How should retail employers prepare for Gen Z workers?

With members of Gen Z seen as more pragmatic, money-conscious and digitally-savvy than Millennials, the generation is set to reshape America’s workforce as the oldest of them have started graduating from college.

Most demographers define this group as those born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, making them roughly ages 13 to 23. Currently, they make up 25 percent of the population, bigger than both Boomers and Millennials.

Gen Z grew up amid geopolitical and economic turmoil, living through the post-9/11 trauma, the 2008 global economic recession and the rise of school shootings.

A recent Wall Street Journal article described Gen Z as “a scarred generation, cautious and hardened by economic and social turbulence,” and likened the group to the Silent Generation, those born between 1928 and 1945 who bore the economic scars of the Great Depression and World War II into adulthood and eventually reaped the rewards of a booming postwar economy.

The Journal wrote, “Early signs suggest Gen Z workers are more competitive and pragmatic, but also more anxious and reserved, than millennials.”

Job security is seen as more critical than the “beer and ping-pong table” culture that defined many Millennial work aspirations. A survey from Barna found attributes identified among Millennials — high priority on career achievement; low priority on personal and relational growth — even more amplified in Gen Z.

Mentorship opportunities, daily feedback and flexible scheduling rank high in Gen Z surveys. A Doors of Clubs survey found salary and raises are far less important to Gen Z than a work culture with a high degree of autonomy.

"They want to work," Heather Watson, behavioral designer at The Center for Generational Kinetics, told CNBC. "They want to do a very good job at that position. They're not looking at climbing the ranks quickly. They're looking at getting value quickly."

Gen Z will also be the first true digital natives. The oldest Gen Zers were age 10 when the iPhone launched in 2007. They also grew up under the constant surveillance of social media. Used to texting, Gen Z are seen having weak social skills.

• Gen Z Is Coming to Your Office. Get Ready to Adapt. – The Wall Street Journal
• Gen Z Jobs: What Jobs Are Winning the Interest of the Next Generation to Enter the Workforce? – Indeed
• New Nationwide Consumer Survey Finds Gen Zers Will Redesign Expectations in Today’s Retail Workforce – The Associated Press
• 61 million Gen Zers are about to enter the US workforce and radically change it forever – CNBC
• Is Gen Z the Most Success-Oriented Generation? – Barna
• What 5,000 Gen Z’ers Tell Us About the Future of Work – Door Of Clubs