Are you a part of Gen Z or not? Do you think that you really know about this generation?
Creative, dynamic, enthusiastic, youthful, etc. are the words when people normally think about Generation Z. But Generation Z actually has more than that. To understand why Gen Z is different and why do you need to open up your mind about Gen Z, this article will explain some of those reasons and help you somehow interested in this topic that we will discuss.
Gen Z or Generation Z is the group of people who born after 1996 to 2012. According to some research in the U.S, Gen Z takes over 25% of the population and it will be expected to over 20% of the total workforce all around the world in 2020. I found some interesting facts about Gen Z and I am happy to share it with those who are reading this article that Gen Z is different:
“Gen Z use almost 11 hours per day to get access to the social media”
Sound interesting right? As a Gen Z-er, I agree with this fact. We seem to spend a lot of time on social media but trust me, it’s not a bad thing. For example, I am studying now in Hotel Institute Montreux. It is a hospitality school so we use LinkedIn, Hosco to find a job or just simply get connect with other students, alumnus, or companies who want to find employees for them. We also use social media as a tool for introducing ourselves and our schools by joining a lot of interesting activities and so on. If you think spending a lot of time on social media is not good, you might have a second thought and open up your mind about Gen Z, isn’t it?
“53% of Gen Z prefer to communicate face-to-face on instant message or email”.
Because we are with our phone or other devices such as iPad, Laptop, PC, this is why we rather communicate on those technical devices by using Gmail, Facetime on iPhone or Messenger, Snapchat and so on. Interpersonal skills are things that Gen Z might overperform than the previous generation, Millennials, as regards of some researchers about how Gen Z use and apply technology in communication
“Sending CVs via traditional formats are no longer exist”.
I have no doubt about this fact. Now, we can use a lot of ways to attract employers, not just by normal CV. I have a friend who is Hotel Institute Montreux’s Alumni, she did amazing CV by her own creativity by using Instagram. She made her professional profile, information and let the employers know more about her passion, strengths and what she interested in. It worked really well and she got a nice job. Yes, Gen Z is different and we should be proud of that.
Those facts are showing that Gen Z is the one of technical life, Gen Z was born to be good at technology and we think that Gen Z is different and personalities from other generation.
Is this enough to open up your mind about Gen Z? If not, I am glad to tell you something more about the relationship between Gen Z and the hospitality industry. I read an interesting article about how the big chains start to consider about Gen Z as their future loyalty guests. It is said that the major milestone of Gen Z be viewed when they start travelling in their own ways. Even if most of Gen Z cannot pay for their trip by themselves, when travelling with family, they are the priority about destination consideration. So, it is the right time for travel companies to think about Gen Z and set brand awareness as well as loyalty with this great generation. The article also showed that Marriott was the very first hotel chain which launched the marketing campaign in 2014 on Snapchat, one of the most favorite social media in which 56% of Gen Z is using it. The social media platform using high quality was co-designed between the hotel chain and other four influencers who were chosen by them achieved considerable success. The W Hotels also had a campaign in 2014 about Snapchat Geofilters, which let all Snapchat users make their own travel postcards using Snapchat and W Hotel logo. Not only attract Gen Z by creative content, smart hotel brands also target on Memorable Experiences and 24/7 Tech, get along with individualization over personalization.
What about an employer’s sight who want to look for a Gen Z-er as a future employee? Once again, in 2018 Gen Z already become the most popular generation at the time so that’s why open up your mind about Gen Z is essential.
“Gen Z is multi-tasker”.
Some of the research shows that Gen Z would like to work on different tasks at the same time. And on average, one-time Gen Z can work in at least 5 different screens. This is so surprising, right? It means at work, Gen Z can do different work at the same time to increase productivity and it is one of the things that all the employers are looking at their employees.
“Gen Z is less focused.
The study found that Gen Z has an attention span of 8 seconds”. This fact has both good sides and bad sides but the good sides are overperformed the bad sides. With bad sides, it might be a problem with memory and they might forget about what they have to do during a day. However, because Gen Z was born to be creative so they always have new ideas all the time and it is goods for them when they are in the space which requires a lot of creation
I hope that my article in one way or another can help you with more ideas about Gen Z that Gen Z is different and you can open up your mind about Gen Z, the incredible generation. If you think this article is helpful, please leave us a comment to tell your opinion.
Author: Ms Thuy Tran, Hospitality Bachelor Student at Hotel Institute Montreux from Vietnam