Although only 12.6% of the US workforce is comprised of Gen-Z workers, they have experienced perhaps the most unique set of challenges as entry-level employees than any other generation.
Unlike older generations, shelter-in-place mandates forced a large portion of Gen-Z to graduate from college, intern, and start their careers while fully remote. This has caused a huge chasm in experiencing cultural workplace milestones, and a slight delay in young professionals learning social norms and even some key soft skills.
According to a recent Harris Poll survey results, two-thirds of respondents said that understanding corporate office culture is essential to their career, and 57% agreed that face time with coworkers is important as reported by Bloomberg. Another 37% of fully remote or hybrid workers said they feel like they’re lagging behind their counterparts who work in offices full time.
They’ve taken this awareness to social media.
For instance, one user pointed out that although Gen-Zers are missing out on certain learnings by working in silos from home, it’s both their and the company’s responsibility to mitigate that issue.
As Forbes’ William Roadhouse points out, learning nuances of the workplace is difficult enough in person. On-the-job training isn’t happening the way it used to through inadvertent observation. Instead, Gen-Zers are having to decipher instructions and requests through instant messages, email and video calls. With some nuances lost through technological communication, it can be anxiety-inducing, leaving plenty of room for misunderstandings or conflict.
Consequently, there are a number of Gen-Z TikTokers “romanticizing,” in-office corporate work experiences.
“There’s been a huge paradigm shift in generational work experiences and a few factors at play caused that,” Carmen Bryant told ESSENCE. She serves as the VP of Marketing at WizeHire, an online recruiting company.
“Gen-Z has a hugely connected presence on social media and digital channels, which can naturally result in increased isolation.”
Bryant also pointed out that social media has naturally cultivated a more outspoken culture among Gen-Zers, so “they’re a generation that speak out and really revel in finding authentic connection with people in real life.”
This may sound contradictory to the scores of reports stating that workers overwhelmingly prefer to work from home due to increased productivity and saved money due to the lack of a daily commute.
“If we think about it, it can be kind of surprising seeing that the remote work environment has come to be seen as the ideal way to work, Bryant told ESSENCE. “But really, it’s not a surprise when you think how lonely some Gen-Zers have become at a hugely critical {part of their formative years.}”
As far as advice for Gen-Zers looking for a workplace that’s a social fit, Bryant suggests focusing on other critical areas of the company before coming onboard.
“There are lots of companies and small businesses that do care about {their employee’ morals and values, but it requires both the employer and employees to just be really thoughtful about what are the top priorities for us, what do we stand for, what is the right space and environment for us.”