What to watch — Data shows that Gen Z is increasingly eschewing traditional four-year college degrees in favor of trade school or vocational training. This so-called “tool belt generation” is likely responding to a variety of economic factors when making education and career decisions, including the rising cost of earning a college degree and the degree to which new technologies like AI are destabilizing white-collar workers.
But attracting this demographic to the workplace requires more than simply opening the door and hoping the economic winds will carry them in. To find and nurture Gen Z talent, decision-makers need to approach the job with an open mind and a willingness to understand these differences, Gen Z entrepreneurs told Furniture Today.
Connor Blackley, founder and CEO of Youth Logic, a marketing agency made up entirely of Gen Z employees whose clients include Levi’s, PepsiCo and the NHL, says the rise of the toolbelt generation has been in the works for a while, and business leaders are only just starting to wake up and adapt.
“I think this phenomenon has been going on for close to a decade,” Blakely said, adding that a general lack of trust in the system is why this age group is abandoning the “college-to-white-collar career” path for more independent work.
“Trading gives you the flexibility and freedom to be an entrepreneur – you control your own destiny,” something Gen Z believes is impossible in a white-collar corporate job.
According to Blakely, “how do we encourage entrepreneurial thinking in our workforce” is the core question decision-makers must ask to attract Gen Z and ensure their productivity in the workplace. This generation doesn’t shy away from responsibility, but it does want greater autonomy along with it, he noted.
Meeting Gen-Z’s desire for flexibility can have downstream benefits for manufacturers who employ blue-collar workers, as Blakely notes that many members of Gen-Z prefer non-traditional work schedules, such as project-based arrangements that allow for flexible work hours as long as tasks are completed and business needs are met.
Another area where Gen-Z could potentially offer advantages in the workplace is in adapting to and leveraging new technologies that are changing the way business is done at a dizzying pace.
Gen Z is being touted as true digital natives, and the ability to withstand information overload and remain productive is another key characteristic of this generation, Blakely said.
“We’ve had access to endless information, endless technology since adolescence and early in our life cycle,” Blakely said, noting that Gen Z grew up surrounded by very different technology than the generation that preceded them, millennials.
“Millennials adapted to technology as they grew up, but they didn’t grow up with it,” Blackley said, adding that Gen Z workers can offer companies a perspective on new technology that isn’t trapped by old ways of thinking and doing things.
Blakely urges Gen Z to remember that they saw old assumptions about economics and personal success crumble while they were growing up: “We watched our parents go through the 2008 recession. We’re not betting on the system. We’re looking for a way to bet on ourselves,” he concludes.
