Ask any hiring manager what they think of Gen Z, and the answers will vary. They’re hard to please; they’re flighty; they refuse to come into the office. But at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen conference in San Diego on Tuesday, three panelists went on a tear to dispel myths about the generation and give Gen Z their due.
“A big misconception about Gen Z, in general, is that we have a very short attention span—eight seconds, like a goldfish,” said Gen Zer in the flesh Nadya Okamoto, co-founder of period products company August.
Gen Z gets bored easily, Okamoto acknowledged. But she put a positive spin on that; if they are as distractible as they seem, all the more reason for advertisers to work harder.
“They need to grab attention,” Okamoto told the audience. “We’re also the generation that will binge watch reality TV for hours and hours and hours.”
Rather than thinking of Gen Zers as unfocused, businesses should reframe their impressions. “You have eight seconds to convince me that what you’re offering or what you’re trying to do is worth my time,” she said. “I think that’s just a product of growing up around many social channels that are so oversaturated. We have the privilege and the option to spend our time on different things.”
Another big myth: That Gen Z is lazy. Their detractors may argue that quiet quitting, the term du jour accredited to them, is a manifestation of that laziness, and it’s irreparably damaging their career. But most 20-somethings of every generation have gotten this rep in the past. And it might just be that they have the healthiest boundary between work and life of any generation that preceded them.
“There’s a misconception that Gen Z doesn’t work hard,” said Christine Cruzvergara, Chief Education Strategy Officer at job site Handshake. “But really, they don’t want to wait decades before they’re able to live their lives.”
Managers might think Gen Zers just want a ton of flexibility, Cruzvergara went on. Not so; they want wellness and a better balance of remote and in-person work. In reality, they’ve simply determined they want to “live in a way that is harmoniously aligned with their values.”
Cortney Erin, VP of Global Talent Acquisition at software giant Adobe, echoed those sentiments. “Gen Z is very motivated and has high expectations for the companies they work at,” Erin said. “They want to contribute and have an impact; we really recognize that at Adobe.”
If bosses can correct their misconceptions about their youngest workers, they might improve their chances of retaining them. Getting promoted, with a pay bump, semi-regularly also wouldn’t hurt. But, as Okamoto pointed out, Gen Z is not a monolith. “We can sit here and make all these big conclusions, but we’re one of the most diverse generations in the history of the U.S.,” she said. “But there are some overall themes of what Gen Z workers are looking for, and transparency and accountability are very much at the top of that list.”
That’s the result of them entering adolescence at the height of financial crises and global terrorism, Okamoto went on. “Our younger team members really want to understand how what they’re doing relates to the larger picture of business and society.”
That’s not a tall order, Cruzvergara added. Gen Z simply is more adaptable and grittier and has a stronger sense of their values, she said, which they want to live out immediately.
