Characteristics of ‘Generation Z’

Baby boomers, millennials, Generation Z - what generation do you ‘belong’ to? A Generation refers roughly to people born and living around the same time and spoken about in a collective way. 

Defining generations has never been one of exact science, but there are some impactful events  that took place in the 20th century that forever marked the culture of the era, and even the character of whole Generations. Those born between 1960 and the early 1980s have been coined ‘Generation X’, as a result (in part) from photos captured by well known photographer Robert Capa. His photography captured images of young people who were born and raised after the Second World War, identified as the generation who didn’t want to be ‘defined’ - hence the ‘X’. 

Generation X was succeeded by ‘Generation Y’ (better known as the ‘millennials’), born from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s and then came Generation Z, (AKA ‘gen z’, ‘iGen’ or centennials) describing the demographic cohort born between 1996-2010, after the ‘millennials’. This generation was born into a world of rapid technological advances and have been raised with hyper awareness of the world as a given,  with access to the internet and social media. 

Does being born within a particular generational bracket  ‘gift’ you with specific characteristics? Some would say that would be stereotyping, but it is clear that our environment, culture and other outside stimuli has an impact on our personalities and behaviours. As the world continues to change at a rapid pace, it’s unsurprising that these changes would have a certain influence on the character of each generation. 

Generation Z can be categorised by a number of generalised characteristics. Though these characteristics may not apply to each individual, the following list collated by Job Today, helps to ‘define’ the nature of this generation as a whole. The list formed part of a report designed to help better understand the needs of this generation,in an attempt to define an  ‘ideal’ work environment for this generation, where fresh, innovative and revolutionary ideas can be easily generated.

• They prioritise money and career over family life, sports or maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

• They prefer to read and listen to music rather than watch TV or spend time with friends.

• They are impatient because of how accustomed they are to the rapid pace of internet connectivity and technology.  

• Level of confidence is generally high amongst Generation Z, which increases their entrepreneurship. According to Job Today's statistics, 55% of Generation Z would like to have their own business and have no interest in taking orders from a boss. 

• Fields of work most interesting to Generation Z include: science, engineering, mathematics or technology.

• They prefer to work as a team, leaving competitiveness aside and working collaboratively.

• They spend a lot more time in the virtual world than previous generations, which means many of their personal and social relationships develop largely within the context of this environment.

• Generation Z prefers stable work, although that’s not necessarily ‘fixed’ work.. They want a position that gives them security.

• They prioritise vocation and the ability to ‘do’ rather than theorise 

The reports refers to the advantages of being part of Generation Z, which focus primarily on their ability to communicate, preference to collaborate and confidence in using social media and advanced levels of technology. Most people in this generational cohort are capable of using various digital platforms simultaneously, along with managing social media accounts easily, all important skills for the digital market. 

Unsurprisingly, there are some seeming disadvantages of being part of tech savvy generation Z. The digital language that this generation is so accustomed to potentially makes it difficult for some to elaborate on complex issues, using grammatically formulated prose. Generation Z are known to have a reduced attention span due to excessive stimuli, which can also lead to increased stress levels because of ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out).