Gen Z rising: 2017 graduate employment study

According to Forbes, there are nearly 73 million individuals who were born in the mid-1990s and early 2000s that make up Generation Z (aka "Net generation") and they are starting to enter the workforce. Like new generations before them, they're arriving with their own set of attitudes and expectations.

Some things to consider about Gen Z'ers:

1.) They want flexibility, and the opportunity to work independently and to innovate. Like millennials, they are entrepreneurial and are not apt to want to "pay their dues." They do not favor workplace hierarchy, but they are willing to come in and start at the bottom and work their way up...quickly.

2.) Salary and job security are their top motivators. Work-Life balance is important, and they want their work to matter, but they also want a solid opportunity and they want to make some money. They are more open to working for large corporations and are apt to stay at a company longer. They also tend to hustle on the side to make more money, like driving for Uber or selling stuff online.

3.) While they want you to invest one-on-one time with them, they also grew up with technology and need different methods of communication. Face-to-face dialogue is not the usual course of conversation. They have grown up with the technology in the classroom, internet, apps, social media and text messaging. 

4.) Internships could be the perfect petri dish for companies and employees to try each other out to see if talents fit into cultures.

As more of this generation is entering the workforce (by 2021 it is expected they will constitute a fifth of all workers), recruiters will have to consider their approaches as companies revisit the value proposition that they are offering!

Here is a great infographic from Accenture Strategy loaded with data from their recent study. 

Has your company begun considering how to tap into this upcoming talent gold mine?