The Future is Now: What Gen Z Expects from Us

As many Gen Zers head off or return to college or graduate school this week (both live and virtually), I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned from this younger generation. I live with two Gen Zers, my sons Jacob and Jonah, who keep me on my toes, and I was fortunate to speak with many members of Pfizer’s undergraduate Student Worker and MBA Summer Associate programs this summer. 

I thought I knew a lot about Gen Z – roughly, people born from 1995 to 2010. But, given the tumultuous events of this year, I was curious about what they expect from the leaders and organizations they work for and purchase products from.

What I learned are good lessons for all of us, as we begin to welcome this new generation into the workplace.

They Want Us to Speak Up: As my sons often remind me, this generation has grown up with access to more information and technology than the rest of us. Remember, they came of age in the era of smartphones and social networks. And, despite their youth, they’ve seen major changes in the social, political and economic landscape driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, movements for racial and social justice, financial crises, skewed wealth distribution, the progression of climate change, and other events. Because of these experiences, they expect leaders to be more informed and vocal on the major issues shaping society today. Importantly, when leaders do speak up, they should be real and authentic. Speak like an actual person, not with “canned” language that sounds like it came from a robot, because this next generation can see right through corporate speak.

They Want Us to Have Purpose: According to a recent study by Deloitte, an overwhelming majority of Gen Z prioritizes working at organizations whose values align with their own. Based on my conversations, this rings true. To this next generation of colleagues, a job isn’t just a place to earn a paycheck, but a place where ethics and values must be rock-solid, transparent and demonstrated throughout a business’s operations and its contributions to society. Gen Z is also on track to be the most progressive and well-educated generation yet. They challenge us to take a hard look at the problems embedded into our society, identify our conscious and unconscious role in them and work to dismantle the systems that only benefit some.

They Want Us to be Our Full Selves: Not only does Gen Z crave a deep connection to the work they do, but they’re approaching it with a work-life mindset, meaning they aren’t interested in keeping the two separate or compartmentalizing their experiences in either. This is a marked shift from the traditional mindset older generations have adopted. The work-from-home mandate created by COVID-19 is helping push us in this direction, but Gen Z is going to keep pushing us further. They want to bring their full selves to the office (or home office), and we’d be smart to do the same.

They Want Us to Learn and Get Better: While Gen Z is willing to give leaders some leeway in how they’ve handled or, in some cases, mishandled difficult moments like COVID-19, social unrest, economic instability, and more, they’re keeping a close eye on what we learn from it and how we apply those learnings to future challenges. For example, having better contingency plans in place, proactively confronting injustices and acting with more empathy in times of great struggle. As a society, we’ve seen multiple watershed moments in the past 15 to 20 years. Leaders need to adapt their thinking, deploy new strategies and take these lessons into the future to create a better, more equitable world.

I’m a big believer in two-way learning – not only respecting, but truly valuing the fresh perspectives of others, particularly from the younger generation. My conversations with members of Gen Z leave me hopeful for the future. Not only will they hold us all accountable, but they motivate me to continue pushing for positive changes in the workplace and beyond.

We’d all be smart to heed their advice!