6 Things Gen Z Sees As Non-Negotiable At Work That Older Generations Consider Privileges
Krakenimages.com | Shutterstock It's become extremely obvious to me, as I've begun working and talking with my mom about my experiences, just how much the professional world has changed since boomers and Gen X first started working.
Gen Z was raised to have certain expectations that weren’t always the norm just a few decades ago. We don’t just want a job that pays well. We want a healthy work environment and a thriving personal life in our free time. Because of this, Gen Z has some non-negotiable expectations at work that people in older generations think you’d be lucky to get.
Gen Z sees these expectations as non-negotiable at work, even though older generations consider them privileges
1. Meaningful work
The professional world hasn’t changed only because of how people do their jobs and interact while they're at work. What people want to do has also changed. Gen Z really prioritizes having a meaningful job.
Having meaningful work usually makes people feel more connected to their job and excited about completing assignments. It makes it easier for them to continue working without feeling burnt out. Gen Z wants a personal connection to their work so they can be more productive and happier, all while making an impact.
Older generations didn’t think your job needed to make you happy. It was just a place to make money so that you could do enjoyable things outside of work. They didn’t prioritize meaningful work as much because they thought it was a privilege to find happiness through your job rather than a requirement.
2. Mental health support
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One of the biggest priorities of Gen Z is taking care of our mental health. Mental health issues have dramatically increased within my generation. Nearly all of my friends have experienced depression or anxiety at some point in their lives. We’ve also seen how it’s affected other people in our generation.
Most of Gen Z sees having mental health support as a non-negotiable at work because they want to have a plan if they do start struggling. Another reason my generation thinks it’s important is that it shows a company cares about its workers. If they're looking out for their employees' mental health, they’re not just focused on people’s productivity. They’re focused on their happiness as well.
Access to mental health resources was rarely available through someone's company in past generations. They think it's a privilege because they see it as something extra instead of something every company has or should have. Gen Z sees it as a non-negotiable because they expect every company to value the health of its employees.
3. Everyone being shown the same respect
This point might sound odd because it’s a common belief that older generations grew up being much more respectful than Gen Z did. There was more of a hierarchy to their idea of respect, though. It was expected for you to be respectful to your boss, but that didn’t mean the person in charge had to act the same way.
People in the older generations didn’t see a major issue with a disrespectful boss, but Gen Z sees it differently. We expect to be treated with respect regardless of our position. My generation isn’t comfortable with certain people being treated better than others. If they have to treat their boss with respect, they believe they deserve to be treated with respect too.
Gen Z also cares a lot about how people communicate with each other. They don’t want to be in an environment that makes them feel worse. Having a boss treat an employee with the same respect they give to their boss has now become an expectation rather than the privilege older generations saw it as.
4. Work-life balance
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It can be hard to fully pull yourself away from work now that technology is in the picture. Your boss can email you at any time of day, even after you've clocked out. That’s why Gen Z won’t negotiate having time to themselves. They know that if they leave room for discussion, some bosses might take advantage of that.
While work-life balance was relevant for older generations, it was somewhat easier to draw a separation between the two. Employers didn’t have unlimited access to you as they do now. In the past, once you left work, it was much easier to leave the stress of your job behind for the day.
Gen Z hasn't experienced that luxury. It makes them cautious about getting into a job that doesn't have a good balance. Gen Z tends to be stricter about setting firm boundaries with employers because they want to make sure they can still enjoy their personal time.
5. The ability to learn new skills
When someone from Gen Z starts a new job, they want to learn new skills from the experience. It's a top priority for over half of Gen Z when choosing a job.
The number of people looking for it shows it’s more of an expectation than a privilege. Older generations thought you were lucky if your manager or coworkers took the time to explain everything. They didn’t expect someone to sacrifice their time to help them learn new skills.
They also saw their career as more of a job than a stepping stone. Working made them money, but they didn’t think it was meant to do anything else.
6. Access to technology
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Gen Z grew up surrounded by technology. We’ve seen how it can make everyday tasks faster and how it's become ingrained in every part of our daily lives. We know how important it is to have access to it in our digital world, especially at work.
For many Gen Z employees, having access to basic technology is an expectation so that they can do their jobs efficiently. They see it as a non-negotiable because they don’t want to spend hours doing something manually when they know there’s a faster way to do it.
Not everyone in the older generations had access to technology when they first joined the workforce, and the people who did thought it was a privilege.
Lily Bell is a college student studying English and Publications who covers relationships, mental health, and personal narratives surrounding the human experience.
