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Part
01
Job Perks for Gen Z
It appears Gen Zers and millennials place the utmost importance on the same job benefits and perks. Both cohorts want the opportunity for advancement at their workplace, training and development programs, work-life balance, student loan assistance, financial wellness programs, and student loan assistance.
WHAT GEN ZERS WANT
- QZ did a study on what Gen Zers want from work. The most cited need was the opportunity for advancement. Over 60% of Gen Zers mentioned that their goal was to "make it to the top of their profession."
- When asked what could make them stay at the same job for years, 29% mentioned an empowering work culture, while 15% stated that a high salary is the most important to them.
- In reference to what they must have for their first job, 70% mentioned health insurance with 63% citing a competitive salary, and 61% stating that a manager o supervisor they respect is essential.
- Up to 89% of these Gen Zers consider a stable career path as an important or very important career priority while 87% consider competitive salary and benefits to be a top priority, and 84% prioritize work-life balance.
- Over 60% of Gen Zers place great importance on working with people that have different/diverse education and skills while 20% believe that working with people from different ethnicities and cultures is the most essential factor in a team. Around 73% of Gen Zers stated that "a company's level of diversity affects their decision to work there."
WHAT YOUNGER MILLENNIALS & GEN ZERS WANT
Training & Development
- A Gallup study revealed that career growth and professional training is vital to 87% of millennials and 69% of Gen Zers.
- While millennials are not opposed to the traditional learning and development methods, Gen Zers want an evolved approach to learning and development. About 43% of Gen Z learners "prefer a fully self-directed and independent approach to learning." This can be done by using micro learning platforms like 21mill.com.
- When companies invest in training and development, they tend to be more attractive to top millennial and Gen Z talents. This also allows companies to save on expenses for turnover.
- Millennials and Gen Zers are known to be life-long learners. This explains why they prefer training and development programs.
- These programs also motivate millennials and Gen Zers to be the best employees they can be and instills a sense of purpose in them.
- AT&T does this through AT&T University, an onsite virtual program that trains people on management and leadership skills.
Financial Wellness Programs
- Millennials and Gen Zers struggle with managing short-term finances and saving for long-term goals at the same time.
- The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) did a study that showed that over "60% of an average company's workforce has fair to poor financial wellness."
- Around 64% of millennials mentioned being worried about their finances. Thus, having free access to financial wellness and literacy programs is of utmost importance to this cohort.
- Almost 70% of millennials will struggle to pay an unexpected bill of $1,000 immediately.
Work-Life Balance
- Up to 77% of millennials and 83% of Gen Zers claim that a flexible work schedule allows for more productivity.
- A study by Stanford proved that telecommuters were able to do 13.5% more calls, complete 10% more work in general, and were more fulfilled at work than their coworkers who worked traditionally.
- In addition, millennials and Gen Zers consider work-life balance as a number one priority.
- These generations want the companies they work for to support their lifestyles through benefits like flexible scheduling.
- About 45% of millennials prefer flexibility in their work hours to higher pay.
Student Loan Assistance
- Almost 70% of college graduates end up with student loans worth $30,000 or more.
- IonTuition revealed in a recent survey that young Americans struggle with managing and paying off their student loans. About 37% of respondents in this survey stated that they were falling behind on their student loans.
- Up to 36% of millennials in this survey mentioned that they prefer having access to student loan repayment programs than 401k plans.
- In a Business Insider study of more than 100 Gen Zers, almost 10% pointed out college debt as the main issue they expect to face.
- Through student loan repayment assistance programs, employers can "match employee contributions to their loan repayments."
- This will not only satisfy their workforce, it also means one less thing millennial and Gen Z employees have to worry about and more time spent focusing on their jobs.
- Currently, less than 5% of employers provide student loan repayment assistance.
- EY and Fidelity are some companies that are doing this in different ways. EY has a financial planning program to repay student loans. Fidelity has a Step Ahead Student Loan program. Through this program, it offers its employees a monthly subsidy towards student loans.
Opportunities For Advancement.
- Millennials and Gen Zers prefer companies that allow them to grow, career-wise.
- A Gallup study found that 87% of millennials consider job development important while 59% stated that "opportunities for career growth was a key factor they looked for when applying for jobs, compared to 44% for Gen Xers and 41% for baby boomers."
- Around 64% of Gen Zers consider career opportunities important while selecting a job.
- They are at a stage in their life where they think about their job roles as a growth opportunity or even a stepping stone. Therefore, they place emphasis on opportunities for advancement.
- Based on a study by LinkedIn, millennials mentioned a "lack of opportunities for career advancement, followed closely by dissatisfaction with compensation/benefits as the key reasons they switched jobs."
- This generation is hungry for new skills and is certain they can advance to any role given the right access to learning, development, and opportunities.
Health & Wellness
- Almost 20% of millennials are unable to afford health expenses. This explains why benefits are very important to them.
- More than a third of millennials and 80% of Gen Zers cited in a study that health benefits was their most desired benefit while at a new company.
- Millennials and Gen Zers are also health conscious. Thus, they are beginning to care more about preventative health measures.
- Currently, gym memberships that are free or come with reduced prices are one of the most common health benefits that most employers provide. Only a few companies also cover health insurance and offer free fitness wearable like Fitbit.
- Millennials and Gen Zers do not only care about their physical health. One in five youths is depressed. Millennials and Gen Zers have higher depression rates than other generations. Therefore, having access to benefits like art classes and meditation, that help mental wellness is also important to millennials.
RESEARCH STRATEGY
We kicked off this research by combing through news articles by business websites such as Forbes for information on the benefits, perks, and/or traits that matter most to Gen Zers. Only a few of these websites had the requested information on Gen Zers; others focused on younger millennials or college students at large. Since we needed to corroborate our findings with multiple sources, we switched gears to job-related resources like Indeed and Monster. While articles by these platforms had Gen Z in their title, their content focused on millennials. Since we needed to focus on Gen Zers, we then turned to studies or surveys done on Gen Zers by consulting firms like Deloitte and PWC. Deloitte publishes an annual comprehensive study on each generation. The Gen Z study had little to no information on what Gen Zers desire from work. As a result, could not corroborate our findings on Gen Zers across multiple sources.
Although we included the information we found on Gen Zers, we expanded our research to younger millennials, fresh out of college. We found abundant information on these individuals. We then selected the benefits/job perks for younger millennials mentioned by at least five sources. There is no agreed upon age range for Gen Zers. Some sources consider Gen Zers as those born from 1995 to 2015 while according to others like the Pew Research, anyone that is less than 23, as of 2019 is a Gen Zer. Majority of Gen Zers are still in high school or college and might not be sure of what exactly they want from a full time job. Young millennials, on the other hand, are fresh out of college and account for a significant portion of the US workforce. Moreover, most articles cite the same perks/benefits/traits that are important to both Gen Zers and younger millennials. Thus, we have provided data on both generations.