For several years now, they've attracted all kinds of criticism: Their bosses call them "unfaithful," "individualistic," "defiant of authority," "obsessed with their work-life balance," "too quick to quit." "They," Generation Z – born in the late 1990s and 2000s – are joining a job market that is now favorable to them and creating challenges for companies' human resources departments. How many symposiums, scientific studies, reports, press articles (including this one) and books have tackled the hot topic of young people at work?

"What is Gen Z's relationship with the corporate world?" the latest survey conducted by the IPSOS polling institute on behalf of the CESI engineering school highlighted the gap between both sides' expectations. IPSOS Director General Brice Teinturier spoke bluntly about a "misunderstanding" between business leaders and young people aged 18 to 28. The figures speak volumes: "86% of business leaders believe that Generation Z is really different from the generation before it, 70% say that it's difficult to identify what their career aspirations are, and 49% think that it's difficult to get them to evolve in the corporate world." Better, or worse still, a third of the bosses surveyed believe that these young employees are "damaging" work organization.

This misunderstanding is all the more important given that, due to demographics and longer careers, up to four generations can now coexist in the same workplace. Yann Orpin, head of the Cleaning Bio group, a small company specializing in industrial cleaning, and president of the MEDEF employer federation in the Lille region, believes that what they expect from work is markedly different: "Senior employees are very attached to the notion of working hours, while younger people are clearly asking for greater flexibility, remote working, flexible working hours, etc."

The boundary between private and professional life is also allegedly more porous for young people: "They talk quite easily about their private life or family commitments at work..." Above all, he feels that work is "for the younger generations no longer more than one piece in their life puzzle, whereas it remains central to that of their elders." Faced with this perceived evolution, companies must "learn to be more flexible in the way they manage teams, by being pragmatic and intelligent so as not to miss out on talent, but without compromising on their strategy and direction," said Orpin. A new survey by the consulting firm Deloitte published on Tuesday, September 17, put it another way: "[For young people], work remains an essential pillar in terms of identity, but only after friends and family."

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