Research exposes huge shift in what workers want from employer

A telling insight into what Millennials really care about at work has revealed why Gen Z workers are rising the ranks like no one before them.

A curious insight into what truly motivates Millenials at work has been revealed, and has highlighted just how distinct their approach is compared to Generation Z.

When it comes to what keeps each generation group in a particular job – the two couldn’t be more different, research from HR platform, HiBob, has found.

It was largely the result of the differed norms the generations were exposed to when they were entering the workforce Damien Andreasen, vice President at HiBob, said.

“When you think of Gen Z, their version of norms is start-ups, scale ups and billionaires taking on Adobe. They’ve seen the rise of the side-hustle and crypto come and fall,” Mr Andreasen told news.com.au.

“These are mainstays for them, they’re the status quo. It’s all innovative and new, and a departure from what Millennials saw at the beginning of their careers.”

What was considered normal had shifted enormously as Gen Z was entering the workforce – something Mr Andreasen said contributed to a distinct divide between generational job attitudes.

“Millennials are very motivated by purpose [and will ask], ‘why am I doing this? What is my impact? What am I providing back to the greater industry?”. There’s got to be a sense of purpose,” Mr Andreasen said.

While Millennials want to feel purpose at work, Gen Z is worried about one thing: money. Picture: Canva

Gen Z on the other hand, were predominantly motivated by financial security.

They were more likely to prioritise getting their hands on the best possible remuneration package they could, Mr Andreasen said.

“They look for companies that can offer secure compensation packages and career development opportunities, and those will be inextricably linked,” he said.

“There’s a real specificity to the way Gen Z thinks about their career. Whereas the millennial generation and anything previous, we think about our career goals as something to work towards but not necessarily the trajectory on a six or 12 month basis.”
The time frames of how long an employee would spend sitting in the one chair had shrunk majorly.

Companies wanting to hold onto its Gen Z workforce needed to do one main thing, continue offering them more money.

“More than a third are motivated to stay at their company if it offers a better salary. So you could bundle a bunch of perks, but if they’re just getting paid more they’re unlikely to leave,” Mr Andreasen said.

Gen Z were, on top of being perpetually paid more, expecting to have a clear idea of how their employer planned to invest in their skills so they can continue to move up the ranks.

“That’s something previous generations didn’t have as an expectation,” Mr Andreasen said.

More than half of Gen Z workers surveyed indicated they wanted to at some stage, start their own company which Mr Andreasen was linked to what they saw when they entered the workforce.

Gen Zs will leave their job for a better offer if they don’t progress in the first six to 12 months. Picture: Canva

The country’s talent shortage was also working in favour of the Gen Z approach, which he said played into workers not hesitating on leaving if their employer couldn’t offer more.

“Because they’re not purpose driven and they’re more focused on money, if they feel they are being underpaid, they are more likely to leave,” he said.

“They don’t have the same anchor in purpose like a millennial would. Plus they have a shorter reference of time in terms of how long things should take.”

The combination of talent shortages, motivations and expectations between the different generations was essentially what determined how they moved through the workforce, he said.

Gen Z want WFH ‘best of both worlds’

Surprisingly enough, Gen Z weren’t as headstrong on working from home as some might think, but they were intent on having flexibility to make their own decisions on the matter.

“They want to flexibility to work from home, the office, or wherever they want to,” Mr Andreasen said.

He highlighted that working remotely was when the more impressive, inspirational work was likely to happen, while office work was more often time for in-person meetings and socialising.

Originally published as Research exposes huge shift in what workers want from employer