The conversation no one wants to have - Gen Z in the workplace (with Laura Middleton)

So how about I set the scene then, because you work with I'm going to say thousands of businesses.

I mean, you work definitely hundreds.

Hundreds of businesses.

Okay, hundreds of businesses.

I like a little bit of exaggeration in there.

But you have, you've worked with hundreds of businesses over the years.

Has Gen Z entering the workplace actually had an impact? No.

I think it definitely has I think what we're seeing are more concerns that are coming through from businesses not really knowing how to deal with or manage people in in an effective way to what they would have done before so I think the conversation is a little bit different and I think and to be truthful I think it puts some businesses off employing people that are younger because there are certain words that are being used to describe them you know like word like entitled or you know the expectations there and businesses are used to working in the way that they work and really don't want to move to something else but actually they're receiving this whole new generation of people coming through need to think about how the future proof and kind of prepare for the next step

yeah but actually there's this big gap around that employability part so why do you think there's a gap now when there never used to be such a significant significant gaps so when we entered the workplace for example you know you you turned up and you were told what you needed to do you weren't really able to challenge anything there was just a real expectation on you to start hit the ground running and just get on with it and do what you were told what's different what's it

i think you know if we backtrack a little bit i bet there was some generational differences between you know who we are and kind of that generation before us i bet there was some generational we forget of course rose-tinted glasses we were perfect yeah so but I think but I think maybe that gap now is even bigger and you know I think the challenges that are coming back so things that were just touched on briefly there was that parental control you know thinking about technology thinking about kind of the hybrid work and you know people's expectations are different to what they would have been before they don't want to necessarily work any more than nine to five if that's their core hours of work you know where we would have maybe gone above and beyond and Certainly as part of the interviews that we've done with people, you know, they would have, you know, been trained as maybe as an accountant and worked expected, put the pressure on themselves to work 12, 14 hours a day.

And yesterday, first day back off holiday for me, I did 13 hour day.

Of course.

As you do.

As you do.

So you kind of you go into that mode quite quickly.

And I think.

what we're seeing is that there's a change of generation around what's important to them.

So I think, you know, from the conversations that we've had, I think people don't want to miss out on birthdays, you know, successes.

They want to go to the gym.

They don't necessarily want to go out and have after work drinks like, I remember living in Leeds, you know, I was a regular that I would go out and have drinks after work.

Which is what you did.

Which is what you did, you know, 20 years ago.

But actually the same generation are coming through to say, well, actually, I'm going to go to the gym or I'm going to go to the Pilates.

I'm going to go and do, you know, some exercise.

And very often I think that is with friends.