“Gen Z is lazy.” Or not?  

The mirror for employers

We all have an opinion about Gen Z. Many people think the following:

• “They expect to be able to determine their own working hours”
• “They want a full-time salary for a part-time job.”
• “They work a lot less hard and overtime does not appear in their dictionary.”

At the same time, companies find it difficult to fill vacancies, young employees drop out faster and we still expect everyone to adapt to a way of working that was self-evident for years.

Perhaps the challenge is not only how the new generation views work, but we as employers must also look honestly at how flexible we actually are.

Work is no longer the center of everything

Today's youth look at work differently than many employers are used to. Full-time work is no longer self-evident. Not staying with the same employer for a lifetime.

Freedom, flexibility and determining how work fits into their lives are becoming increasingly important. And honest? That rubs. Because many organizations are still set up for fixed times, presence and control. While young people want more control over how and when they work.

Hasn't it been like this for generations?

If we are honest, every generation has found something of the generation that came after. For example, millennials were dismissed for years as “jobhoppers without loyalty”, while that behavior has now become quite normal on the labor market. We now realize that there are also advantages to this, such as bringing multiple experiences and having a fresh perspective and energy within the company.

So perhaps young people are no less motivated. Maybe they just look at work differently.

Lazy or just different priorities?

The cliché that young people are lazy is regularly shouted. But when we look around us, we see many young people who are driven. They follow training courses, start their own business, develop themselves continuously or combine several projects side by side.

However, they do not automatically see why forty hours of work should be the norm if the result can also be achieved in another way. So perhaps they are no less willing to work hard, but simply ask different questions than we used to.

A different way of communicating

Communication also causes frustration between generations. For example, young people text when they are sick, instead of calling. Older colleagues sometimes experience that as laziness or disrespect.

But for young people this feels normal and efficient. That is not immediately better or worse, but simply different.

How flexible are we actually?

Many organizations call themselves flexible. Until an employee asks to work four days. Start later. Partly work from home. Or temporarily work fewer hours.

Then it often becomes clear how much space there really is.

Perhaps we should therefore ask ourselves more often whether certain rules are really necessary, or whether we will continue to follow them mainly because “we have always done it this way”.

What should we do as an employer?

That is perhaps the most important question. Because not moving is also a choice. Just one with consequences.

Anyone who fully sticks to old structures will have more and more difficulty attracting and retaining staff. At the same time, limitless flexibility does not work either. An organization must be able to run. Teams must be able to count on each other and customers expect continuity.

The challenge is therefore not to choose between strict or flexible. The challenge is balanced.

Finally

In our opinion, the generation gap in the labor market is not about laziness or lack of ambition. It's about a different view of work. Employers want continuity, clarity and results. Young people want freedom, flexibility and more direction about their work and life. Both make sense.

But maybe we should stop just pointing at “today's youth”.

Because as long as we continue to complain about change, but do not want to change anything ourselves, that gap will continue. And organizations are increasingly noticing this. Vacancies remain open longer, young talent drops out faster and good employees leave for employers who do move with the times.

Perhaps the most important question is: do we as employers dare to look critically at how work is organized? And are we willing to move with the world around us?