Generation Z set to work its magic

The world of work will change dramatically during the next five years as baby boomers move into retirement.

Law clerk Michael Spyrou says technology will play a big role in his future. Picture: Kelly Barnes.

The world of work will change dramatically during the next five years as baby boomers move into a belated retirement and as the next generation — Z — rises through the ranks.

Generation Z, those aged six to 20, have grown up as the first digital generation, and how they operate will be vastly different from the baby boomers working in their 60s and the generation X employees and leaders hitting their straps.

But global recruitment firm Robert Half, which undertook an international study of more than 800 university students, says media stereotypes of how generation Z workers will operate in the workforce do not apply.

Robert Half Asia Pacific senior managing director David Jones says people think of the youngest generation as non-communicators — spending all their time on mobile devices sending messages and browsing — but he says that is not the case and they communicate better than many others.

Not only can they speak well, but Jones says the study found 74 per cent prefer direct contact and communication with a colleague or leader while on the job, rather than emailed notes, text messages and remote working.

“We think they sit in their bedrooms tapping messages,” Jones says. “But what was surprising was that in the workplace in excess of 70 per cent said what they prefer is face-to-face verbal communication, which is a massive breaking of stereotypes.”

He says baby boomers and generation X have a perception young people cannot communicate with anyone other than their younger peers, and only via text, but he says that does not happen in the workforce. Social media has made the youngest generation more social, rather than less, and they communicate constantly with others.

The survey found 64 per cent preferred collaborating with colleagues in a small group in an office and only 7 per cent wanted to work virtually or off site.

“The perception from older people is it has made them unsociable because they’re always looking at their phone,” he says.

“Therefore working at home in an isolated practice is not favoured. They want to share ideas, they want to be with people face to face, they want to communicate. ”

Mark Gabbott, executive dean of Macquarie University’s business school, agrees the stereotype of young university students sitting in an isolated room at a computer are outdated. Young people want interaction with others, whether it be in an office or in a learning environment.

“At a university level we’re aware of the value of face-to-face communication,” Gabbott says. “The power of face-to-face communication will always be the dominant forum around the world. Meetings still take place, people still travel, it’s the handshake and face-to-face contact.”

As the business world becomes closer through technology Gabbott says personal interaction is still significant in Eastern cultures and has been important for thousands of years.

While communication is key, Jones says the youngest workers set to take the office world by storm also know life is changing.

They know they will have to work longer and do not harbour false hope they will make their first million by 30 and retire early. They have grown up in tighter economic times than workers from generations Y and X, and know jobs no longer exist for life.

“We all think they want to work for a start-up but they really want to work for a mid-level company, and they’ll only change jobs four times, which is about every decade in a 40-year career,” Jones says.

He says it will be normal for generation Z workers to change jobs every two to three years — even though people question Xers and baby boomers who jump regularly.

They also want regular promotions, even if they are tokenistic. “Sometimes generation X and baby boomers will say it’s not a real promotion but a bottom generation Y and Z will say, ‘I want to get promoted every 12 to 18 months,’ ” he says.

“Everything happens now. They want progression to be happening faster.

“If you are a manager you want to keep these people moving in their careers.”

Digital future holds only positives for generation Z

They are growing up under a new set of circumstances, so many of us expect them to be different.

Popular stereotypes portray generation Z, as the first digital natives, as socially inferior and disconnected from reality as they indulge in technological communication, whether it be a smartphone or mobile device.

Yet Adelaide law clerk Michael Spyrou, 19, dismisses these stereotypes and says direct communication in the workplace is vital.

“I don’t see myself as a non-communicator,” Spyrou says.

“If communication is direct and people are physically showing you how to do things, you tend to grasp concepts a bit better, whereas if it’s over email or phone, it’s not a conversation which can go back and forth.”

However, there are some stereotypes Spyrou agrees with, and says it is true that emerging young professionals do not like the idea of having a job for life.

“I can see myself wanting to change, maybe not my career path, but definitely broadening my options throughout my career,” he says. “I don’t like the idea of doing the same thing Monday to Friday, nine to five, until I retire.”

Spyrou is a law clerk who undertakes mainly administrative duties while studying an economics and finance degree at the University of Adelaide.

He says younger generations will become more valued as technology changes.

“As new generations come, technology is going to have a very important role, that’s the way of the future.

“I personally have embraced the change and I think slowly people will stop stereotyping and will see the positives out of it rather than the negatives.”