The question on everyone's mind is: Are Gen Z workers actually different?
TechCrunch set out 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 hire and retain talent. One of the topics was how young workers are very different from older workers.
“It was the same with millennials, right?” Ilovsky asked on stage. “I remember baby boomers criticizing Millennials, and now Millennials were criticizing Gen Z. I love Gen Z too. How much they push the boundaries and think. I think they understand why we are forcing them to do so.”
She said employers can sulk about it, or they can try to look at the world from a different perspective and how that impacts what Gen Z brings to the table. Doshay noted that this generation has been in the workforce for at least five years, meaning they face a labor market affected by the pandemic, economic instability, and mass layoffs in the tech industry.
“So what we're seeing in early data is that there's a lack of loyalty among Gen Z in the workforce,” Doshay said, adding that her company's report shows that Gen Z's average tenure is 1.1. He cited that he found out that he was 20 years old. The older generation has spent decades in the company. “It challenges you to do better,” she said. “What can we do to retain these people and keep them there longer?”
At the same time, she said it's still early. Gen Z behaviors are likely to evolve over time as the workforce changes. “I think it’s really important to have that perspective in the workplace and have a really diverse workforce,” she said. “If your consumer base reflects Gen Z, you want to make sure you reflect that DNA in your workforce.”
Lee said Gen Z values transparency much more than other generations. Today, young people will openly talk about their salaries and post images of themselves being fired on TikTok. Lee said companies should find ways to be more transparent with their employees so they can stand out from companies that don't.
Of course, I had to ask about the now-viral video of Keith Lavoie talking about not hiring people over 30. Without naming names, we talked about the concept of age discrimination and how it can actually negatively impact companies. Ilovsky said companies need to have employees of diverse ages, resulting in diverse skill sets. Dorshay reminded the audience that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of age, noting that older generations are more likely to be in the workforce. In fact, she says not hiring anyone over 30 probably means most of your audience won't hire themselves.
“Also, when did 30 become the limit?” Lee added jokingly. “I'm a little insulted by that.”