How to court – and retain – Gen Z workers

It’s the topic on everyone’s mind: it’s Gen Z workers actually different?

TechCrunch found out at this year’s event Disrupt 2024. We sat down with SignalFire’s Heather Doshay, Comprehensive.io’s Roger Lee, and Capital G’s Lauren Illovsky to discuss how to hire and retain talent. One topic that came up was how younger workers are very different from their older counterparts.

“It was the same with millennials, right?” Illosvky asked on stage. “We remember when boomers were criticizing millennials, and now millennials are criticizing Gen Z. And I love Gen Z. I think there’s an appreciation for how much they push boundaries and make you think.”

She said employers can either be grumpy about it or try to see the world from a different perspective and how it affects what Gen Z can bring to the table. Doshay noted that this generation has been in the workforce for at least five years, meaning it has faced a labor market affected by the pandemic; economic uncertainty; and mass layoffs in tech.

“So there’s a lack of loyalty among Gen Z in the workforce that we’re seeing in the early data,” Doshay said, citing a report from her company that found Gen Z stays at a job on average 1 .1 years compared to older generations who have spent decades at a company. “It challenges you to do better,” she said. “What can you do to keep those people and keep them there longer?”

At the same time, she said, it’s still early days. Gen Z behavior may evolve over time as the workforce changes with them. “I think it’s really important to have that perspective in the workforce and have a really diverse set of people,” she said. “If your consumer base reflects Gen Z, you want to make sure you have that DNA in your workforce.”

Lee said Gen Zers value transparency much more than other generations. Today, young people talk openly about their salaries and will post TikToks of being fired. Lee said companies should find ways to be more transparent with their employees, which can make them stand out from companies that aren’t.

Of course we had to ask about that now-viral video of Keith Rabois talks about not hiring someone over 30. Without naming names, we talked about the concept of ageism and how it actually affects companies. Illovsky said companies need to have an age-diverse workforce, which results in a diverse skill set. Doshay said older generations tend to be more engaged in the workforce and reminded the audience that it is illegal to discriminate based on age. In fact, not hiring anyone over 30, probably most of the public wouldn’t hire, she said.

“Also, since when was the 30 year limit?” Lee added jokingly. “I’m a little insulted by that.”