Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Francesca Rudkin: The story of Gen Z and their work ethic

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Francesca Rudkin: The story of Gen Z and their work ethic · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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  Speaker 1: A podcast earlier this week, former First Lady Michelle Obama
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  Speaker 1: had some wisdom for the gen Z generation they're age
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  Speaker 1: between fourteen and twenty nine when it comes to employment
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  Speaker 1: in their work ethic, she said she wants gen zs
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  Speaker 1: to understand that every experience, the bad boss, the boring
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  Speaker 1: assistant job, the job you weren't appreciated in, the one
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  Speaker 1: that didn't give you the assignment you wanted when you
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  Speaker 1: wanted it, all of that is teaching them to be resilient.
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  Speaker 1: Why is it important to learn to endure a boring job,
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  Speaker 1: a bad boss, or setbacks. While she believes gen Z's
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  Speaker 1: need the instant gratification means that they're not getting the
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  Speaker 1: experiences they need to develop the skills needed to be
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  Speaker 1: good leaders, she feels young people today want to do
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  Speaker 1: what they want to do or what they're good at,
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  Speaker 1: but that it's just as valuable to learn to do
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  Speaker 1: something they don't want to do and to do it well. Now.
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  Speaker 1: I think Micheam Obama has a really good point. Sometimes
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  Speaker 1: in a job, you just have to suck it up
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  Speaker 1: to get the money and experience needed to help you
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  Speaker 1: to get to where you want to be. But i'd
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  Speaker 1: argue that many young people are working jobs they don't
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  Speaker 1: particularly enjoy. With a seventeen and nineteen year old, I
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  Speaker 1: see it all around me, whether their high school students
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  Speaker 1: earning some spending cash, university students working part time to
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  Speaker 1: pay for their education and living costs, those who have
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  Speaker 1: been told by their parents learn or earn, or graduates
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  Speaker 1: taking whatever job they can get. I also see a
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  Speaker 1: lot of students with work experience applying constantly for jobs
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  Speaker 1: and getting nowhere. So no, I don't see a lazy
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  Speaker 1: generation afraid of doing a job they don't like. What
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  Speaker 1: we do have, though, is a difficult youth market stats.
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  Speaker 1: New Zealand figures show youth employment has risen substantially since
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. The share of young people not in
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  Speaker 1: work educational training remains at its highest since the pandemic,
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  Speaker 1: at fourteen point four percent. New Zealand's overall unemployment rate
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  Speaker 1: was five point three percent in March, from the unusually
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  Speaker 1: low rates seen during twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three,
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  Speaker 1: and of course young workers are usually the first group
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  Speaker 1: affected when hiring slows. We also know entry level and
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  Speaker 1: graduate jobs appear harder to obtain because competition has increased,
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  Speaker 1: Employers are hiring more cautiously, and if readit is anything
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  Speaker 1: to go by, employers want graduates with one to three
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  Speaker 1: years experience, even for entry level jobs. I think you'll
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  Speaker 1: find most young people are taking what they can get.
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  Speaker 1: Scarcity of jobs mean being choosy is in an option,
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  Speaker 1: And of course there will always be some who find
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  Speaker 1: life easier sitting on the couch and taking a benefit.
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  Speaker 1: There always has been. Maybe it's a slightly different approach
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  Speaker 1: to work that irks the rest of us a little.
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  Speaker 1: Gen zs typically put more importance on work life balance,
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  Speaker 1: mental health meaning for work, and flexible working arrangements. This
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  Speaker 1: can be frustrating for employers, but there are plenty of
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  Speaker 1: middle aged workerholics who have belatedly realized there's real value
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  Speaker 1: in work life balance. They are one step ahead of
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  Speaker 1: us on some things. For more from Early Edition with
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  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge, listen live to news Talks at be from
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  Speaker 1: five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio