Imagine a future where a CEO is checking TikTok during his lunchtime or a CFO is planning a side hustle.
This is Generation Z.
By 2025, Gen Z will constitute 27 percent of the workforce of the world. They are not just taking up jobs at the entry level, but they are rewriting the expectations, pushing innovation, and transforming the face of leadership.
Gen Z has become a topic that top C-suite executives search and CEOs need to know. It's strategic.
This guide addresses the generation about to inform your talent strategy, shape culture, and be your new generation of executives.
The Basics About Generation Z
Who is Gen Z?
Gen Z members are individuals born between 1997 and 2012 -that is, between the ages of 13 and 28 in 2025. They comprise approximately 30 per cent of the world population and lie between Millennials and the future Generation Alpha.
The Formative Years That Shaped Them
GenāÆZ was never brought up without technology. Gen Z has been living in the digital realm ever since their birth.
They had been children in the Great Recession (20072009) and the COVID/19 pandemic. Such incidents made them more economically wise and questioned the work-life balance.
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They were watching the climate disaster on their television.
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They witnessed the rise of social movements via hashtags.
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They also saw the inauguration of the first black president of the United States and the legalization of marriage equality.
Core Characteristics of Generation Z
#1: Digital Natives in the Truest Sense
Over 50 percent of GenāÆZers have over four hours per day on social media. They do not simply use technology; they think about it, unlike Millennials. Their favorite platforms are YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
As a leading technology executive search firm, we can say that different generations have unique perspectives on leadership & we must embrace them.
#2: Diversity as the Default
Among the adults of Gen Z, 1/5 are LGBTQ+. Among the Gen Z population, 31 per cent of women and 12 per cent of men identify as LGBTQ+.
This isn't about checking DEI boxes. This generation simply expects diversity as the baseline, not the aspiration.
#3: Education and Pragmatism
Most of the Gen Z individuals score the Internet higher than college education as their go-to space for cultivating knowledge, and one-third have decided not to pursue higher education.
Get yourself better acquainted with the change. Gen Z is not anti-education; the people are anti-waste. Research indicates that a significant number of Gen Z graduates take up blue-collar jobs due to their stability, remuneration, and inaccessible automation.
They also accept trade schools, certifications, and learning by skills.
#4: Values-Driven and Socially Conscious
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The majority of Gen Zers would enjoy working in companies with similar values.
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They select employers that are eager to embrace diversity and inclusion.
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Performative corporate social responsibility is not hard to miss with them.
Gen Z in the Workplace: What Leaders Need to Know
Career Priorities and Expectations
Few Gen Z make a leading position their primary objective. They want money, meaning, and well-being, which is a problematic combination.
Most of them are already leaving if they are not getting flexible work. Their average job tenure is 1.1 years, but it's not job-hopping; it's growth-hunting.
This is where as an organization you need to understand what is contingent workforce management?, so you donāt miss out or lag behind.
Technology and Work Style
Half of Gen Zs use AI to problem-solve at work (compared to 54% of Millennials and 42% of Gen X), and 75% use AI to learn new skills. They expect seamless digital tool integration and results-based evaluation over hours logged.
They're comfortable with asynchronous work, hybrid models, and collaborative decision-making over hierarchical structures.
Financial Consciousness
Gen Z is financially savvy and anxious. Nearly half of Gen Zs don't feel financially secure in 2025, with many living paycheck to paycheck.
They require attractive pay, transparent remuneration, and benefits that are real. There must be mental-health support, student-loan support and wellness programs.
Mental Health and Well-Being
Mental-health resources at work, they are careful about--nearly 70 per cent of them. They're the most open generation about mental health challenges.
Among those who report positive mental well-being, Gen Zs feel their job allows them to make a meaningful contribution to society, as compared to others who report poor mental well-being.
Gen Z Leadership Style
What They Expect from Leaders
Gen Z responds to inclusive approaches over authoritarian styles and expects seamless blending of digital tools with human connection.
They need immediate feedback and recognition, transparent communication about organizational challenges, authentic lived values, and mental health support. They want leaders who practice connection, results, service, and development.
They have been trained to identify fake leaders. Having been exposed to influencers building perfect characters, they know when an influencer is fake.
Core Leadership Traits They Embody
Gen Zs are self-driven yet deeply collaborative. They like to have a non-hierarchical structure of authority. They prefer sincerity, diversity, and intent to rigid hierarchy. They also want organizational founders and leaders who coach and not command.
They make decisions, not only based on data. They address issues in a pragmatic manner. They make the emotional part of their leadership; they see empathy as a strategy, not a weakness.
Why Gen Z Matters to Your Organization
The Competitive Advantage
By 2034, 80 percent of the advanced-economy workforce will consist of Millennials, Gen Z and early Gen Alpha adults.
Gen Z comes with new concepts regarding technology, culture, and innovation. They are the proponents of digital transformation, cultural pluralism, and innovative problem-solving.
Talent Acquisition and Retention
The turnover rate in Gen Z is the highest. Nonetheless, they are better retained in such industries as IT, healthcare, and finance when jobs become relevant to their long-term objectives.
To satisfy these needs, companies need to offer comprehensive salaries, appealing benefits, authentic DEI, sustainability, continuous learning, and flexible working standards.
Gen Z Hiring Trends for 2026 and Beyond
The Skills-First Revolution
Skills-first approaches are gaining ground, with many companies dropping degree requirements and expanding skills-first opportunities. Portfolio and project-based assessments are gaining value over traditional credentials.
Most of the Gen Zers are open to taking on side projects or small gigs to expand their professional development, and 42% claim that on-the-job training is the best professional development tactic.
Preparing Your Leadership Team
Look at your workplace policies as a Gen Z.
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Conduct emotional-intelligence training of leaders.
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Implement transparent compensation structures.
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Create latticed career paths instead of traditional ladders.
Partner With The Taplow Group for The Path Forward
Gen Z isn't a problem to solve, they're an opportunity to seize. Organizations that fail to adapt risk not just a talent exodus, but a complete institutional breakdown as retiring Baby Boomers and Gen X leaders find no successors willing to fill their roles.
At The Taplow Group,we offer leadership advisory services and understand that appealing to and retaining Gen icons' talents and making them future leaders takes more than new titles and ranks. It requires a redefinition of leadership and career, and being successful.
The ones that prosper will embrace Gen Z's expectations. The ones that will shape the future of work will be the ones that adjust to them.
Beyond leadership, being one of the leading real estate executive search firms across the globe, we connect visionary organisations with high-impact leaders who shape performance, culture and long-term value, using deep market insight and bespoke talent solutions to drive growth and transformation.