Career success for Gen Z and millennials

As a tail-end baby boomer, I still saw my greatest generation or GI generation (born between 1901 and 1927) grandmother before she passed away. As far as I know, my grandmother never worked and relied on my grandfather to provide for her and the nine children she bore.

Education for her was not of utmost importance, but my mother, uncles and aunts (who were the silent generation or those born from 1928 to 1945) were given the opportunity to seek higher education if they so wanted, more so for the men and optional for girls, as the priority was more to seek a good marriage for the women and start their own families.

In fact, it was only my uncles and my mother who made use of their college education and pursued professional careers.The rest of my aunts chose to pursue the traditional family path.

Thus, for me, a boomer whose mother had pursued a career, my dream was to get a college degree, get a job, have a family, build a house and eventually depend on my husband when we become comfortable. Thankfully, we achieved those dreams.

But somehow, here I am still pursuing, after retirement, my second career as a columnist.

However, according to the 14th edition of the Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey, those born between 1965 and 1980 and known as generation X, and those born between 1981 to 1996 and known as either generation Y or millennials, are redefining their own view of success.

Deloitte conducted the survey to understand the values, motivations and expectations of Gen Z and millennials who are projected to make up 74 percent of the global workforce by 2030. The 14th edition of the survey examines the career and workplace priorities of 23,000 participants across 44 countries, including 419 respondents from the Philippines.

Deloitte found that these two generations are seeking a trifecta of money, meaning and well-being while building the technical and soft skills that they believe will prepare them for the workplace of the future.

“Most Gen Zs and millennials started their careers while dealing with a global pandemic and financial crisis, greatly impacting the way they view work and success. As the world of work continues to evolve, these generations’ view on success is also transforming. They are now redefining the meaning of career success, reevaluating the capabilities they need to flourish and seeking the right support they want from their employers,” Rukhsana Pervez, human capital leader at Deloitte Philippines.

In the Philippines, Deloitte revealed, Gen Zs and millennials prioritize good work-life balance and career advancement when choosing an employer, but they differ when it comes to financial compensation. Gen Zs consider high salary as one of their top three criteria for selection, while millennials put more weight on learning and development opportunities instead.

While both generations give importance to career growth opportunities and learning, only a few want to reach senior leadership positions. They, however, expect their managers to support their learning and development. Most of the Gen Zs (97 percent) and all the millennials surveyed believe that guidance from more experienced colleagues is helpful in assisting them in their career growth.

Despite these expectations, however, there is a gap in what they actually experience. According to the research, 79 percent of Gen Zs and 84 percent of millennials wanted guidance from their managers, but only 51 percent and 48 percent, respectively, have received the support they wanted.

Gen Zs and millennials, Deloitte said, are using GenAI more frequently, prioritizing training to boost their skills on the technology and seeing improvements in their work quality because of it. However, concerns about GenAI’s impact on the workforce persist.

GenAI usage is continuing to rise. Almost three quarters of Gen Zs (72 percent) and 66 percent of millennials are already using the technology in their day-to-day work, with 42 percent of Gen Zs and 53 percent of millennials in the country planning to further boost their knowledge about the tech by completing their AI training within the next 12 months.

When asked about the factors that impact their career decisions, Filipino Gen Zs and millennials gave responses that fell into three categories: money, meaning and well-being. The survey underscores that these areas are tightly interconnected as respondents seek the right balance for their job satisfaction.

More than 60 percent of Gen Zs and millennials in the country say financial security contributes to their happiness at work, which, in turn, is positively correlated to their overall mental well-being and sense of purpose.

However, in the Philippines, the study showed that respondents from these generations are experiencing rising financial insecurity. Over half of Gen Zs (66 percent) and millennials (55 percent) are saying that they are living paycheck to paycheck, and 34 percent of both generations say that they struggle to pay all their living expenses. There’s also a big jump in millennial respondents saying that their cost of living is their top concern, from 30 percent last year to over 50 percent this year.

Another factor that influences job satisfaction is purpose. A staggering number (98 percent) of Gen Zs and millennials consider sense of purpose to be important to their job satisfaction and well-being; so much so that nearly half of Gen Zs (45 percent) and millennials (48 percent) had left a job because it lacked meaning.

Completing the trifecta is the fulfillment of their holistic well-being – organizations can either contribute to their feelings of stress or foster better mental health for their people. Fortunately, across the globe, more than half of Gen Zs and millennials believe that their employers take their mental health seriously. Businesses in the Philippines are performing even better as over 70 percent believe that their organizations are doing this.

“As Gen Zs and millennials reshape the Philippine workforce, it is imperative that employers evolve with them. By being thoughtful about the impact of technology and modernizing the way work is structured, leaders have the opportunity to evaluate how the workforce is supported while also advancing their organization,” Pervez concluded.