Most Generation Z people haven’t figured out yet that their value systems and life purposes are woefully naïve and inadequate.
Many Gen Z’ers, not all, were coddled or shielded as children and unprepared to enter the workforce and real life. The stories about them, from business owners who are involved in hiring and firing in their companies, are starkly revealing and sometimes amusing.
Gen Z births stretch from the mid-1990s to roughly 2012, currently making them teenagers-to young-adults in their late 20s. Talk to most experienced attorneys in larger law firms about Gen Z hires, and you will get an earful; it seems that too many in this generation want to slip out the door at 5:00 every day and also don’t want to work on weekends or nights. They expect large amounts of money to be dropped in their pockets when they are hired, and they expect to reach partner status at much younger ages than prior generations. They are quite mobile in their employment, sometimes tending to change jobs swiftly with little thought to loyalty.
One of the stranger maladies afflicting this age group is their obsession with “purpose” and “meaning.” The McKinsey firm conducted a study revealing that over 70% of Gen Z employees believe “their work” must “help their need for a sense of purpose”. Otherwise, they won’t feel fulfilled. Silly me. I always thought that a paycheck was what met your needs. But apparently not: “work nowadays is about finding your passion” and fulfilling your “journey”.
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Somewhat alarming is the Harvard Business Review study in 2023, which concluded that Gen Z people said they were disillusioned “with capitalism and the establishment.” Chalk up that belief to leftist professors, many of whom teach because they can’t do it.
It would seem that if Gen Z’ers are seeking purpose and meaning in their lives, perhaps they should get a job at a non-profit company or a charity. However, what that generation fails to understand is that for-profit companies can provide just as much meaning and purpose and positively impact society as any other type of company. They are the engine that creates jobs, improves living standards, and helps reduce unemployment rates. They provide shelter, end hunger, and provide a path to a comfortable retirement.
For-profit companies give consumers a wide range of choices in services and goods. They provide opportunities for upward mobility, reward talent, achievement, and hard work, and allow employees to improve their economic circumstances and accumulate wealth. In fact, their payment of salaries, bonuses, vacations, interest, and dividends means that for-profit companies “share the pie” by distributing wealth among employees, shareholders, and their families.
For-profit companies educate their workforce and invent our future. Market competition pushes companies to innovate, which leads to new product development and technologies that improve people’s lives. Companies thrive under capitalism, which emphasizes individual freedom and allows individuals to pursue their economic interests, start new businesses, and steer their career choices and investments in a way that satisfies each individual. Capitalism also rewards businesses that produce goods and services at lower costs, which promotes efficiency and translates into lower prices for consumers. It advances productivity and fosters personal achievement. Providing what customers and clients need is precisely what produces a high quality of life and societal well-being.
So, a warning to Gen Zers: “Purpose and meaning” won’t seem very important when hard times and recessions hit, and Gen Z is the first to get laid off or canned because other employees have proven themselves to be more valuable, productive, loyal, and appreciative.
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