The Merging Social and Professional Identities of Gen Z
A take on Gen Z from 18 Coffees’ spring intern, Morgan Anderson.
“Alexa, play the crippling sound of a Slack notification on repeat,” quipped Corporate Natalie.
Natalie’s videos on TikTok and Instagram sit firmly between corporate lingo and Gen Z humor. She parodies a corporate version of herself (hence Corporate Natalie) in various and hilarious scenarios. As a part of Gen Z myself, I think what makes Corporate Natalie's videos so popular among her 370,000 TikTok followers is that she highlights the Gen Z desire to work hard and get ahead while still making the most of their youth. Millennials similarly navigated their young professional lives by balancing work and humor, but the Internet and social media has helped Gen Z blend these at warp speed.
Digital natives since birth, Gen Z’s relationship to technology and the internet is different than previous generations and plays a key part in their shifting positions on work. Concepts such as the American Dream and materialism flourished in the ‘80s — armed with the internet in their pockets, new generations are not so easily convinced.
According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Confidence Index, Gen Z is more likely to change companies than other generations. The findings among the 21,367 professionals surveyed indicate “25% of Gen-Z respondents (people born after 1997) say they hope or plan to leave their current employers within the next six months.” Meanwhile, the numbers for millennials and baby boomers fall to 23% and 18% respectively. Some might refer to it as “job-hopping,” but as a Gen Z professional myself, I think there’s a stronger reason: Gen Z’s social and corporate lives are merging into a single identity. But why?
Employer identity reflects strongly on Gen Z
One argument for this merge can be made by looking at the new value expectations Gen Z places on its employers. A Deloitte survey found that over the past two years, 49% of Zoomers made “choices about the types of work they would do—and the organizations they’d be willing to work for—based on their personal values.”
The companies that Gen Z work for are now extensions of their blurred personal and professional identity. As such, Gen Z expects companies to act accordingly: Both Gen Z and millennials want better work-life balance and hybrid work fexibility (vs a mandatory return-to-the-office), transparency and ethical leadership, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. From a broader perspective, Gen Z values social consciousness, climate change, sustainability, environmental responsibility, gender equity, access to healthcare, an end to gun violence, and economic opportunity.
Thanks to the digital revolution, young workers more informed about systematic corruption of businesses and governments, as well as painfully aware of the disproportionate distribution of wealth. While millennials perhaps paved the way by discussing many these values, Gen Z has made more of demand — there’s a firm expectation and necessity to entice Gen Z workers to consider a company, let alone stay long-term.
The Influence of the Internet
Without the aid of technology and social media, previous generations had a more distinct split between their personal and professional lives when they could leave work at work. This is not the case with the members of Gen Z, digital natives that can (and have) carried work and digital representations of their identities with them anywhere at any time.
Gen Z doesn’t necessarily embody professional and social identities simultaneously, but rather their professional and social identities ebb and flow as the line between them is blurred. If someone isn’t seeing your social identity, they’re likely able to find it after a little bit of digging, and vice versa. The average individual's online presence has become incredibly accessible, not just for casual connections, but for hiring managers and future employers as well. Gen Z job seekers know they need to set themselves apart by crafting their professional persona through digital channels. And while not necessarily for professional use, personal Instagram accounts will often pop up in the same Google search as a LinkedIn.
As Gen Z expands their network through digital channels, their social circles are not as dependent on the workplace as previous generations might have been. A Boston Globe opinion article highlights that, thanks to both the Internet and the pandemic, Gen Zs “are well equipped to stay in touch with high school and college friends in a way that past generations couldn’t.” As such, we can afford to be more selective about postgrad friendships. Embracing that social lives don’t have to be rooted in the workplace is the logical next step, reinforcing that the workplace is, primarily, a source of income.
In order to find their footing amongst Gen Z, organizations must acknowledge merge of Gen Z’s social and corporate lives into a single identity and strategize accordingly. To get true buy-in from this up-and-coming generation, organizations need to understand:
This generation cares about the ‘why’ of companies and feels it reflects on personal identities. Companies can respond to this by being up-front with their values and make sure it’s reinforced by authentic action versus lip service.
Gen Z’s digital brand is important to them. They’ve grown up as digital natives and spent years building their social currency personally and professionally. The Internet plays a strong role in making both their identities (and the history of the organization they’re applying at) easily accessible, so Gen Z will likely hesitate to work with a brand that might risk that reputation.
Gen Z is disillusioned with workism and consumerism, and they’re looking for more meaning behind their work. Transparency and authenticity through moves like making salaries visible company-wide will go a long way.
