Gen Z need three compliments a week at work – why don’t you?

In an interview on Channel Nine, The Demographics Group’s Simon Kuestenmacher said, for previous generations, “It was just fine to get a pay cheque and not have a terrible job. But we now push a lot more necessity for meaningful work into most jobs.” After being priced out of houses and families, younger people have more energy to pour into career expectations and satisfaction.

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Gen Z is often portrayed as flaky, flitting from one job to the next, but our rootlessness is simply a realisation that we have the power to seek something that benefits us. If we don’t have a mortgage to service or children to pay for, why would we put up with a boss who doesn’t value our work?

And we aren’t the only ones. One in five Australians quit their job in 2021, and a quarter considered leaving their job. Research by the National Australia Bank found the key reasons people were leaving their jobs included a lack of personal fulfilment, purpose or meaning. The study also found employees who receive recognition from their managers and development in their careers are much less likely to leave for another offer.

The moral panic over ascendant generations is nothing new. In the 18th century, older people were concerned the young were reading too much. There’ll always be generational stereotypes that punch down on young people. Older people who bemoan Gen Z as a needy bunch of snowflakes were young once – and I’m sure they were making their parents and colleagues feel out-of-touch and annoyed too.

It’s lazy to chalk up an entire demographic as entitled. Emotions are a very real and often neglected fact of life. Rather than labelling younger workers as needy, consider why you never asked for what you needed in your workplace. Or why it was never presented as an option.

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