Gen Z and Work Culture

Under the guidance of Speaker Tran Thai Bao, the webinar provided more than 500 students with useful information about “Gen Z” and key considerations for the best work experience

According to a report recently published in September 2021 by Decision Lab – a market research and analytics agency – 25% of the workforce in Vietnam will consist of young people belonging to Generation Z (Gen Z).

These are young people born between 1997 and 2012 with workplace habits and behaviors completely different from previous generations. Therefore, the webinar themed “Gen Z and Work Culture” attracted a large number of HUFLIT students to participate, and the open exchanges from Mr. Tran Thai Bao – CCO of Igloo in Vietnam – Speaker of the program, helped them gain a comprehensive view of the future working environment.

Gen Z – digital natives

Gen Z is likened to “digital natives” because their birth is associated with the explosive growth of the Internet and technology. According to the speaker, unlike the previous generation, “Gen Y”, Gen Z youths have been exposed to smartphones from a very early age, so social media and information technology are not unfamiliar concepts to “Generation Z citizens”.

“It is the advantage of technology that gives them more potential for development than the previous generation,” Mr. Tran Thai Bao shared, “and technology is Gen Z’s greatest strength.”

For this reason, Generation Z has the ability to use social media to boost work efficiency, use Notion apps to optimize note-taking and planning, use PowerPoint to present data, learn design via Canva, etc.

“Those things don’t come from school, but from your ability to ‘lurk’ on social media,” the CCO evaluated. Through this, the speaker highly appreciated the students’ ability to be proactive in learning and quickly absorbing new knowledge.

Changes to adapt to work culture

However, besides these advantages, Mr. Bao also frankly shared a few points that Gen Z should keep in mind when integrating into the working environment.

First, young people when starting work should interact more with colleagues instead of just focusing on social media activities. “While understanding that human connection apps open up a huge resource of knowledge to explore, you should also spend time disconnecting from your mobile phone and bonding with the surrounding team,” the speaker suggested.

Furthermore, born in the era of international integration, Generation Z is exposed to many cultures of different countries, so compared to older generations “Gen Y” and “Gen X”, they love freedom and being themselves.

Consequently, businesses worry about the “job-hopping” trend among young people as loyalty to the company is affected. At the same time, the speaker noted that no company is designed to fit every individual, so students need to learn how to change and balance their personal values to suit the company.

The practical and engaging sharing by speaker Tran Thai Bao received a lot of love from the students. “This sharing session helped me understand myself better and make appropriate adjustments for my future working environment,” said Nguyen Ha Linh, a first-year student from the Faculty of International Relations.

HUFLIT Online Career 2021 is a program dedicated to HUFLIT students. The webinar series covering various topics will provide a comprehensive view of the post-Covid-19 labor market and useful knowledge for job interviews and starting work.