Who will Join us at Workforce: Generation Z ‘the Digital Land Habitant’!

Recently, I was wondering how today’s kids  look at the world. They have different eyes from us (older generations). According to Wikipedia, generation Z are those who were born from mid, late 1990’s or  mid of 2000’s till present.

Many members of Generation Z are highly “connected,” having had lifelong use of communication and media technology like the World Wide Web, instant messaging, text messaging, MP3 players, and mobile phones, earning them the nickname “digital natives”.

Some of those guys will knock the door of workforce within few years. They never lived without Internet! They have different characteristics from previous generation Gen X and Gen Y (1970’s and 1980’s generations respectively).

This generation grew up with PCs, cell phones, and MP3 players, and is one of the largest populations on Facebook. Writing wall messages and texting is their preferred method of communication. E-mail is considered a much more formal medium, and faxing is as ancient as snail mail. It’s a generation that blogs, tweets, uses, and breathes technology. They are not scared of technology, and they are all “power users.”

“Security setting” is a foreign concept to them, and privacy is an afterthought. They are the future of the workforce. In the business world, it’s really important to understand the needs and expectations of Generation Z, while balancing the need for compliance, IP protection, governance, and security. It’s also important to keep in mind the co-existence of Generation Z with older generations, who are not as tech savvy, and even at times skeptical about the usefulness of technology. Striking the right balance for your organization is important.

Gen Z has Different Perspectives of Challenges

Gen Z looks to business challenges in different way. They used to utilize technology in order to overcome a lot of daily issues. It is expected they will have different point of view for obstacles they will encounter.

Perhaps They are Less Loyal to Employer

Due to high dynamics in the environment those guys grew in, they are looking for change. They are born in a globalized world. Stability perspective is different for them.

Eager for Change and Faster Career Advance

I expect that their ambition and eagerness for career ladder will be larger than other generations. They used to see everyday something new in the world. They are already adapted to this speed. Accordingly, they will expect faster response to their demands and requests.

Less Formal

Those guys used to be electronically social. Email is a formal way of communication. They feel more comfortable using social, messaging and chatting facilities.

Flourishing of Virtual Teams

Business and management should utilize those characteristics and high Internet literacy of this generation to build more virtual teams and businesses. There will be no difficulty with dealing with those remote team members. Physical location will be meaningless.

It is the role of management and employers to adapt to this generation. Marketplace needs to contain and understand this coming change in order to make better utilization of its strength points.