The rules of the game have changed in the job market. By 2030, a third of the global workforce will be Gen Z. This is a generation entering the job market with clear expectations. At the same time, the environment they face is anything but easy: a fast pace, constant change, and ever-increasing economic pressure. How can companies—and HR in particular—address this?
Criticism that younger generations are too sensitive, too demanding, and lack resilience is growing louder by the day. However, this portrayal falls short of the mark. While Gen Z is indeed entering a job market that moves at a breakneck pace, they also have higher expectations of employers than previous generations. For companies already facing economic pressure, this poses a real challenge.
Is Gen Z really less resilient?
First, a brief overview: Gen Z refers to everyone born between 1997 and 2012—that is, people who have recently entered the workforce or will do so in the coming years.
A look at current figures shows that this generation appears to be under greater stress than previous generations: In 2022, McKinsey used U.S. surveys to examine how frequently Gen Z experiences mental health issues compared to other generations, yet seeks help less often. Twenty-five percent of Gen Z reported mental health issues—nearly two to three times as many as among Millennials or Gen X, where the figure stands at 13 percent.
Does this automatically mean that this generation is less resilient? Not necessarily. Perhaps they are simply under greater strain: Yes, the geopolitical and economic situation affects us all. But the younger generation is often just starting out in their careers—without the safety net of experience, a network, and financial stability. Furthermore, Gen Z is actually the first generation to have grown up entirely with social media and all the well-known consequences for self-image and mental health. Younger people also talk more openly about mental health issues; the stigma is fading, which automatically increases the reported numbers.
What’s weighing on Gen Z: Between helicopter parents and a tough job market
Another part of the explanation may lie further back in time: In his book *The Anxious Generation*, Jonathan Haidt describes a generation that grew up in a more sheltered environment than any before it. Parents minimize risks, defuse conflicts, and strive to prevent their children from failing—with good intentions, but unintended consequences.
Many young people thus enter the workforce without the experience of having overcome a real crisis. And they encounter a job market that is anything but forgiving: economic pressure, uncertainty, and high expectations on both sides.
The good news is that resilience isn’t a personality trait you either have or don’t have. It is a skill that can be specifically developed even in adulthood. This is precisely where the opportunity lies for companies.
What does the younger generation expect?
Any millennial who spends time on social media is bound to have come across parodies of Gen Z’s supposedly unrealistic expectations of their employers. But what do they actually expect?
- Security (and money): It may come as a surprise, but according to a 2024 Zenjob survey, Gen Z—like the generations before them—prioritizes an attractive salary and job security above all else. Despite their desire for flexibility, Gen Z places great value on stability.
- Meaningfulness: According to the 2025 ManpowerGroup report “Generation ‘Potential’? Why the Future of Gen Z Lies in the Hands of Employers,” 86 percent of Gen Zers consider meaningful work to be crucial for job satisfaction and their well-being.
- Flexibility and work-life balance: For Gen Z, flexibility is a basic requirement. Models such as the four-day workweek, job sharing, and flex-time arrangements—which allow for greater autonomy—are being discussed.
- Mental health in the workplace: More than half of those surveyed in the Zenjob poll actively prioritize their well-being. Gen Z expects employers not only to understand this but also to actively support it, for example through special programs or an open corporate culture.
More stress, higher expectations—how do they go together?
According to the Manpower Group, by 2030, one-third of the global workforce will belong to Gen Z. At the same time, according to the DIHK economic survey from early 2026, only a small percentage of them describe their current business situation as good. Different expectations, work styles, and values are colliding—in companies that are already stretched to their limits. This is precisely where the friction points arise that HR faces today.
In everyday life, these tensions usually manifest in three specific areas:
- Unclear expectations on both sides: What exactly does the company expect—and what does the new generation expect? The outcome is predictable: disappointment, friction, and mutual misunderstanding.
- Different work styles: Different generations have different ideas about what constitutes good work. Without shared standards, this quickly leads to mutual devaluation rather than productive collaboration.
- Overwhelm with no outlet: When the workload increases—including due to these generational conflicts—but there is no early warning system or appropriate support in place, the result is ultimately conflict, resignation, or absenteeism. And this affects not only younger employees, but often managers and HR itself as well.
What can HR do?
Regardless of what you think about Gen Z, their expectations, and their resilience, the fact remains that collaboration in the workplace should be structured in a way that allows companies to remain agile and productive. HR can play a significant role here to ensure that the outcome isn’t “Ok, Boomer,” but rather “Ok, Team.” Four strategies are particularly effective in this regard:
1.Provide clarity
Expectations must be made explicit—on both sides. HR teams and managers should clearly define roles and responsibilities during onboarding and discuss employees’ expectations during regular feedback sessions. This prevents work from being based on assumptions.
2. Building a culture that spans generations
The fact that different generations work differently can also be seen as an opportunity: Older employees could learn from their Gen Z colleagues how to set boundaries—while younger employees benefit from their colleagues’ wealth of experience. Cross-generational teams, mentoring programs, and structured knowledge transfer not only preserve expertise but also foster mutual understanding and cohesion. It is also worthwhile to actively involve Gen Z in cultural initiatives, values-based processes, or bodies such as cultural committees and diversity boards.
3. Offer flexibility
For Gen Z, flexibility is a basic expectation. HR managers can, for example, introduce remote work days and flexible work schedules. In general, employees should be trusted to organize their own work independently. Companies that remain inflexible in this regard will find it increasingly difficult—not only to attract talent, but also to retain it.
4. Introduce support services
External contacts, digital tools, and one-on-one support help employees build resilience and, above all, assist new hires in navigating the current challenging situation in many companies. This not only helps prevent absences but also empowers employees from the start and contributes to building high-performing teams over the long term.
Conclusion: New rules, new opportunities
The Gen Z debate is often framed as a generational conflict—as if it were about who is right and who needs to adapt. That oversimplifies the issue. What this generation highlights is that the old rules of the game may simply no longer work. They reveal cracks that have long existed in many organizations: a lack of clarity, insufficient support, and structures built for a different era.
One thing is clear: Gen Z is not lazy or unmotivated. However, Gen Z employees do indeed have different expectations of their employers and of collaboration, as can be observed in everyday life. What is needed are companies that take this seriously and change the rules of the game. In doing so, they not only gain access to a growing
workforce, but they also build structures that are more stable, resilient, and ultimately more productive. For all generations.
About the Author
Jonas Keil is co-CEO and co-founder of the HR tech company Nilo Health, a provider of mental health support in the workplace. Keil also speaks on organizational development, sustainable corporate culture, and healthy leadership. In his column “Healthy Workplace,” he writes about the connections between mental health, performance, and a sustainable corporate and leadership culture.
Source: humanressourcesmanager.de
