Zoomer lens

Accounting for one third of the population by 2025, Gen Zers will gradually surpass Millennials as the major part of the workforce. Since they are digital native and have their own unique career, life and workplace preferences, their entry to the workplace will have a profound impact and influence for the following few decades.

So, what type of workplaces do Gen Zers need to be productive and happy?

Incorporating their needs into the workplace
Gen Zers are those born between 1997 to 2012 and due to their exposure to social media for much of their lives, they are used to multitasking and switching between different tasks - they are proven to have shorter attention spans compared with Millennials. Many also have less developed social skills but they can be more expressive and many value independent thinking.

With these characteristics in mind, we take a look at how their needs can be incorporated into workplace design:

Choice between diverse work settings
Gen Zers appreciate having flexibility to choose the best place to work, while switching between different tasks. This means they need different types of workspaces to choose from: booths for private meetings or phone calls, collaboration tables for brainstorming; cosy pantries that enable informal catchups with colleagues or clients.

A place to grow
As highlighted in a recent survey, three in ten younger employees cite learning and development as the top reason for choosing an employer. Other studies have shown they will prioritise learning opportunities over promotions. Training spaces which enable hybrid training (including both online and offline) in the workplace and medium size huddle or meeting rooms which enable developmental conversations and interactions will be highly valued by Gen Zers.

A social workplace
The gig economy and the co-working movement has also left its mark on younger generations, with more Gen Zers ditching traditional work for greater flexibility and fluidity. For this type of worker, they aren’t looking for a desk in an office – they’re looking for workspaces in which their entrepreneurial spirit can come to the fore and where they can socialise, collaborate, and innovate with like-minded people.

Less open concept
Another characteristic of Gen Zers is their independent thinking and need to work independently so open plan offices may not be the right environment for them. Unispace found that 81% of young respondents said they would be happier in an office with separate spaces for collaboration and quiet work.

A recent project
We collaborated with our sister company Benoy earlier this year to help a leading educational establishment to identify the demand for future spaces. We undertook research with visioning sessions to collect views from different user groups, benchmarking studies with other campuses. Additionally we conducted workshops to deep dive into the needs for the space, and to create design guidelines to accommodate both Gen Zers and the faculty. In the research we found that because Gen Zers are so tech savvy, they need technology which allows better user experiences while working remotely. We also found that Gen Zers prefer workspaces which showcase or express their values and personality, and how flexible and movable furniture settings are highly appreciated.

The physical workplace plays a key role in employee recruitment and retention. To win the hearts and minds of Gen Zers, employers need to show they understand their needs and adapt current workspaces to create an engaging and attractive workplace to work in.

Emily Lin