Writing from the Coehlo Center, Shruti Rajkumar, a senior journalism student at Emerson College in Boston, finds that generation Z (the group born between 1997 and the early 2010s) has five priorities for their future jobs. Although I’m generally wary of qualitative research, my conversations with grandkids and that generation in my apartment and at the local fitness center resonate with her conclusions.
Flexibility: Although this group wants their fingers in their scheduling and organizing of their job, they also want to be able to access the support of other workers and managers. Job flexibility also includes both remote and on-site work, as well as some control over the hours they work.
What’s really intriguing about this Gen-Z priority is that I’m meeting plenty of adults, including Millennials (1981 – 1996, ages 26 – 41), Gen-X (1965 – 1980, ages 42 – 57) and Boomers II (1955 – 1964, ages 58 – 67), who want similar flexibilities. That’s a change from the past, but studies show it’s a Pandemic driven priority. My eldest daughter (age 59), a VP at a top non-profit, tells me that their firm is permanently remote. And she wants it that way. My middle daughter, a research manager at Harvard Med School, tells me that her job is hybrid. She controls the location and much prefers her own personal decision making on location. My youngest daughter has worked remotely since before the pandemic. Clearly this is changing throughout the entire work world.
But Rajkumar writes that Gen-Z is very intentional about flexibility. They expect it and many will quit their jobs if they don’t get it. The fact that employees now control most jobs rather than employers makes that a fait accompli. A 2022 Randstad Workmonitor global survey of 35,000 employees supports the conclusion. This is more true of all generations today than ever before.