Voice of a generation: How media companies can engage more effectively with Gen Z in the workplace

Born between the late 1990s and early 2000s, Generation Z – or Gen Z – are expected to account for 27% of the global workforce by 2025. It’s small wonder, then, that media organisations are prioritising finding ways to effectively engage with the group, both as consumers and employees.

At the recent Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Festival in London, Helen Bazuaye, Founder of Creative Grace, sat down for a discussion with a panel of fellow DE&I experts to explore what Gen Z expects from a job in the media, what the common misconceptions are about the group and how to get the most of out the generation as workers.

What are the biggest challenges for the media industry when it comes to employing Gen Z?

Chloe Combi, author, columnist and host of podcast You Don’t Know Me: The media is actually seen as a really attractive industry by young people and lots of them want to work in it. The problem is the survivability scale. Around 75% of young people that I spoke to liked media, but they didn’t see it as the best industry to help them survive the cost-of-living crisis. And obviously it’s hitting young people massively. So, it’s not that they don’t want to work in the industry, but the question is: can they afford to work in the industry? And these fantastic young people who 10 or 15 or 20 years ago would have come into the media are now looking at other better-paid industries like tech or finance instead, which is obviously a real shame. That’s the challenge that the media really needs to rise to. How can it help young people both thrive and survive?

Richie Brooker, Head of Diversity & Belonging, Hearst UK: I think the concept of paying your dues is quite often really damaging. I understand there is this building of respect and earning your stripes, but actually, if you look at what we do at Hearst UK, we base that on skill. So, coming into the business, you could have a wealth of skills and only have a year’s experience. What we do in our company is look at who that person is, what their skills are. It isn’t about paying dues but about offering respect irrespective of how old you are.

Ridhi Radia, Head of ED&I, Immediate Media Co: I think the trend we’re seeing is that, while there are concerns around salaries, Gen Z are looking at your transparency as a company and your commitment to equal pay. Are you showing the salary ranges you’re offering? At Immediate we’ve seen an increase not only in Generation Z applying, but in diverse sort of candidates applying as well because we started showing and being transparent around salaries. I think the two questions that we get a lot from new talent is: Does this role have opportunities to learn and grow with great mentors, and do the company’s value reflect my own? There’s a real sort of drive to be a purpose-driven company, not just to attract Generation Z, but to attract the best new talent out there.

What else can the industry do to make itself attractive to Gen Z?

Chloe Combi: I think the media industry is highly attractive for a diverse cohort of people – women, amazing people of colour, and is very attractive and open to the LGBTQ+ community. But we can always do better, and I think there’s still a perception that on boards and in positions of power, you still don’t necessarily have as much diversity as there could be. I think the really important thing is to ensure that diversity really, really happens from top right down to the bottom.

Zoe Knight, Creative Treatment Writer, Rankin: It’s about adapting because people’s skill sets are more multifaceted than ever before. I find the prospect of hiring someone for one set role, like you’re an accounts person or you’re a writer, is outdated. I feel like people can do a multitude of things and you don’t want to block people if they are more creative. The way our business is set up at Rankin is that we have Hunger magazine, we have the Rankin creative agency, and we have people come in to hire Rankin himself. And you can see how creative ideas feed into all of that. I can walk into the office, and I can talk to the Editor-in-Chief of Hunger or go in and work with Rankin. It’s very much like a flow of ideas that all feed each other.

One group the media industry seems to be losing are younger males who probably identify as heterosexual. Why are we losing them, and what can the industry learn from self-publishers like Joe Rogan who hold their attention?

Chloe Combi: I think it’s a real challenge for the industry because (young men) now look at the media at large in quite a pejorative, negative way, and all of their media consumption is through social media types like Joe Rogan and Russell Brand. The question is how the media brings back young men to work in the industry because they understand the content and the stories that young men are attracted to. And hopefully that will bring them back to the media as opposed to seeing it in this quite negative way.

Richie Brooker: We have to go and find Generation Z and not wait for them to come to us. At Hearst UK we open up opportunities and bring Gen Z into the workplace to understand what it is that we do. We can’t just put stuff up there and expect this generation to understand the workings of the media industry and what happens in publishing. We have a responsibility to go out and demystify what it is that we do. That’s why we bring young people into Hearst UK and allow them to understand what we do, because they might see the brands, but they don’t understand all the cogs.

Ridhi Radia: You can’t underestimate the sense of belonging and community that is being sought after by young men and that’s getting filled by your YouTube influences, your gaming influences, and especially during the time when they’re feeling the most vulnerable. We need to listen to our young men and boys and not shut them out of the conversation, especially around gender, especially around equality. And I think we need to also understand that we might not like what we hear and that’s OK. It’s a two-way conversation. We need to help them find that sense of belonging and community and help them navigate those tricky teenage years.

Generally, does Gen Z prefer to work from home or do they want to come into the office?

Chloe Combi: In huge numbers they want to be in the office. The reason being is quite obvious, because how we become really good at our jobs fundamentally is from learning and mentoring, and I think that happens much more meaningfully when you do it in person as opposed to on screen. What that means is we have to get really thoughtful and actually quite creative about what flexi working means. Maybe the Millennial generation with young children can’t be in the office Monday to Friday, but perhaps Gen X people or young Boomers who have grown-up children can and are now emerging as the natural mentors for Gen Z. There’s actually a really, really good synchronicity between them.

Zoe Knight: At Rankin our ethos and tagline is to question everything. And we’re really encouraged to be inquisitive and to not be afraid to ask silly questions or not afraid to look over somebody’s shoulder and go “What are you doing? Why are you doing that?” Just creating an open space where you can authentically be inquisitive will benefit everyone, no matter your age.

Ridhi Radia: Yes, I think encouraging mentorship is so important. And that’s not just mentoring as a senior to a junior – it can be both ways, at all levels. The mentoring can come from a young talent who’s very good at digital, very good at TikTok, very good at video.

What are the biggest misconceptions about Gen Z?

Ridhi Radia: That they’re lazy and entitled. They’re sometimes known as ‘Generation Quit’, right? Because they go in and they’ll start for six months, and then they’ll leave. But actually, that’s a huge misconception because if they care about where they work and if they’re doing work that makes an impact, they’ll be a most loyal generation out there. You need to give them that empowerment.

Chloe Combi: I think it’s very unfair to say that Gen Z is “snowflakey” and they are hard to find and retain. They really have to have a sense of the future and not just what the first six months looks like, but year one and year two and year five and even year 10. So, when they have a real sense of where they are going, they are much more likely to stay at the company and become advocates for that company.