Business decisions over the past year on how employees worked and the support offered to them will be a priority for young new starters, according to new research by consultancy B+A.
After the pandemic, young people now view mental health as the priority challenge to be addressed to protect their long-term future,
While 36% of Gen-Z employees want future employers to provide them with mental health support, 12% do not think it will be offered.
Andrew Missingham, co-founder of B+A, told HR magazine, the pandemic has accelerated and exacerbated what were once emerging trends.
He said: “The importance young people place on a healthy business culture is now at the front and centre of their decision making.
“Post-pandemic, now more than ever, young people choose first to work in places that they believe align with their own personal values.”
Missingham said having young people choose where to work in this way will affect hiring and retention.
“Those young people with the most to offer could present the most likely flight-risk for businesses that have neglected their staff and business culture though the pandemic.
“The remainder of the pandemic is going to be rough terrain and HR teams will definitely be challenged,” he said.
Recent graduates have spent around a quarter of their working life in pandemic and lockdown conditions.
Missingham said this will have an effect not only on how they view their work, but the circumstances in which they're prepared to work.
He added “For these young people, it's less ‘new normal’ and more just ‘normal’ now.
“Keeping this coming generation engaged and performing through what will likely be a long period of complex hybrid working, where often their home environments are challenging, will challenge HR professionals as never before.”
The B+A Global Youth Pulse report interviewed 2,200 Gen-Z, people born between 1997 and 2015.
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