This presentation summarizes the results obtained in the first phase of the iGen project, in Portugal. This stage involve the administration of questionnaires, interviews and focus groups with youngsters belonging to Generation Z
2. The project
• To try and close the gap between employers and youth, building up
cooperation between the two major players of job markets – generation Z
and employers - and creating an effective and successful work
environment.
• Why:
• Companies face several challenges due to changes in labor market trends, such as a
trend of labor demand exceeding labor supply in the near future, or the already
three different generations (baby boomers, X and Y) present in the labor market
augmented with the new generation, so called Gen Z, recently entering the job
market with whole new expectations, and so little known about.
• Need of harmonizing the needs of both sides involved, and bringing effective
solutions to help them be more prepared for the new ways of cooperation.
5. National context
• The population of Portugal is decreasing:
• 2015 - 10 374 822.
• 2020 - 10 209 628
• 2030 - 9 880 173.
• Average age in 2015 it was 43,5; 2020 it is expected to be 45,7; 2030 49,8 - population is getting older and
old.
• Number of pupils enrolled in early childhood
• 2013 - 266 666 pupils
• 2014 - 265 414
• 2015 - 264 660
• Number of pupils enrolled in lower-secondary education
• 2013 - 400 478
• 2014 - 383 421
• 2015 - 384 971
• Number of pupils enrolled in vocational upper secondary and post secondary non-tertiary education
• 2013 - 182 518 pupil
• 2015 - 177 169
• 2015 - 176 573
8. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
9th year
10th year
Apprenticeship
Bachelor
Last certificate obtained
Professional experience
Yes No
9. • From now on all comments concern respondents ONLY with some
kind of professional experience
10. 0 10 20 30 40
Professional Internship
Full time job
Part time job
Occasional job
Volunteer job
Curricular internship
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Less than 3 months
4 months
5 mpnths
6 months
From 6 months to 1 year
More than 1 year
0 5 10 15 20 25
Engineering
Commerce
Information Technology
Office and administration
Education
Healthcare
Media and entertainment
Tourism
Type of professional experience Duration of the professional experience
Areas in which respondents would prefer
to have a job
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Facebook
Snapchat
Whatsapp
Skype
Twitter
Linkedin
Instagram
Hangout
Reddit
Social media used to communicate
11. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Experiential learning
Role-play games
Simulation
Learning games
Team practices
Case studies
Presentations
Discussion
Brainstorming
Video analysis
Field visit
Preferred training practices
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Work / life balance
Career opportunity advancement
Financial rewards / opportunities to travel
Training and development opportunities
Friendly environment
Can use most of your skills
Job fits well into your personality
Stability in life
Issues when looking for a job
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Great Bad More or less
How well school has prepared for the job
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Employer's websites
Facebook
Lonkedin
Peersonal network / friends / family
College / university career center / vet school …
Staffing / employment / recruitment agency
All the answers
Preferred media when looking for a job
13. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Public speaking
Developing relationships
Technical skils
Problem solving
Proactivity
Meeting deadlines
Decision making
Negotiating
Collaborating
Intercultural skills
Language skills
Coping with repetitive tasks
Skills needed to strengthen to enter the job market
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Have the opportunity to learn from team
members on the job
Use technology in the workplace
Receive feedback regularly from your
superior
Be trained on the job
Forms of supported preferred in the workplace
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Capacity to manage conflcts
Communication
Respect
Supportiveness
Confidence
Commitment
Vision
Patience
Knowledge
Openness
Qualities valued in a leader
14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Co-workers who like to collaborate 19 11 11 8 14 6 4 1
Co-workers who challenge you 2 3 1 4 3 5 20 13 17 6
Co-workers who like to cheer you up during the
work 8 8 4 6 9 10 13 13 3
Co-workers who are friends in personal life 1 2 4 1 6 9 13 29 9
Co-workers who cover you if you did something
wrong 0
1 1 3 2 7 8 52
Co-workers who respect you 21 14 9 11 11 3 1 4
Co-workers who help you if you have difficulties in
your job
6 13 23 6 9 7 4 6
Co-workers who are competitive and make you
achieve more
1 3 2 7 4 18 16 8 12 3
Co-workers who are professionally more
experienced than you, and you can learn from them
12 9 9 15 10 5 5 3 3 3
Co-workers who listen to your ideas and
suggestions
4 10 11 16 13 11 4 3 2
15. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Great Bad More or less
How well employers understand the needs of young
people
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Professional knowledge / skills
Practical skils
Communication skills
Daily routine practices
Nothing
Problem solving
Collaborating
Adaptability
They should learn from me
What Gen Z can learn from the older generation
about work
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Alone
Mostly alone
Mostly in teams
In a small group (1-3 people)
In a bigger team (more than 3 people)
How do respondents prefer to work?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Company video conferencing
Company portal for talking with …
In person
Email
Text messaging
Social network
Instant messaging
Phone
Most effective ways to communicate in the
workplace
16. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Flexibility in hours
Work / life balance
Time management
The company culture
Colleagues from older generations …
The type of work you do
The ability to both focus and …
The boss / manager / leader's attitude
Effective communication
None of the above
Greatest and least challenges in the
workplace
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Salary Incentives Hours Environment Co-workers
to work with
Leadership
style
Level of
autonomy
Opportunity
for
development
Supporting
system
1 2 3 4 5
Key factors to make the respondent loyal to the
workplace
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Bonus salary Advancement Bonus holiday Moral
recognition
Sport facilities Recreation
during the
work
Education /
training
1 2 3 4 5 6
Rewards that can work as an incentive in the
workplace
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Web-based
training
Classroom
training
On-the-job
training
Team-building
training
Training related
to the job
Soft skills
training
1 2 3 4 5
Training preferred at the workplace
17. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Allows to get answers to questions faster
Helps to develop skills
Helps workers to collaborate in project more effectively
Enahnces personal relationships with co-workers
Gives workers a channel to express themselves
None
Role of technology
18. Conclusion (includes comments and ideas from the interviews
and focus group)
- self-confident
- entrepreneurial spirit
- ike to use Facebook to communicate with their friends
- when they need to communicate with work colleagues and boss, they prefer in
person communications or email, since it allows to get answers to questions faster.
When looking for a job - usually they go to the employers’ websites/ online. They may
even develop some kind of strategies to look for a job
School have prepared them well for the job market (technical skills).
Soft skills - they lack some of the important competences - public speaking and
language skills.
Learning - prefer experiential learning than other kind of training practices.
.
19. • More important to have a job which they like and where they feel fulfilled rather
than having a very well paid job. I
• Workplace - they value the opportunity to learn from team members. T
• Also value the importance of the respect among the workers to create a good
work environment.
• Sometimes, they feel that employers do not understand the needs of the young
people.
• Leadership - appreciate the opportunity to learn from older generation to get
professional knowledge and the skills to solve working problems.
• Important to have a boss that recognizes their effort and work.
• Underlined the importance of the leaders’ attitudes and the balance between
work and lifetime.
• Prefer to work in a small group of 2-3 people
21. Implications
• Education
• training practices are experiential learning, field visit and brainstorming.
• Companies
• The most important items when looking for a job are financial rewards and
opportunities to travel as well as training and development opportunities.
• The most preferred forms of support in the workplace are to have the opportunity to
learn from team members on the job followed by be trained on the job
• Respondents prefer to work in small groups, between 1 and 3 people
• Loyal to the workplace - these are the environment and the opportunity for
development
• As for the rewards that can work as an incentive, respondents prefer the moral
recognition, followed by the education and training and then the advancement and
bonus holiday