Expert lists reasons why people in the corporate world need to adopt Gen Z's approach to work

There is a lot of conversation about Gen Z’s attitude towards work and a perception that they take their work too lightly and are entitled. Besides that, many managers claim they are the most difficult generation to work with. Mainly because they do not want to work the way the previous generations have. However, experts in their recent study have suggested that people should get used to them.

Ravin Jesuthasan, global leader for transformation services at the human resources consulting company Mercer, believes that people are coming at Gen Z not with the right perspective and asking all the wrong questions, per Business Insider. He says that Gen Z’s attitude toward work is so different because of all the struggles they have gone through, such as the financial insecurity of the previous generations or the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

While speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he said that Gen Z follows “an attitude of work to live as opposed to live to work that many of us grew up with." He shared that they see the truth regarding the financial and economic present and know how it plays out. “They have seen the legacy of all these broken promises. In the old days…they would promise you if you worked for 30 years, you have this defined benefit pension, you have retiree medical care, etc. None of that exists today.”

The business world and many cultural leaders aren’t very happy about Gen Z’s attitude towards work and pushback from work from office policy. But Jesuthasan believes there is no point in focusing on their attitude as Gen Z’s aren't going to change. He added that Gen Z does not believe in “broken promises” like home ownership to retirement as they have seen how affected millennials are by them. Because of this, they have ended up having a present-focused approach. “There's a sense of, 'I'm only as good as the skills I have. I'm only as good as the value I'm delivering today and so these are the terms under which I want to work and you either meet them or not,'" Jesuthasan said. 

A Forbes article about how Gen Z will change the company culture states that the generation enters the workforce with optimism and skepticism. Mostly, employees between 18 to 24 have positive attitudes towards work, but they report less optimism about other issues compared to other generations. The Harris Poll states that Gen Zers are first-generation social media natives and they focus more on diversity, inclusion and mental health. Also, their experiences are deeply impacted by COVID-19.

Moreover, the article talks about how Gen Z believes that the employer’s values only align with their values “somewhat or not at all.” Also, they are "the least likely to be happy with their organization’s expectations about where they work." The article concludes that employers must adapt to a workforce that has faced serious challenges during the pandemic. They require flexibility in terms of hybrid working. The company should implement inclusion, conduct workshops backed by fair policies, also communicate openly and have conversations about what’s happening frequently.