Generation Z, those born between the mid-1990s and 2010 are having a major impact on the labor shortage hitting modular home factory production lines.
Within just one decade many modular factories will either have to move into more automated production lines, change the way the production line functions, or simply resign themselves to closing their doors. The Gen Z crowd is not business as usual and actually makes older Millennials look like real “hands-on” labor and we know that isn’t true.
Aging is a Natural Occurrence!
In ten years a factory’s older workforce will be hitting retirement age and so will most of the modular factory’s top management staff. The Millennials and the newer Gen Z pool of people wanting to work in the construction industry will never keep up with those leaving it.
If you thought that Millennials weren’t all about the money, wait until you meet job candidates from Gen Z. Sure, a fat paycheck sounds nice—it can’t sound bad—but it won’t be enough to attract this younger generation. Less than 30% of Gen Z will even consider staying on board because of a fat paycheck.
Production Line Work…NOT!
They are focused on career advancement opportunities and other things you have to offer that isn’t money-related. Working your production line 40 hours for a steady paycheck isn’t one of them.
Even though they may be quicker to jump ship, remember to talk about what your company can offer them long-term. Their skepticism is real and showing them that your factory can provide for them well into their future can be quite reassuring to them.
Gen Z’s have grown up with social media, non-personal relationships, Googling, and individual sports rather than team sports. They enjoy working on solutions to problems by themselves and setting their own goals. Gen Z young women and men have a huge entrepreneurial spirit.
Fewer young people are pursuing blue-collar careers, largely because of the stigma that is attached to labor-intensive work. Another survey found that less than 3 in 10 parents would encourage their children to pursue a career in manufacturing.
Quality over Quantity!
Gen Z doesn’t want to waste time in the office doing busy work. Forget those boring sales reports and endless production reviews that aren’t read by anyone. They can smell those a mile off and will shut down. When they’re on, they’re on; but when they don’t need to be, they don’t want to waste time.
Measure both the Millennial’s and Gen Z’s work by its quality and not its quantity. By doing this you will give them the respect they are seeking and will absolutely surprise you with their ingenuity and resourcefulness. The old standards need to disappear soon or you will find your factory’s production levels dropping quickly as the years add up.
The younger the employee the more they want to be socially active in the community. Starbucks had a program in several major cities where 40-hour employees were only required to work 20-30 hours in the store and allow the employee to give up to 20 hours volunteering in their communities. And they were still be paid for 40 hours. Starbucks felt this was one of the best ways to keep their young workers with the company longer. I haven’t heard much about this program lately, however.
Gen Z workers want and even desire to work with others but want the feeling they are recognized for their individual efforts. They have grown up in an era of change in our country, some good but much of it “not so good”. They want to have a voice in that change.
A recent workforce study found 75% of Gen Zers prefer to receive manager feedback in person, and 39% prefer to communicate with their team in person. About one-third of Gen Z measures their success based on how respected they are by their co-workers (34%) and the recognition they receive from their manager (32%).
They’ve only known two Presidents before Biden and fight to rewrite history. They are the generation of change and if your factory isn’t part of what they consider change, you will have a hard time finding people to work the production line in the years to come.
Gen Z workers will be a challenge but will be worth it once you begin working with them to make your factory into something future generations will want to be part of.
Gone are the days of posting a job opening on the production line and getting applications. Today you won’t get any if you haven’t begun to understand and retool yourself and your factory for this new Gen Z worker.
Gary Fleisher, Contributing Editor
