5 Key Differences Between Gen Z and Millennials
If you’re feeling the way leaders around the globe are, you’re probably thinking “Ugh, I feel like I just got the hang of millennials and now you’re telling me there’s ANOTHER generation at work?”
Trust me, I hear what you’re going through. The good news? You’ve got time on your side.
Here’s the thing. Because Gen Z is just now entering the workforce, if your team educates themselves on the key distinctions between the two youngest generations at work, you’ve got time to make adjustments! And they may be less intense than you think.
Let’s talk about five key differences between Gen Z and millennials. In fact, some of them may surprise you! My generation (Gen Z) has taken some millennial traits to an extreme, yet other needs we have are shockingly “old fashioned.”
1: Pragmatic Vs. Idealistic
Gen Z was raised by Gen X parents to see the world realistically. Rather than our life goal being to “find our bliss,” we were taught to experiment with opportunities and work hard. You may recall my story where my dad handed me his cell phone at age 12 to close a business deal. Thousands of Gen X parents have testified that they’ve made similar parenting decisions to help their children understand that despite the opportunities the world affords, nothing comes easily.
As a result of both parenting decisions and the unstable world we’ve grown up within, my generation is highly pragmatic, skeptical, and has no patience for inauthenticity.
Contrast this with millennials who grew up during a time of immense opportunity. With the rise of the internet, parents taught their children that the world was theirs to claim and that they deserved to find a path that made them happy. This generated a group of young people who on average, held seven jobs by the time they were 30.
2. Digital Natives Vs. Digital Pioneers
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think “Gen Z’? Probably a kid glued to a cellphone.
But here’s the thing. How could we NOT be glued to a phone when our world revolves within it?
You see, we are digital natives. Unlike millennials who stumbled into a newly digitized world but who remember what it was like before, Gen Z has no patience for a lack of technology within businesses, and we understand the internet better than our predecessors.
That being said, we may be digital natives, but we aren’t digital lovers. Why? It’s a necessity to us. It’s part of everyday life. It holds little novelty.
3. Open to Non-Traditional Education Paths
Did you know 62% of Gen Z is open to not getting their undergrad?
Contrast that with only 23% of millennials.
My generation has watched millennials go into $60-100k in debt for generic degrees and struggle to pay it off for decades. Many of us don’t want that anymore!
Instead, we’d rather be paid well straight out of high school. Or have our employers pay for our education after we work with them a few years. Or attend a technical school.
What does this mean for the future of recruiting? Well, employers are going to have to create talent, not just recruit talent.
4. Loyal Vs. Job Hoppers
You know about job-hopping millennials, so why is Gen Z different?
Growing up in a world filled with instability, it may not surprise you to hear that Gen Z is striving to find stability in anything. Family, work, school, and religion.
The result? Gen Z is showing strong trends towards being loyal employees. In a recent study, 61% of Z’rs said they expected to stay with a company for 7-10 years IF the culture and team were aligned with their needs.
The key here is that Gen Z wants to be loyal. BUT our expectations for our employers are even higher than millennials. We have major FOMO and our cultural expectations are expansive.
5. DIY Vs. Team Oriented
Finally, my generation can tend towards narcissistic behaviors. There are actually both pros and cons to this.
On one hand, the result of a fast-paced and social media-filled world is that Gen Z is extraordinarily efficient. We’ll come up with faster and better ways of working on the fly.
However, this means we may struggle to work with a team. Millennials brought a massive sense of teamwork and progress to the workplace that Gen Z’s going to try to break… We’d rather get it done ourselves in our own office on our own time.
Let’s be prepared for the clash. Helping prepare your team to lead and empower this highly individualistic generation should be top of mind.
Where do we go from here?
I hope that some of these characteristics are good news for you, but please know you’re not alone in navigating the changes! If I can help you think through where your organization should begin, you can always schedule a few minutes with me.