It’s a topic on everyone’s mind: Are Gen Z workers? Actually Different?
TechCrunch tried to find out at this year’s Disrupt 2024. We sat down with SignalFire’s Heather Doshay, Comprehensive.io’s Roger Lee, and CapitalG’s Lauren Illovsky to discuss how to attract and retain talent. One theme that emerged was how different young workers are from their older counterparts.
“It was the same with millennials, right?” Elovsky asked on stage. “We remember when Boomers criticized millennials, and now millennials are criticizing Gen Z. I love Gen Z, too. I think there’s an appreciation for how much they push boundaries and Makes you think.”
Employers can either be grumpy about it or try to see the world from a different perspective and the impact of what Gen Z can bring to the table, he said. Dusche notes that this generation has been in the workforce for at least five years, meaning they have faced a labor market affected by pandemics, economic uncertainty, and massive layoffs in tech.
“So there’s a lack of loyalty among Gen Zs in the workforce that we’re seeing in the early data,” Douche said, citing a report from his company that found Gen Xers stayed on the job an average of 1.1 years. are Older generations who spent decades in the company. “It challenges you to do better,” he said. “What can you do to retain those people and keep them there longer?”
At the same time, he said, it’s still early. Gen Z’s behavior may change over time as the workforce changes with them. “I think it’s important to have that perspective and have really diverse people in your workforce,” he said. “If your user base reflects Gen Z, you want to make sure your workforce has that DNA.”
Lee said Gen Xers value transparency more than other generations. Today, young people talk openly about their salaries and will post TikToks of themselves getting fired. Lee said companies should find ways to be more transparent with their employees, which can set them apart from companies that aren’t.
Of course, we had to ask about her now-viral video. Keith Rabois talks about not hiring anyone over 30. Without naming names, we talked about the concept of ageism and how it hurts companies. Illovsky said companies need a workforce that is diverse in terms of age, which results in a diverse skill set. Douche said older generations are more engaged in the workforce, and reminded the audience that age discrimination is illegal. In fact, not employing anyone over the age of 30 means that most of the audience will not employ themselves, he said.
“Also, since when was 30 a cutoff?” Lee added jokingly. “I’m a little insulted by that.”
Credit : techcrunch.com
