Changing employment trends: How GenZ job seekers are leaving HR managers stunned

In Kenya, finding a job is one of the most difficult tasks but even so, job seekers and employees are now making life difficult for employers.

For long, an opportunity that guarantees a monthly salary was what job hunters were looking for but the modern-day job seeker, especially the younger ones, are changing the trends.

Human Resource managers are no longer finding it easy, especially dealing with GenZ job seekers. They are not just sophisticated but are now looking for more than a salary.

An 8am-5pm job five days a week, in an office, is no longer attractive while long strategy meetings are considered ‘boring’ by this new generation.

A HR manager recently narrated how she was ghosted by a job seeker who had been selected for a managerial role only to be told two weeks later that the candidate had found another opportunity with better working terms.

Hildah Nyatichi, who was involved in the hiring of the candidate, narrated how he performed so well in the interview and was told he had been selected for the role but for two weeks, he went silent, refusing to pick calls, respond to messages, only to say later that he had found another job with a better pay and shorter commute.

“While we respected his decision, what created frustration was not the fact that he accepted another opportunity, but rather the absence of communication,” Nyatichi told Business Daily.

Nyatichi reveals that the new generation of job seekers are now looking at the entire package before accepting the opportunity.

Gone are the days when they would work eight-hour shifts five days a week in the office. They want a hybrid system that allows them to work remotely, medical cover has become a priority while the employer must also demonstrate how the candidate will scale the corporate ladder.

It gets interesting; job hunters are also looking at how long it would take them to get to the office and back home and at what cost, largely driven by the high cost of living.

If it is a job that requires a long and expensive commute, the GenZ employee will not have a problem turning it down while on Fridays, they want to leave work much earlier.

At the office, they also want the flexibility to do their job their way while in meetings, they are not afraid to speak truth to power, something rarely witnessed before, when most employees preferred not to ruffle feathers for fear of losing their jobs.

This is a ‘new normal’ that HR managers are struggling to come to terms with when bringing on board new employees, especially the younger ones.