NieuwsuurGeneration Z on course
Mayra Pereira Furtado dos Reis
editor Nieuwsuur
Mayra Pereira Furtado dos Reis
editor Nieuwsuur
A new generation of employees is entering the labor market, a generation with a not so good reputation: Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2015. The twenty-somethings are said to be spoiled and not very resilient. With derisive nicknames such as ‘snowflakes’ and ‘rubber tile children’, raised by ‘curling parents’ who have brushed away their problems. Trainings now teach employers and ‘Gen Z’ how to interact with each other.
Generation Z – the first generation that has grown up fully with all the possibilities of the digital world – has high expectations of the labor market, employers see. Challenging positions must not only bring personal growth, but also have a positive impact on people and society. Twenty-somethings see an attractive salary as fair.
Privileged position
Eva Geesing is director of employment agency The Next Crew. She says that Generation Z mainly strives for happiness and has difficulty dealing with less pleasant moments. “They expect that every choice they make will lead them to that happiness. But not every choice can lead to happiness and sometimes it’s just not that fun.” The Next Crew helps starters find their way in the labor market with training and learn to deal with disappointments.
The twenty-somethings of Generation Z are not often interested in working full-time. Life besides working is just as important, if not more so. In the current tight labor market, they can therefore make demands. ‘Gen Z’ has a privileged position compared to predecessor Generation Y – the millennials – who entered the labor market during a period of high unemployment.
How do people in their twenties respond to the characterizations that are doing the rounds? And what do they want to learn?
Course makes Gen Z resilient for the labor market
Employers find the apparently unrealistic demands of twenty-somethings difficult. According to an American Survey survey, 74 percent of American managers view Generation Z as unmotivated, easily distracted and too sensitive to criticism. They believe that the generation has difficulty putting its shoulders to the wheel.
‘Bravery’
According to Timo de Regt, director of employment agency STAN Partners, conflicts arise when everyone looks at the world too much from their own generational perspective. “While you have to enter into a dialogue with your employees to achieve successful collaboration. Each generation has learned to work with the other. Skipping a generation is difficult,” says De Regt, who offers employers and employment mediators training and courses to help different generations bring them closer together.
Research by TNO last year showed that 21 percent of young employees between 18 and 27 years old feel emotionally exhausted by work several times a month. But Generation Z expert Hajar Yagkoubi (23) is not shocked by that. She believes that other generations can follow the openness of her generation as an example. “I don’t see it as weakness, but as a kind of bravery. That you actually dare to show that something is bothering you or that things are not going so well.”
2023-10-06 17:59:39
#spoiled #snowflakes #Generation #finding #labor #market
