How to Manage Gen-Z
It's just them or all of us?
Disloyal, lazy, entitled, and overly sensitive—these are some stereotypes describing the new demographic cohort that will soon become a significant group of employees.
The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025, 27% of the global workforce will be Generation Z.
What does this mean for us as engineering leaders? Today, I invite you to explore what lies ahead of us, how the workforce landscape changes, and how it affects our roles as engineering managers, directors, and team leaders. I will dig into source materials and some speculations about what's coming (or rather, what's already here).
My Perspective
I am a millennial, born in 1989. I spent most of my professional life commuting daily to an office, spending 8-10 hours there before returning home. When I began prioritizing my well-being and reduced my working hours to a strict 9-to-5 schedule, it was a significant relief.
I love what I do professionally. I often coded at night or on weekends, sometimes for fun and sometimes to tackle the hardest challenges from work so that I could hit the ground running on Monday mornings.
The company sent me to a few conferences, but I paid for most of the knowledge I gained. I bought courses and books from my pocket. I invested tens of hours per week of my personal time learning new skills to prove to my employer I was worth the position I had.
Even though I was a mentor or advisor for multiple companies and people across the industry, I worked for almost ten years for a single employer (under different brands, different executives, different offices, different founders, and different stages—seed/start-up/scale-up).
My income is country-local, which is decent given the cost of living in Poland. However, on a global level, I earn less than an L3 Engineer at Google. Most of my promotions brought new titles and responsibilities but not immediate raises. This usually came months later. But that was fine. I had a job, stability, a manager's title, and respect—valuable things as taught by my family, who mostly worked all their lives, never took sick leaves, were mobbed and disrespected, and did mostly physical work.
The Work Landscape Today
We can say it's Gen-Z, but the truth is that the work landscape has changed already, and it doesn't matter if you are a '90s millennial or a 2000s Gen-Z employee. Here are some examples that are different for me as a leader compared to ~10 years ago:
Lower loyalty to employers—staying no longer than two years within a single company is now seen as healthy (I shared some data here: How to Handle Employee Departure).
Growth and training—desired, but within working hours and fully covered by the company.
Promotions—new responsibilities should bring adequate compensation. The title is important but secondary.
Work from the office—good for catch-ups, brainstorming, or refreshing social circles, but for day-to-day work, it is noisy, distracting, and lowers focus/performance.
Work engagement—if you want missionaries—people who deeply care about the company's success—bring transparency first.
Benefits—L&D budget, and investment in growth - for sure! PlayStation, ping-pong tables, and free weekly lunch at the office—meh. The newest MacBook Pro M3 and two displays - wait, it's not a benefit, it's a tool for day-to-day work.
Salaries—focus on transparency and equality. Country-local vs global compensation benchmarks are still debatable. But the most talented folks—principals, staff, and other senior employees—don’t care about arguments related to the cost of living. Often, they can earn twice as much for doing the same job, in the same home office, in the same timezone (e.g., comparing Poland to the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland).
Work-life balance—when people are sick, they are off. When they clock out, they are off. During the weekend, they are off. On-call duty? "Sure, but how will it be compensated?"
Some of these are my subjective experiences, but it is not hard to notice many have become global trends.
To better understand the situation, I have been digging into some data and opinions, so I know what kind of leader I should be in the coming years.
For simplicity, I will focus on Generation Z. They are, or will soon be, the main driver of change, and old guards like us must adapt.
Gen-Z
Who are Gen-Zs? Here are some facts:
Age Range: Born between 1997 and 2012.
Digital Natives: They have grown up with technology and the internet, making them highly proficient in digital environments.
Diverse: The most ethnically and racially diverse generation.
Value Authenticity: They prioritize authenticity and transparency from brands, leaders, and peers.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is predicted that by 2025, 27% of the global workforce will be Generation Z, and by 2030, they will become the second-largest group (millennials will still be the biggest but will start to decline).
Key Characteristics of Gen-Z
Technological Proficiency
Gen-Z is the first generation to grow up with the internet and smartphones from a young age. According to Pew Research, 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45% are online almost constantly.
Unlike older generations who adapted to digital technologies, Gen-Z has always known a world with the internet and smartphones. This exposure to technology has shaped their behavior, communication preferences, and learning styles. The difference between millennials and Gen-Z may not be that noticeable in the software industry, since tech is our bread and butter. But from my experience, I can see younger generations automating more tasks, always looking for online solutions, and believing their problem was already solved. Conversely, as a millennial, I still find myself surprised that "there is an app for that."
My Take as an Engineering Leader: While adopting cutting-edge technologies is always debatable, we should focus more on streamlining processes and automating repetitive tasks. While it might be okay for me to copy-paste hundreds of records in Google Sheets, it's harder to expect that from younger teammates.
They often understand better than I do that not humans but computers are for tedious tasks.
Digital Communication Style
Gen-Z prefers digital forms of communication such as instant messaging and social media over traditional methods like email and phone calls. Due to constant digital engagement, they may have shorter attention spans, making engaging them in long meetings challenging.
However, this doesn't mean they prefer to exist in a void. It's the opposite. Some research suggests they want frequent feedback from their managers. This includes constructive feedback as well as personal check-ins. Rather than a wall of text, like written quarterly performance reviews, they appreciate authentic, real-time feedback.
My Take as an Engineering Leader: Constant feedback is a no-brainer. One great example here is Kim Scott's "Radical Candor". Radical Candor occurs at the intersection of caring personally and challenging directly. It's about being able to have tough conversations and deliver critical feedback from a place of empathy and support.
In remote-first organizations, you should also focus on concise information and overcommunication (ensuring the message was received, not just sent).
Remote communication also means a lack of non-verbal signals (like body language), making your personal connection with teammates more important than ever.
Economic Pragmatism
Gen-Z entered the workforce during significant economic instability, including the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences have influenced their approach to employment. They prefer financial security over status games. Rising costs of living and student debt have made it more challenging for young people to rely on a single income source.
The gig economy (Uber drivers, food delivery) and the platform economy (platforms connecting workers with customers, e.g., Upwork and Fiverr) also emphasize that having multiple jobs is completely fine today. In the remote tech industry, it can be even easier—people can serve multiple employers at once from their home offices.
The COVID-19 pandemic also accelerated globalization and remote work. It works both ways—a company can hire less expensive specialists from less developed countries. For example, shifting a dev team from the Bay Area to Poland reduced costs by 40% while maintaining performance.
But it also works the opposite way. Coding languages or software design patterns are universal globally, meaning engineers can write the same code for an overseas employer and earn twice as much.
Today, we observe a combination of both; for example, a US employer can pay a Polish worker 70% of their US salary, which is still a significant increase compared to the local PL market (according to Levels.fyi, the median salary of a Senior Engineer in the USA is three times higher than the same position in Poland).
My Take as an Engineering Leader: A decade ago, having a side gig or second job was seen as disloyalty, but today, it is a necessity for some. And we, as leaders, should get used to that. I don't care anymore if my teammate works for someone else. I do care about the outcomes of their work. My job as a leader is not to keep them busy, but to make them as productive as possible. An important role here also plays expectations management.
On the other hand, as engineering leaders, we should focus on our tech stack's entry-level so it's not a problem when people come and go. In one of my teams, we had an objective that said: first push to production in less than seven days after hiring. You won't always be able to compete for specialists with Netflix or Google, but at least you can try to decrease the level of specialization needed in your environment.
Diversity, Mental Health, Work-Life Balance
According to various researches (explore WEF's summary), Gen-Z prioritizes environments that support diversity of thought, background, and identity. They also view mental well-being as integral to their overall job satisfaction and performance.
Growing up in a globally connected world, thanks to the internet and social media, has exposed Gen-Z to a wide range of cultures, ideas, and perspectives from an early age. This exposure fosters a deep appreciation for diversity and inclusivity, which they now demand from employers.
This generation is more aware of mental health issues and the importance of addressing them. This shift reflects a broader understanding of success that includes mental, emotional, and physical health. Social media has a dual impact here. While it can contribute to stress, it also provides a platform for advocacy and support networks focused on well-being.
My Take as an Engineering Leader: Diversity, mental health, and work-life balance all lead to one thing—being a human. People are not industry robots or "resources." Everyone wants to be respected and do meaningful things. Also, numerous studies state that happy, healthy, and motivated people are simply more productive.
As leaders, rather than thinking about how to utilize every hour of our people's work, we should think about how to make them the most successful in what they do. Developmental leadership can be a good hint here. And if you think about building an environment focused on psychological safety, I recommend checking how the latest Polyvagal Theory can help with that.
Are They Really Less Willing to Work?
As a final note, I highly recommend reading "Gen Z really does have a work ethic problem or maybe we all do?" by
.Yes, there has been a significant decline in work ethic recently. But it's not exclusive to Gen-Z; it reflects broader trends affecting multiple generations. Fewer people expressed a desire to work if they had enough money to live comfortably, and the percentage expecting work to be a central part of their life also decreased significantly.
What happened then? It could be the pandemic impact, more pessimism about capitalism, or the game of "great resignation" vs "loud layoffs."
No matter what, there are new and interesting challenges ahead of us as leaders and managers. Our work is not only about supervising execution but about addressing burnout, setting flexible work arrangements, building a positive work culture, and creating meaningful work.
Great write-up. You say that Gen Z have been affected by 2008 crisis, though as I understand they were just kids and probably majority of them doesn't know about this recession.