Gen Z at work: What are we really like?

We recently featured an article on PulseZ about how three youth workers and a psychologist perceive Generation Z, or Zoomers. This time, we asked representatives of this generation directly for their opinions. How do they feel about being labeled “lazy” by their elders?

According to a survey by the British professional organization for HR and human resources , up to 52% of employers in the United Kingdom think that young people are not ready for work. And less than 30%, on the contrary, think that Generation Z is ready for work. According to those interviewed by Zoomer, as Generation Z is called, they lack key social skills, such as teamwork and communication. At the same time, they say that they are “more difficult to manage” compared to previous generations.

We asked them 5 questions

We approached 5 young people from all over Slovakia who belong to Generation Z and are already working and asked them the following questions:

1. How do you feel about Generation Z being described as lazy and irresponsible people who don’t want to work?
2. What are your expectations from the workplace you would like to work in? What should and shouldn’t it have?
3. Do you care what your employer’s values ​​are?
4. Is work-life balance important to you?
5. What is your relationship with authorities?

If I didn’t identify with the company’s values, I would leave.

Adam, 25 years old (television editor and presenter)

1. I think it’s a recurring trend. The older generation always says that the younger generation is lazy, irresponsible and doesn’t want to work. I think we’re thinking more about work. We want to make it easier and not just live and work, work, but enjoy life a little more.
2. I expect work to be mainly fun and fulfilling and that I will go there with joy, whether because of the team or because of the job. At the same time, I expect to keep moving forward and growing. And I don’t want it to be the exact opposite, that I wake up in the morning and be mentally down that I have to go there. I don’t want to be at work all day waiting for when I can finally go home. At the same time, I would never want to go to work just to earn money so that I can afford basic things.
3. I definitely think about what the company’s values ​​are. If they were different from mine, I definitely wouldn’t want to be there. If there were people with different values, we probably wouldn’t understand each other at all and I can’t imagine working in such a job. In my opinion, the company should be interested in topics that are currently being addressed. For example, mental and physical health. It is important that people are not just numbers for them. I think that employers should also be interested in current events in society and should not side with the politicians who are currently in power. They should maintain their values, which are associated with Western democracy and freedom. They should not be subject to public pressure. An important topic that employers should not be indifferent to is the climate crisis.
4. I think that the desire for work-life balance is what sets us apart from the previous generation. The generations before us just worked and worked and mainly wanted to support themselves and their families. In my opinion, Generation Z is more concerned with how to enjoy life and not devote all their time to work. We also look for the meaning of life elsewhere. We want to enjoy life a little, get to know the world and travel, and not just be at work all our lives.
5. My generation no longer listens to every authority. I listen to authorities, but when I have a different opinion on a matter, I argue and do not nod at any price. I would be willing to risk my job for my truth. I always want to hear a detailed explanation from an authority, only then can I identify with it.

I don’t want fake people and an incompetent boss around me.

Radovan, 25 years old (carpenter and log cabin builder)

1. I don’t think our generation is lazy. And I don’t feel that way either. We may be doing less manually now, but we’re doing more with our heads.
2. I expect to do what I enjoy and that I will do it on my own and thanks to my honest work, customers who use my services will also learn about it. In the past, I have experience with a fake work team and an incompetent boss. Moreover, the agreements were not followed. I definitely do not want to experience this at work.
3. Yes, I care about the values ​​of the company I work for. I especially want the company to do its job precisely and at the same time be considerate towards its employees. I am more comfortable working in a smaller company than in a corporate one.
4. Work-life balance is very important to me. I also need to relax. My goal is definitely not to push myself to the limit at work.
5. I have no problem listening to authority figures. My superiors give me tasks every day, and for the company to function well, I have to listen to them. It’s impossible without it.

I want to determine my own working hours.

Monika, 28 years old (children’s swimming instructor, animator and school psychologist)

1. I think we have so many options, so we care about having time for ourselves and we value a slow life more. We care more about where we work. At the same time, our generation knows how to find ways to work less or not work at all. They know how to combine work with travel or other activities. So I don’t think that Generation Z doesn’t want to work, but they are smart enough to find their own ways and not just go to work anywhere.
2. It’s important to me that I can set my own working hours. I work and I work a lot, but they have to be things that I enjoy. I enjoy training children, organizing children’s parties, and I also enjoy psychology. But that is the most mentally demanding. Sometimes it exhausts me, so I monitor it and try to work with it. The key for me is the team and seeing meaning in my work. When swimming, I see how a child progresses and loses fear. In psychology, I am there for the children and I can help them when they have difficulties. And I also enjoy parties, I like to have fun and I am happy when I see that the children are happy.
   At the same time, I want a slower life, to have time for friends, family and travel. However, it is also important that my work supports me. I don’t need much because I don’t spend much. Now I can earn well and treat myself to what I need. When you have to chase yourself and pay a mortgage, for example, it is more difficult.
3. I’ve had jobs where values ​​weren’t really built in. They just focused on how many clients they would have. But I didn’t feel that way about my job, so I worked there for a long time despite that. When I think about it, I probably wish I cared more about these things.
   It bothers me when a company doesn’t care about its employees. It happened to me that an employer didn’t care if we were sick, for example, but only cared that we did what needed to be done.
4. Work life balance is important. When you overwork yourself, you don’t do your job well. I see it in myself. When I do a lot, I don’t give my best and I don’t do my job 100 percent. Some companies are now trying to make people feel better at work. They also organize various joint team-building activities, but ultimately, people still feel like they’re at work, so it can be detrimental.
5. It’s easy for me to listen to authority figures, if they’re reasonable authorities. If the employer doesn’t care how I feel or what my health condition is, I’m capable of arguing. However, if the person is reasonable and fair, I have no problem listening to them.

Too businesslike an approach will put me off.

Victoria, 25 years old (account manager at a PR agency)

1. I probably live in a good bubble because I don’t often encounter such a categorization of our generation. It’s true that even though I was born in 2000, I’ve always been surrounded by older people, and even now many of my close friends are older. That’s why I’m used to looking at myself and my peers with slightly different eyes. And I also have many hardworking people around me. However, I realize that compared to my siblings, who are revolutionary children, we are a less ambitious generation. Maybe it’s because we had everything. Even in the first grade of elementary school, we had the internet at our disposal and could use it to create projects or assignments for school. It was a big help, but at the same time it robbed us of discipline and the ability to work on something for a long time and not give up so quickly – I feel that about our generation. We are probably just as lazy as everyone else our age – of course, we want to enjoy our youth. The problem is rather that we give up too soon when something doesn’t work and we have a greater tendency to run away when things don’t go well.
2. I am the type of person who has not chosen one area in which to improve and grow. I see this as a disadvantage in many ways, but it also has something positive in it. That is why when choosing a job, I do not look 100% at its content. I try to look more at whether I can offer some of my skills and character traits in a given position and at the same time whether the given position can offer something new to me. I care a lot about who I work with. For example, during job interviews, I try to get a sense of what the other party is like, what my potential boss is like. Whether I have any connections with them and whether we understand each other. In this whole work-professional relationship, I try to primarily look for humanity and fairness. If I sense exaggerated expectations from the other party or an overly businesslike approach that is mainly focused on performance and profit, it is discouraging for me.
3. Caring for the environment and consideration for minorities are important topics for me, which I primarily deal with within myself. I realize that, unfortunately, especially in this political situation, it is up to us individuals. It is very gratifying when I see that a company, for example, has a positive attitude towards ecology, especially when I see real steps and activities that it takes. However, I have learned that I cannot expect this and take it for granted. Often, companies also do something to support non-profit organizations, but inside their company the setting is different and maybe even basic things like waste sorting do not work there. I am very sorry about that, because I take this for granted and it always saddens me when the reality is different. If I had to sum it up, I care a lot about what the company’s values ​​are, I cannot imagine working for a manufacturer that, for example, produces fast fashion. But I know that my values ​​or standards within ecology are set quite strictly and few companies are able to meet them, so I am grateful there and will appreciate any little thing.
4. I have older parents from whom I learned many good things, but also some bad habits. One of them is putting something other than myself first – often it’s work. Even though my working career is still short, I’ve been through a period when I almost burned out. I can often burn out, because I’m sometimes too responsible and take on more than I should. However, I actively work on it and try to set boundaries for myself from the beginning. I like it when I see people being hardworking, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of privacy. I sometimes feel guilty that I’m still young, that I should be able to do as much as possible now. Learn as much as possible, gain a lot of experience, but on the other hand, I don’t want to rush and live only for work. I find that when a person has time for themselves, they first recharge, whether with a hobby or just a simple rest, and then they can do quality work. However, the most important thing is to recharge first and then go do something full of energy. If it works in such a way that we work hard and don’t fully recharge, it can take its toll on us after a long time.
5. I’ll probably mention my elderly parents again. Through them, I learned to listen to authority figures from a young age. Maybe sometimes to the point that even when I was wronged, I kept quiet. Unfortunately, it’s a remnant of the upbringing of their parents – my grandparents. That’s why I don’t look down on them. I understand that they did the best they could. So I generally don’t have a problem with authority figures. But it depends on what, or rather whom, we imagine under that term. If someone who despises my values ​​becomes a socially recognized authority figure, I will respect them as a person, but I probably won’t obey them.

We don’t know what is expected of us.

Michal, 20 years old (financial intermediary)

1. I think I know where this opinion comes from. Usually, each generation talks about the next one as being less hardworking. Generation Z has the mindset that you should enjoy life, especially when you are young, and not work your whole life. At the same time, this can be influenced by the high demands of the labor market, in which none of us really knows what is expected of us. Should you have a university degree? Or should you have experience? Should you work in one company for 10 years? Or should you have experience in different fields? All of these attributes can lead to a slight decision-making paralysis. And then comes the opinion: “you should enjoy life while you are young” – and then it may seem that Generation Z is not hardworking. On the other hand, I think that Generation Z, partly raised by modern technologies, has a very specific range of skills with which we can contribute to the growth of companies on the labor market.
2. I will speak in the present tense because I currently work in a job that fulfills me 100%. I have time freedom – I do not work “from – to” and I have opportunities for career growth. I influence salary conditions to the maximum extent with my performance and therefore I take maximum responsibility for my life. I would not work in a job that would be too monotonous, without the possibility of creating creative solutions to problems. I would also never work in a job where my work and my fate in the company would be decided by that typical stereotype of a bitter old boss who has the values ​​of a generation 2 levels older than ours.
3. I certainly care a lot about a company’s approach to the environment, to employees and even to customers themselves. On the other hand, I think that for most people these factors are not so decisive that they would, for example, reject a lucrative job offer. Personally, I am more inclined to the approach that by my own actions I will contribute to a better corporate culture and people’s behavior, whether towards the environment or towards themselves.
4. I think that every person has a choice. In order for someone to win in capitalism (without being born into a royal family), it is necessary to do a certain amount of work in a lifetime. Work on yourself and your skills and then provide them to other people for money. We can either spread this work over 40 years and make small shifts every day, or roll up our sleeves and for 5 to 10 years, step out of our comfort zone and work on ourselves as much as possible every day. I choose the second option, even though it is much less pleasant in the short term, it can bring me a better future. For me, work-life balance means the first years are work and the rest of life is life.
5. I think I’ve had a problem with authority figures since I was a little girl. I’ve never really agreed with the idea that someone else should make decisions about my life. I have no problem giving respect to people who deserve it. But I really don’t like it when someone is an authority figure just out of principle. For example, they’re in a higher position than me, whether in a company, at school, or even in the state, and at the same time I don’t see anything that person can do to deserve it. In such a case, it’s very difficult for me to respect any level of superiority or authority. At the same time, I like the feeling that I have my life in my own hands and that I can decide on individual things myself. It’s also a certain level of responsibility that I accept for all my decisions. But when I’m stripped of this responsibility by some authority figure, I lose control over my decisions and the direction of my life.