If you want Gen Z, you’ll have to work for them

The pandemic may have cost Gen Z their jobs, but it won’t keep them from finding new ones — and they won’t be sacrificing their values as they search for their next career move.

Since March 2020, workers under 25 have experienced furlough rates 73% higher than those aged 25 and older, and were terminated at rates 79% higher, according to data by resource management company Gusto. As those workers consider future opportunities, it’d be easy to expect them to prioritize a steady paycheck above all else, but in fact, 63% said that an employer having a stance on political issues and a broad social purpose is most important to them, a survey conducted by business analytics company Alight Solutions found.

“There's this misconception out there that to attract younger talent you need to have it all be about the fun and the perks,” says Laine Thomas Conway, VP of communication strategy and total rewards product manager at Alight. “What the data really shows is that this generation is about what you stand for, who you are and how consistent you are as an employer.”

Gen Z — anyone born in 1996 and onward, according to the Pew Research Center — will account for an influx of roughly 60 million job seekers in the next decade, according to data from Concordia St. Paul University, vastly outnumbering their millennial predecessors.

Emma Waite is part of that cohort. This fall, the 20-year-old will start her senior year at Ithaca College, where she’s studying integrated marketing communications. As she thinks about heading into the workforce next spring, she’s well aware of the value Gen Z-ers like her can bring to a company.

“We’re powerful because we’re not afraid to speak up about current issues or things we’re passionate about,” Waite says. “The energy I bring to the table is because of the awareness I have: for my peers, about current issues, and of my own skills. We know the issues, we know social media, and we know how to amplify our voices and ideas. Bringing Gen Z voices into more traditional companies is a way to help them learn and grow.”

As companies emerge from the pandemic and prepare for an anticipated hiring frenzy, they’ll be working to woo talent and passion like Waite’s, as well as that of her peers. This generation’s skill set, after all, is uniquely suited to this moment of hybrid work, and will only become more valuable as technology continues to transform industries.

Read more: The pandemic is forcing Gen Z to rethink their future

“[Gen Z] was born and raised in a world of technology,” says Luke Pardue, an economist with Gusto. “This is their native environment. They have an advantage in that they don't have to necessarily upskill to the degree that older workers have to.”

Just as Gen Z wants to know what a company stands for before agreeing to work for them, they also want to know how any potential employer is going to support its own workers. Traditional benefits don’t really cut it. Sixty percent of Gen Z workers are unsatisfied with their company’s current benefits and the majority ranked flexibility and annual bonuses higher than medical coverage and PTO, according to Alight’s survey. Instead, young workers are more likely to use offerings such as short term loans, mental health applications, daily pay features and fitness and weight management services than other employees.

This shift is due in part to the fact that on top of facing a higher job loss rate than any other employee demographic, Gen Z’s collective mental health plummeted during the pandemic as well, according to Thomas Conway. Forty-six percent say their mental well-being worsened during the pandemic — compared to other employees’ 40% — and 30% identified as lonely.

Great employee experiences correlate with positive overall well-being, according to Thomas Conway. But right now, Gen Z is suffering in both regards.

“How you feel personally is going to impact how you do professionally,” Thomas Conway says. “Financial and emotional well-being offerings are going to be important [when recruiting] because Gen Z tends to feel less in control.”

To successfully attract and retain Gen Z workers, employers will have to take a more holistic hiring approach and cater to younger workers’ experience, Pardue says. And seeing as more and more older employees are leaving the workforce early —more than two-thirds have retired earlier than expected as a result of the pandemic — the pressure to bridge the labor gap is on.

“Companies are going to have to make sure that they communicate their impact and conduct their work in such a way that Gen Z's needs and their desires are satisfied in a way they didn’t have to for older workers,” Pardue says.

Read more: COVID-19 is taking a toll on Gen-Z’s mental health

If jobs that cater to those needs and desires don’t exist, Gen Z is prepared to create those opportunities for themselves. The past year saw a surge in new business creation, according to Pardue, fueled in part by laid-off workers who wanted to take control of their financial situation.

Sixty-five percent of Gen Z-ers already in the workforce expect that they’ll be running their own businesses within 10 years, according to a study by Ernst & Young. The pandemic accelerated that entrepreneurial spirit, according to Thomas Conway, who points out that 71% of Gen Z workers picked up a side-hustle while in lockdown. It may have started as a way to make ends meet, but it’s unlikely that they’ll back away from those ventures, even when they no longer feel like a financial necessity.

“Side hustles can be more fulfilling,” Thomas Conway says. “They can also lead to a career change or a career path versus just paying the bills.”

For any employers who are committed to capturing the power of this talent pool, Conway urges them to think first about their own companies, their culture, and how they plan to support their teams before setting out to recruit Gen Z workers — because this generation knows what it wants, and its members are not afraid to ask potential employers the tough questions.

“I value a work culture that puts an emphasis on being kind to their employees, and I never want to work somewhere with a damaging hierarchy of power,” Waite says. “I want to join a company where I can feel empowered to speak up about salaries and benefits, and where I can learn and grow as an individual.”