Gen Z talent is the new workforce. If you want to hire young team members, your job offer must have perks that fit their goals. What benefits packages attract Gen Zers to jobs? Entice the right talent by understanding the gravity of the benefits for young professionals.
Understanding Gen Z Characteristics
HR professionals must have context for Gen Z employees before determining how to outline benefits. Gen Zers categorize people born between 1997 and 2012. Presenting attentive, relevant options attracts the most qualified and dedicated applicants.
Companies benefit from hiring Gen Z staff because of their unique value proposition — they are purpose-driven digital experts. Their contributions will foster innovation, diversity and adaptability to stagnant workplaces.
Gen Z’s financial concerns weigh heavily on how much a comprehensive benefits package means to them. Around 45% do not feel fiscally stable in their current jobs. They fear job loss because their age makes them less equipped to build robust emergency funds. Student loans encumber them. Worries diminish if HR teams provide holistic coverage and salaries. Consider funneling less money into hiring and onboarding and more toward retention.
Common traits blanket the Gen Z demographic. These characteristics include:
- Entrepreneurial
- Malleable
- Socially aware
- Competitive
- Freedom-driven
Their distaste toward total authoritarian environments is also notable. Workers leave, speak out or hold employers accountable if they suspect injustice or an abuse of power. A quality benefits package reveals a company’s priorities and how it values its people. Presenting the benefits package provides potential employees with their first impression of your business’s respect for employees, which weighs significantly in Gen Z’s career decisions.
1. Include Gen Z Essential Benefits
The benefits Gen Zers want are straightforward, but HR professionals should feel incentivized to be creative. Here is a non-exhaustive list of benefit categories the majority of this generation wants to see:
| Insurance and Compensation | Scheduling | Amenities | Values and Enrichment |
| Medical with add-ons, like HSAs | Unlimited PTO | Company-provided tech, like phones | Environmental, social and governance goals |
| Dental | Sick leave | Financial planning and advising | Diversity, equity and inclusion |
| Vision | Parental leave | Wellness programs | Data privacy and cybersecurity |
| Life | Hybrid or remote working | Gym memberships | Ongoing learning opportunities |
| Disability | Mental health days and support | Company-paid meals and events | Volunteer opportunities |
| Retirement matching | Flex time | Legal guidance, such as writing wills | Travel |
| Tuition reimbursement or debt assistance | Choose your own shift times | Modern, fun workspaces | Transparency |
HR professionals may perceive this long list as demanding and unrealistic. Gen Z job seekers attempt to reframe hostile working environments, create foundational stability for all and live comfortably. Their nomadic and accepting lifestyles will shift employer mindsets.
Work-life balance is a relatively modern concept after decades of toxic hustle culture, which still permeates today. Varied benefits craft a happier professional future for subsequent generations and consider external injustices and prejudices plaguing younger populations.
Feel inspired by the breadth of these offerings. Some companies even offer commuter benefits, reimbursing people for gas and public transportation. Others provide pet insurance. What about offering flexible holidays so people from all backgrounds can celebrate as they wish? How adventurous can you get to grab these applicants’ attention?
2. Make Packages Customizable
How can HR teams make every employee feel they are tended to? Personalized, customizable benefits packages allow employees to spend their paychecks how they desire. For example, an employer might offer stock contribution options. If the worker does not want to invest in the stock market, the expense should not need to come out of their paycheck.
HR management cannot know the preferences and aspirations of all employees. Therefore, curating benefits should be accessible and user-friendly. Everyone should be able to edit their package at any point, barring governmental timetables like health insurance enrollment windows.
Digital transformation is the best way to make everything seamlessly customizable. Because they’re so comfortable with technology, Gen Zers are more likely to explore new payment options and methods. Employers who make it easy to edit flexible payout options will attract more employees from the younger generation. Similarly, employees should be able to use online portals where their information is centrally located and easy to parse. Here, they can edit investments, update enrollments in wellness programs and make suggestions for package improvements.
Another option for customization is contributing to corporation decision-making. Participating this way is a benefit in and of itself. Employees should be able to customize the business with their insider knowledge and expertise.
For example, they can suggest which sustainable charities deserve portions of corporate donations or how to make work events more engaging for generational workplaces. This overlooked personalization option is not an overt benefit, but it makes Gen Z employees feel heard, and they will appreciate it.
3. Be Transparent and Concise
HR professionals must be clear when promoting packages. Sometimes, departments may wish to work with marketing teams to advertise their benefits packages on social media or display testimonials about how it helped individual members.
Do all employees have equal access to each benefit? Are there strings attached to unlocking certain boons, such as tenure or income level? Gen Zers want to avoid these unnecessary complexities and expect employers to be straightforward with what benefits packages entail.
Transparency must outline all HR communications. Prospective employees have little rapport to go off of when reviewing paperwork. Onboarding goes smoothly with more organized, approachable and comprehensive documents.
Every page must be jargon-free and list prerequisites and commitment degrees for each benefit item. Too much detail may be overwhelming, so be careful when structuring technical information by providing numerous contact resources for in-depth explanations.
Clarity affirms employee expectations and minimizes confusion and outbursts in the future if someone feels misled. Leading with transparency means employees are more likely to be genuine with HR. The behavior is essential for feedback. Companies want to create a culture where workers feel safe to provide critiques and improvement suggestions, especially about benefits and how management treats staff.
Benefitting Top Gen Z Talent
Flexible schedules, hybrid environments and diverse health care are only a few boons Gen Zers want in their packages. Employers must focus on expanding their offerings for employee well-being and retention. HR professionals are responsible for setting new precedents. In doing so, they will shift workplace cultures to be more appreciative and empathetic to their teams.
