Oh, young people don’t you just love ’em; sadly it seems they don’t love each other much and a battle of the generations is set to kick off, with so-called millennials viewing so-called Generation Z as workshy, selfish, money grabbers.
According to a six-country survey by Denstu Aegis Network agency B2B International, in which over 900 HR and business managers were interviewed, 61% of millennials see the youth of today as caring more about money than they do, while 54% believe GenZ are less open to teamwork and collaboration.
On the plus side, some millennials reckon GenZers are better at concentrating, with 46% saying they agree with the statement that “GenZ are more focused with longer attention spans than millennials”. It is not known how many branded them “snowflakes” though.
Chinese employers view both generations as being more vital to their futures than in any other country, with 75% telling researchers they take specific measures to attract, engage and retain millennials and GenZers – a much higher proportion than the US and Europe.
The fractious relationship often seen in the media between baby boomers and millennials is borne out in the research. It found that while two-thirds of millennials believe they are more emotional, entrepreneurial and sensible than previous generations, baby boomers disagree. Where these two generations do see eye to eye, though, is in their bias against GenZ – both groups agree that the youth of today are less motivated to work.
The research also found, while HR and business managers of all generations believe that a decent salary attracts employees most to working for their organisations, millennials perceive a fair salary as slightly less important than previous generations. Older generations, 33% of baby boomers and 32% of GenXs, said that a decent salary was the number one consideration, while only 30% of millennials claimed the same.
B2B International director Conor Wilcock, a millennial, said: “It seems that, no matter what generation you are born into, you’re likely to view youngsters as being somewhat workshy. But is this really the case? I don’t believe so. In an era of skill shortages, the key is discovering more effective ways of addressing future generations.
“GenZ is the first cohort to have grown up in the digital era. We should therefore make it our responsibility to find ways of sparking their interest to join the workforce and to use their tremendous digital skillset to our advantage.”
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