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Career Builder's CEO: Young people are 'ghosting' employers


Gen Z, currently aged 8 to 23 years old, are the youngest generation entering the workforce. And they’re already forcing employers to make changes to company culture, diversity, and inclusion.

However, they do other things a bit differently, according to Career Builder's CEO Irina Novoselsky.

“We’re actually seeing ‘ghosting’ [by] Gen Z,” Novoselsky told Yahoo Finance (video above). “So they just take a job and do not show up. Or they quit a job and do not let their employer know, they just don't show up and leave a badge.”

And it turns out Gen Zers are not the only ones giving their employers an Irish Goodbye. So are millennials, who are currently aged 24 to 39 and the largest generation in the workforce.

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Half of millennials and Gen Zers have ghosted an employer for a higher paying job opportunity elsewhere, the Randstad 2020 U.S. Compensation Insights survey finds.

Half of millennials and Gen Zers have ghosted an employer for a higher paying job opportunity elsewhere, the Randstad 2020 U.S. Compensation Insights survey finds
Half of millennials and Gen Zers have ghosted an employer for a higher paying job opportunity elsewhere, according to the Randstad 2020 U.S. Compensation Insights survey.

Mission and Culture

The two youngest generations in the workforce not only find it unnecessary to say goodbye before quitting. They are also bolder in salary negotiations. Nearly 3 in 5 millennials and Gen Zers say they have leveraged a potential job offer as a negotiation tactic to get a pay raise at their current job.

Good compensation is not the only thing these two generations are looking for in an employer: For them, the company’s mission and culture is a priority.

“They're helping to drive companies really highlight their mission and purpose,” Novoselsky told Yahoo Finance. “That is one of their number one criteria for joining a business.”

Millennials are more likely to place culture over salary than adults over 45 when it comes to job satisfaction, with 65 percent of millennials and 52 percent of older adults prioritizing culture, according to Glassdoor’s 2019 mission and culture survey.

A Facebook employee walks past a sign reading "hack" at Facebook's corporate headquarters campus in Menlo Park, California, on October 23, 2019. (Photo: Josh Edelson / AFP)
A Facebook employee walks past a sign reading "hack" at Facebook's corporate headquarters campus in Menlo Park, California, on October 23, 2019. (Photo: Josh Edelson / AFP)

Many of them also expect companies to do more politically rather than stick to the sidelines. Three-quarters of 18- to 34-year-olds expect their company to take a stand on issues like immigration, equal rights, and climate change, according to a Glassdoor survey from 2017.

“They want a job that integrates seamlessly with their life,” Glassdoor Chief Economist Dr. Chamberlain told Yahoo Finance. “It isn't just a paycheck, but is also a symbol of who they are.”

Gen Z doesn’t stop here, they’re also influencing diversity and inclusion as they’re looking for a much more mirrored and diverse workforce to join.

”Companies are putting out a lot more executive roles and leadership roles that are focused around that,” Novoselsky said. “They're looking at companies and measuring them on that.”

Denitsa is a writer for Yahoo Money and Cashay. Follow her on Twitter @denitsa_tsekova.

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