Gen Zers no longer subscribe to the American dream—and it’s shaping how they chart their career path

By 2030, Generation Z will account for nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce. While a sizable percentage of this cohort still has yet to emerge in the talent market, they’re already taking a far different approach to career growth than their predecessors. 

That’s due, in part, to the fact that Gen Z, much of whom is still under age 18, is accumulating debt at higher rates than any other generation. The cohort is least likely to think they will ever be able to retire and is generally concerned that climate change will rob them of any chance at a normal life or career. Understandably, they’ve ditched the so-called American dream that hard work and determination will land them financial success and are taking a different approach to career growth.

“Historically, we were told, ‘For 20 years you learn, for 30 years you lead, and maybe for 20 years, if you’re lucky, if you live this false American dream, then you get to live,’” Ziad Ahmed, founder and CEO of JUV Consulting, a Gen Z consulting firm, said at the Fortune Impact Initiative conference in Atlanta on Wednesday. “Gen Z is taking the microphone back and saying, ‘Hell no. I want to learn, I want to lead, and I want to live simultaneously. And you’ll be damned if you tell me otherwise.’”

It would behoove employers to pay keen attention to Gen Z’s expectations.

“Understanding Gen Z as the up-and-coming, entry-level positions at these companies is really valuable,” said fellow panelist Ellen Weinreb, a managing director at Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting. Gen Zers tend to be very invested in activism and expect their employers to match that passion. They not only seek out companies publicly commenting on these issues but also ask about corporate commitments to social activism in interviews and explore what others have to say about the organization online.

Companies that meet that demand will be better able to retain their Gen Z talent, invest in and develop them, and help them ascend to the C-suite in a matter of years. ”The message to employers is to actively listen…because [Gen Zers] are standing up,” Weinreb said.

Some employers are doing so by connecting the top levels to their entry-level talent. At Delta Air Lines, leaders have an open-door policy where employees can speak candidly with executives, says Peter Carter, the airline’s executive vice president of external affairs. Periodically, new hires appear on his calendar.

“It will be somebody we’ve just hired who wants to sit down with a leader and say to me: ‘What’s your vision? What’s my role? And how can I really grow in this company?’” Carter said. “Now, that’s something that a baby boomer would never do. And Gen Xers may or may not. It really is a leaning in that we haven’t typically seen quite in the same way.”

Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion

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As corporations face an onslaught of conservative attacks on DEI and ESG programs, a newly formed group of 13 civil and human rights organizations, including the NAACP, the Urban League, and Vote.org, will provide legal support to companies under attack.

“Our goal is to make sure that we are responsive to the coordinated, precision-focused attacks against equity, inclusion, equality, and diversity, which we care about,” Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, one of the organizations in the coalition, said Wednesday at Fortune Impact Initiative.

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- Citigroup, in an effort to recruit more women, is offering female employees in India the option to work remotely for up to a year after their maternity leave ends. Bloomberg

- One in ten people moving into a new home in the next year is doing so because of mandatory return-to-office orders. And many are losing significant cash on their property as a result. Insider

- Alphabet’s global recruiting team has been hit with another round of layoffs, this time affecting a few hundred employees, as the Google parent company slows hiring. Reuters

- Employees are logging off as soon as the clock strikes 5 p.m. and skipping post-work events as pandemic-era habits continue to influence office engagement. Wall Street Journal

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Slow pivot to skills. A little over half of hiring managers agree that removing degree requirements would have a positive effect on their hiring. Less than a third of them, however, actually practice this strategy. —Ruth Umoh

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Helping the helpers. Middle managers are often responsible for making sure employees feel valued, but what happens when middle managers themselves don’t feel that way? Speakers at Fortune Impact Initiative shared how they’re supporting middle managers, many of whom are burnt out. —Alexa Mikhail