Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2015 | Page 27

CONSUMER MARKETING

Millennials
Here Comes Gen Z!
Meet the next wave of customers
and employees
BY ADAM PIERNO

I

n case you hadn’t noticed, a new generation has begun applying for fulland part-time jobs: Generation Z.
The giant wave of 80 million Millennials is still the dominant generation for
many franchise operators, but Gen Z is
coming of age and bringing new attitudes
with them. It’s early to completely define
this generation, whose oldest members
are just entering the workforce, but here
are some preliminary conclusions based
on studies to date.
With Millennials, employers saw a
new focus on diversity. With Gen Z, this
is even more pronounced: just over half
(55 percent) of Gen Z are Caucasian, and
almost a quarter are Hispanic. Along with
this diversity comes tolerance.
Beyond simply being a diverse group,
they have seen an African-American
president voted into office and re-elected
early in their lifetime. They have seen
a relaxation of restrictions to domestic
partnership and specifically to same-sex
marriage. As a result, they are
more open to these ideas. This
means they are more tolerant by nature than previous
generations and will expect
similar attitudes from their
employers and co-workers.
Growing up during the end
of the Great Recession, Gen
Z saw their parents and others fail during the downturn
and witnessed firsthand the
hard work required to come
back. Consequently, they are
finance-focused, already expressing worry about the cost
of higher education and associated debt and finding a
job in the future.
According to the Cassandra Report, they claim
to value money over perks
and are willing to put their

interests and individual passions second
to earning more. They are willing (or
will be) to learn to love what they do if
it provides a satisfactory income, and not
sacrifice potential wealth to be working
on their interests. This may change as
they mature into the workforce. Early
indications are that Gen Z is less idealistic than the group preceding them. Life
balance will be important, but they won’t
expect as much to be provided by work
as the generation before them.

They claim to value
money over perks
and are willing to
put their inter \