April 13, 2021

Generation Z - What you Need to Know to Attract, Recruit and Retain Them

Generation Zs and Millennials are often classed as similar, but there are some important differences between that employers need to be aware of for successful recruitment and retention of Generation Z talent.

Generation Z was born between 1995 and 2010, meaning that the oldest among them will still be relatively new to the workforce, and the youngest still the employees of the future. The majority of this generation will be looking for positions in the tech and digital sectors, and for many younger Gen Z’ers, the positions they will eventually fill in the workplace don’t even exist today.

Attracting Generation Z Talent

Omnichannel recruitment strategies stand the best chance of attracting the attention of Gen Z candidates. This generation grew up in the era of social media and information overload, and visual methods of advertising positions (like video) are a great avenue to explore.

The top consideration for Gen Z in employment is salary, and the majority of these candidates are keen to take advantage of any L&D opportunities to help push up their salary band further. They also regard a good work-life balance as important, as well as good employee benefits both in the short and long term.

This generation’s decision over which position to apply for is often also driven by the tasks they will have to undertake as part of their role, and in addition, candidates will be looking at the purpose and commitments of your organisation - such as D&I, sustainability and social policies.

Finally, technology is an important factor in attracting Gen Z talent - this tech-savvy, digital-native generation are unlikely to consider positions where they’ll have to work with sub-par technology, so getting things up to date (particularly in this era of remote and hybrid working) is a must.

Recruiting Generation Z Talent

As we’ve noted, this generation is the most tech-savvy yet, and as such, they’ll expect the digital recruitment and onboarding process (whether this is still fully remote at the time of hire or not) to go smoothly.

To an extent, this generation expects you to meet them where they are when it comes to communication, with many candidates of this age preferring communication by email or instant/text message.

Video calling is a good option here too, particularly with a generation growing up with skype, facetime and social media like YouTube, and this generation does tend to place high value on face-to-face contact.

Crucially, you need to ensure the hiring process is as speedy as possible, and that communication is regular and clear. This generation are looking for streamlined, technology-based solutions throughout the recruitment and onboarding process to ensure that things are fast and smooth, and an outdated and ineffective system may cause them to reconsider their options.

Retaining Generation Z Talent

Generation Z have an independent and entrepreneurial spirit which can bring great benefits to a company when it comes to innovation and creativity. To foster this, and ensure employee engagement, it’s important not to clip their wings, and to make sure they feel heard when voicing ideas.

Regular feedback is something that Generation Z will expect, and that will ultimately help to motivate them in their position, and let them grow and develop to their full potential. Similarly, providing adequate career development and learning opportunities is important for engagement, as this generation places a high importance on lifelong learning.

There needs to be a clear path of advancement laid out, with expectations and timeframes for these advancement opportunities made clear. Again this goes back to the idea of a personalised experience, with individual employee goals for progression being taken into account.

A final word of warning too - make sure your commitments as a company to the causes important to Gen Z are backed up by action. This generation is more finely attuned than preceding ones to fake commitments and false altruism, and companies being ‘found out’ run the risk of losing their sought-after talent.

At Concentric | Tech & Digital Recruitment we help Business Leaders hire the top 10% of Tech & Digital professionals to enable them to build high performing teams, achieve their goals and scale their business. Get in touch here, or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter to keep up to date with our latest news and views!

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