Generation Z leaves employers at a loss

The older ones work their way through every generation. Today’s boys are particularly nerve-wracking, and that has to do with their work ethic. Her attitude towards work can be summed up as follows: minimum performance effort with simultaneous entitlement. Or as a catering entrepreneur puts it in an interview: “The three-day week is a requirement for the job interview, and you want to earn as much as someone who has already had a few years of professional experience.”

If the young person sees the HR manager frowning, he packs his things, withdraws the application and leaves.

Generation Z makes you think. Generation Z refers to those born between 1995 and 2010. They would be needed, especially with the current shortage of skilled workers, but they only take the job if they can arrange it on their own terms. They are reshaping the world of work by asking the question of meaning like no generation before them: why work at all?

Many young people are now committed to the concept of “quiet quitting”, which means that they are constantly in resignation mode. They adjust only as much as necessary and are quietly walking from day one. They are unwilling to work overtime, stop reading e-mails after five in the evening and refuse any additional task that they perceive as a burden.

“Quiet quitting” as a philosophy of life is celebrated on Tiktok, the video portal of Generation Z. There they show their aversion to the “Hustle” culture: Just like their parents or grandparents let themselves be rushed – such drudgery, also called devotion, depending on your point of view , would never be an option for them.

Is the generation entering the labor market in the next few years holding up a mirror to the capitalist meritocracy? Are they, who want to enjoy life, even right? Are we at the beginning of an anti-labour movement?

Leisure as a core value

Anyone who has anything to do with them at work initially has little time for the revolutionary attitude. HR managers are surprised, superiors are impatient, older colleagues are annoyed. Because it doesn’t matter whether you have sympathy for the minimalists who love their free time: Ultimately, only successful business counts.

A doctor, who wants to remain anonymous, complains about the “coming and going” of her assistants. She misses their loyalty and speaks of a victim mentality: If one of the young women stays at home because of menstrual problems, which has become the norm, there is nothing she can do as an employer: “Otherwise they threaten discrimination lawsuits, they know the labor law today.” In the meantime, she only hires older returnees. They are not used to anything other than fulfilling their duties. It’s quite possible that you’ll even go home satisfied in the evening despite the tough day.

This, on the other hand, seems like a contradiction to the younger generation. Fulfillment through work? The job as part of self-realization? Who you are and who you want to be – that’s all you have to do with yourself. They get self-affirmation in the social networks. A beautician tells the story of trainees who primarily want to learn how to do their own make-up in order to post videos of it on YouTube. When you think of the likes that are there, the commitment is suddenly noticeable. In general, there is a lack of perseverance. You often have to take breaks and are quickly exhausted.

They no longer define themselves through their work, but through their self-portrayal, writes Rüdiger Maas in his book “Generation Z” (2019). The German psychologist is well disposed towards young people between 12 and 27. He just analyzes the results of his large-scale generation study: work has lost value, leisure, travel, fashion are much more important. Friends and family as well – young people represent more conservative values ​​again. Home office does not have to be mandatory, because why agree on what belongs separately?

Instead of work-life balance, it is better to speak of work-life separation today. For a long time, work-life balance was a nice-sounding term used by people whose personal lives were getting cut short under the workload. Now it is occupied by the generation whose professional career has not even begun. During the job interview, they already say how indispensable a good work-life balance is for them.

Maximum flexibility required

With an emphasis on “life”, Michel Péclard and Florian Weber note: The restaurateurs own several restaurants in Zurich, and because many positions as chefs or in service remain vacant, they too chafe at the young generation’s lack of work ethic. Their non-binding nature makes the creation of work plans an art. “They would prefer to decide today how much they will work tomorrow,” says Weber. “Because maybe they need to relax tomorrow.” One tries to accommodate them insofar as one considers their wishes from week to week. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have any more employees.”

Since Péclard and Weber have requested a second medical opinion in the event of an illness-related absence, people have been absent much less often. “Like babysitters,” that’s how they feel. They are now specifically promoting Afghan employees in their companies, some of whom have already made it from dishwasher to chef. “At least they’re grateful.”

Restaurateurs know that they still have to adapt. The good people are also poached in the catering trade. So you think about what else you could offer the employees. A bonus for the ski subscription? A free stand-up paddleboard course? That you always have to give them more so that they can work at all – Péclard, who himself has two sons in their twenties, no longer understands the world.

Rüdiger Maas, the generation researcher, is happy to explain to employers like him what needs to be done. Today it is the companies that have to apply, writes Maas. He says to the HR departments and executives to whom his book is addressed: Companies should try to win the favor of young people. You have to put the world at your feet, is one piece of advice, and another: “Treat even the worst applicants well.”

Because if a company does not create a positive feeling among young people, it can suddenly find an insult on its rating portal. The smartphone generation, another label, is constantly evaluating what it sees, hears and experiences online.

Outrageously confident

It used to be like this: if you didn’t get the job, you looked for the reason for the failure in yourself. You put a lot of effort into the application: the older sister formulated the letter a little better, you learned the company’s mission statement by heart for the job interview you bought a new blouse and got there way too early. Today, a rejection hardly arouses self-doubt. If this company doesn’t want me, fifty other companies are waiting for me.

You can even allow yourself to do things for which you would have sunk in shame before. Wrongly spelled company names, application letters full of misspellings. A film producer talks about the presentation of prospective directors. In Powerpoint, they listed the points that were important to them. He got stuck at the last point. “Dog contentment?” he asked. You would mean customer satisfaction? Oops! – the boys just laughed.

They are not lacking in self-confidence, and instead of envying them for it, the older ones are irritated. There is “an imbalance between what you think you can do and what you can do,” says restaurateur Florian Weber. “Whoever thinks they know their own worth demands more.” The salary and the workload are one thing, since the pandemic there has also been the free choice of work location, whether home office or office in Italy, and you ask about advancement opportunities in advance. According to the study by Rüdiger Maas, 58 percent of members of Generation Z dare to take on a management position, regardless of their level of education.

That doesn’t mean that they won’t achieve something. The young entrepreneur couple Yaël Meier and Jo Dietrich founded the Gen Z agency ZEAM and explain to companies like Mercedes-Benz what the young people want. The two themselves belong to Generation Z and have been on the “Forbes” list “30 under 30” since 2020. In the recently published book “Gen Z. For decision-makers” Dietrich writes: “You don’t win young talent with a fruit basket.” Because the young talents, he makes it clear, compared themselves “with the whole world”.

A good working atmosphere is one of the most important things in this world. Work should be fun. Every employee needs appreciation, the young employees now name it when it is missing. It’s what they inherited from their parents from birth: a sense of being unique, an unreserved affirmation of their personality. The name “snowflakes” is not meant nicely: it is said that those who are wrapped in cotton show little resistance when a rough wind blows.

Careful working environment desired

The members of Generation Z shouldn’t be bothered by the trouble of the older ones. Power will shift to them anyway, the future belongs to the young. They are already shaping the work culture. This is particularly noticeable in young companies. The Zurich-based digital marketing agency Webrepublic began as a startup a few years ago and has grown from a small founding team to 240 employees, with an average age of 32. Here, too, applicants who have just graduated from university formulate their clear salary expectations. Can you pay me for an apprenticeship later? they ask: What else can you offer me?

Sara Monteiro, the agency’s head of human resources, admires this courage. She herself, a millennial, would never have dared to do that. That’s why she understands the people who worked their way up, worked day and night and are now surprised to see how much the young people set themselves apart: in terms of working hours and by working from somewhere. That changes the feeling of togetherness.

Sara Monteiro likes the “emancipated behavior” of Generation Z. For example, the twenty-year-olds bring with them a sensitivity to gender equality that everyone in the office benefits from. So they know how discriminatory it is to reduce someone to their appearance – even if it is through a compliment. They showed much more self-awareness and already asked during the interview what they were doing for the mental health of their employees.

In this way, they are prepared in the event that they might overdo it.