Generations Y and Z: new ways of working

With the arrival of Generations Y and Z on the employment market, ways of working have changed greatly. Young people have a very different relationship with work and management in relation to the vision of previous Generations.

A different relationship with time and information …

Generations Y and Z lead hyper-connected lives. A young person’s best friend at work is his smartphone: he does not leave it even during working hours. Growing up in an environment of profound social and technological shifts has changed their relationship with time: information is now available anywhere, at any time. The notion of immediacy has gained in importance, affecting the expectations of young generations.

This impacts on the organisation of working days.

Generations Y and Z go from one project to another very quickly, or even have several projects on the go at once. The boundary between professional and personal life is becoming increasingly blurred. Young people indulge in visiting social networks, replying to personal emails, booking tickets or even shopping online during their working day. On the other hand, this day can begin before arriving at the office and end a long time after leaving. Generations Y and Z are able to work anywhere and, above all, at any time including evenings, during the night or at weekends.

Here is a little diagram (created by the MRY agency) illustrating the differences in how a baby boomer/member of Generation X organises their day compared with how members of Generations Y or Z might organise theirs:

Working day of a baby boomer or member of Generation X

Working day of a member of Generations Y or Z

Companies: how to adapt?

Young people attach considerable importance to the idea of well-being and enjoyment at work. That is why, rather than making employees feel guilty or banning them from using social networks in the office, companies are exploring new approaches, such as developing internal social networks, implementing flexible working hours or setting up work time dedicated to personal projects and providing appropriate tools chosen by the employees directly with, for example, the use of personal computers, or allowing employees to choose their own computers.

How about you – which Generation do you feel closest to? How do you manage your work time?