace and believe their ideas about how work impacts their mental health differ from those of their bosses.” 28% of Gen Z workers say they “struggle with their mental health because of their boss.”
Gen Z are less likely to see work as an integral part of who they are: 86% of bosses say that “work is a significant part of their identity,” compared to just 61% of Gen Z workers.
Read more via Deloitte
According to ResumeBuilder.com's new survey of more than 1,300 managers, almost three quarters say Gen Z workers are more difficult to work with than other generations.
74% of managers said “Gen Z is more difficult to work with than other generations.”
49% of managers said it is “difficult to work with Gen Z all or most of the time.”
Criticisms of Gen Z workers included “lack of technological skills, effort, and motivation.”
65% of managers said they “more commonly need to fire Gen Zers than employees of other generations.”
12% of managers said they have “fired a Gen Zer within a week of their start date.”
“As a result of COVID-19 and remote education, it’s possible that Gen Zers lack the foundation to be more successful than older generations in entry-level positions. We know that with remote work and education, communication skills do not develop as well and people tend to work more independently. Hiring managers need to be cognizant of this when interviewing GenZers for positions. This generation may need more training when it comes to professional skills.”
Read more via ResumeBuilder
Increasingly, young workers are putting their foot down when it comes to the schedule they want to work. According to new research by Adobe, some Gen Z and millennial workers are “opting to start their working day at 6 p.m.”
Highlights from Adobe's survey, of 5,500 workers across the globe including the UK, US and Japan:
Young workers are more than “three times more likely to prefer logging into their laptops to work well into the night than the oldest generation of workers.”
Only 6% of Baby Boomers said they are the “most productive from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m.,” compared to 26% for Gen Z. The survey found that 18% of millennials and 13% of Gen Xers are more productive after-hours.
70% of young workers said they “would quit their job in favor of one with more control over their work schedule.”
“Younger generations of employees are issuing an unspoken mandate of sorts to companies that workplace and schedule flexibility are essential not only to attracting and retaining them, but also to ensuring they can work effectively.”
Read more via Yahoo Finance, Adobe
Members of the class of 2023 set to enter the workforce are some of the first college grads whose undergraduate experience was completely shaped by COVID-19, and according to a new survey, they are concerned about their own mental health.
Virtually all new grad respondents in a new survey (92%) said “employers should offer mental and emotional health benefits.”
More than a third of respondents (36%) said they are “prioritizing companies” that offer mental health benefits in their job search.
Read more via HR Dive, Timely Care
According to a new report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the shifting labor market may impact the job market for teenagers looking for summer employment.
According to the report, teens are “poised to see a gain of 1.1 million jobs this year." That's a decline from last year, and the “lowest level since 2011.”
Sectors that continue to face hiring challenges may provide opportunities, including amusement parks, pools, restaurants and summer entertainment venues.
Read more via CNBC, Challenger, Gray & Christmas
