Recent findings from a project Imagen Insights conducted in partnership with Inpulse, the employee engagement experts, found more than three quarters (76%) of our Gen Z community respondents reported feeling both anxious and enthusiastic about their future careers. 

The last 18 months has been an interesting time for Gen Z employees, who have been forced to work remotely or explore different job opportunities because of the covid pandemic. Whilst structure, an office and a team environment is very useful for young people to acquire important skills and learn from others, this has not always been the case in the last year.

There are also new challenges for managers to oversee the work of Gen Z staff, with differences in their generations and how they approach work. But we speak to the experts to shed some light.

Jay Richards, is Co Founder and CEO at Imagen Insights who commented:

“Our recent work unearthed a few key themes amongst the Gen Z community when it comes to the workplace and attracting the best young talent. In terms of the organisation and role, Gen Z wants a clear career trajectory mapped out from day one, they want their employers to be transparent in all aspects – whether that is business goals or internal communications. They also want a variety of working within their role, and diversity in terms of the business must be front and centre.”

“When it comes to leadership they want bosses who lead with purpose, leaders that are accessible and conscientious and the flexibility to be trusted to work in a hybrid way, with a mix of office based and working from home. Another of our findings I found particularly interesting was that our Gen Z community wants their employers to encourage them to have hobbies and a life outside of work. They have seen what happened to the millennial burnout generation and they want more balance in their lives.”

Charlie Johnson, founder of graduate recruitment agency, BrighterBox commented:

“Graduate jobs offer excellent structure for young people, whether they are millennials or Gen Z. There is always training involved and the opportunity to progress, with several role models within the organisation, which would make it a very good fit for someone in their early 20s.”

“Initially, graduate jobs were often associated with accountancy firms, banks and consultancy companies, but today there are a lot of opportunities to work with startups and work in a creative environment.”

“In fact, a lot of large employers are very open to promoting wellbeing, offering a lot of new incentives such as food, gyms and additional annual leave. Its an exciting time because employers are really looking to hire graduates and increase their company loyalty and we also spoke to more than 100 graduates to get their thoughts on this – you can download the report here.”