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Guess what? Generation Alpha is coming… and they are coming soon!
Who is Gen A?
As the newest generation almost ready to hit the working world, many people find themselves wondering: what is Gen A?
Generation Alpha, or Gen A, are the first generation to be born entirely in the 21st Century. With birth years starting around 2010, and ending around 2025, the first members of Gen A are currently only 3 years off joining the workforce, and they are different from anything you’ve experienced before.
Gen A are expected to reach a global population of 2.2 billion by 2025, this is a lot of upcoming talent to prepare for.
This generation have passed the digital native barrier, they are raised and educated on ever-increasing amounts of electronic technology. They are globally informed; they see the world through social media. Gen A are not afraid of dismissing stereotypes, they express their individuality however they want.
Did you know, Gen A self-identify as 42 different genders? Some sources even suggest the number is higher.
It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with this. What matters is that these individuals, however they identify, are about to hit the workforce regardless of your opinion, and if you don’t adapt and work to accommodate them, you’re going to find yourself in a challenging situation.
Nobody likes a workplace that doesn’t cater to their needs. Nobody likes a workplace that is hostile. So, you need to be the champion that’s making that change in your company to accommodate Gen A – because Gen A like to make noise, and Gen A like to be heard.
If you and what you’re offering are not attractive to these candidates, they won’t apply. If your employees feel uncomfortable, they will look elsewhere for work. Not accommodating for the next generation of candidates ultimately harms you and your organisation more than it harms them.
Gen A like to walk away if they feel they’re being discriminated against or disrespected. There is no point in hiring all those graduates, apprentices, and interns, if you can’t get them to stay.
While Baby Boomers quit a job on average after 5.7 years, Gen X went on to quit after 4.3, and Millennials quit after 3.2. You’d be right in assuming this trend continues for Gen Z who shared they’d leave a job after 1.7 years, with 30% saying they’d leave what they deem a ‘dead-end role’ after just 4 months. Think about what Gen A’s quitting behaviour will be like if the trend continues… organisations can’t afford to get this wrong.
And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!
– Every Scooby Doo villain ever
Gen A in the Workplace
According to SFS Media, 39% of Gen A expect to be discriminated against during their application and interview. Over a third of your potential candidates expect to be treated poorly because of their ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexuality.
So, what can you do about it? Like, actual concrete, real things that you can do right now in your process to counter that? Well, that’s easy, because these Gen A students have told you (or us, anyway).
Preparing to Attract and Engage Gen A
Attracting and engaging the upcoming populations is about to get trickier. There are various things that need to be done before you can feel confident in your ability to secure the next generation of talent. Turn your attention inwards and review your company processes and policies.
Start by showing a clear range of diversity in your workforce. Guarantee minority protections. Have a clear, concise, and common theme of people being respected for their individuality. Those all sound simple, right? How about going deeper? Show that you have knowledge of their differences and needs. Give proper feedback, not just computer-generated platitudes. Regularly review the steps you have taken and take the opinions of the people you’re trying to retain seriously.
Your current Gen Z candidates are the closest to Gen A, they are different generations, Gen Z often cited as beginning between 1995-1997, and ending 2010, but they have many similarities. Addressing your current pipeline will inevitably benefit your future pipeline. Gen Z look for red flags when applying for roles, and carefully compare these against green flags to work out if a job is the right fit, and they have the wiggle room to do this in the current candidate-led market.
These generations don’t just expect change, they demand it. It is your job to meet those needs. It is not enough any more to say, ‘this is too big a ship to turn around’.
It’s also important to remember the world in which this generation is being raised, the oldest of Gen A were only 9 years old when the Covid-19 pandemic began. They missed out on crucial moments from their final year at primary school and first years at secondary school. The impact of this cannot be overlooked, and with Covid reversing a lot of the positive work done on Social Mobility, brushing up on reducing recruitment barriers for candidates from lower socio-economic backgrounds is a good idea too.
Gen A experienced the mass switch to virtual communication. They see their parents work from home. Many will remember Donald Trump as their first president. The first news stories to stick out in their memory will be about George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, Climate Change, Terrorism, Sarah Everard, and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Not only is Gen A less likely to take the small things for granted, having missed out on them for so long, but they know how to appreciate the little things and stand against anything or anyone careless, unfair, cruel, or deliberately uninformed.
The time to make meaningful change is now.
