Boundaries or entitlement? Gen Z’s impact on workplace culture

With the wave of Gen Z joining the workforce, the change in workplace culture is undeniable.

For a generation that does not shy away from condemning the high unemployment rate in Kenya, these young people also seem unwilling to compromise on their personal boundaries.

This generation is steadfast in tailoring a new culture that accommodates their needs in the workplace.

Speaking to The Star, Nelvin Kiragu, an employed Gen Z, details his initial experience in the corporate world.

After several months of tarmacking, Kiragu was over the moon when he got a call one morning informing him that he had landed his dream job.

Wanting to make a good first impression, Kiragu went out of his way to buy more official clothes even though his social media job did not demand this.

From the moment Kiragu got to the office, he felt an energy shift in the room.

His co-workers, who were moments before laughing and chatting animatedly, suddenly kept mum, shooting judgmental daggers at him.

Choosing to chalk up this cold reception to being the newbie, Kiragu decided to brush it under the rug.

However, after the hostility continued throughout his first week, it dawned on Kiragu that his co-workers had a personal vendetta against him.

In addition, the co-workers seemed to go out of their way to make his social media job cumbersome.

For instance, when Kiragu would try to do quick-fire questions aimed at increasing the company’s target customer pool, his co-workers would be uncooperative.

Kiragu’s co-workers would either blatantly ignore him or rudely send him away. By the end of the first month, Kiragu contemplated resigning.

Nevertheless, after recalling his turbulent journey of securing his dream job, Kiragu decided to dig his heels in.

 “In one office meeting, I stood up and confidently stated that our boss had entrusted me with the social media job, and I would be damned if I let them sabotage my work,” he said.

Having shocked himself as well, the room fell silent after Kiragu’s statement.

Nevertheless, by standing up for himself, Kiragu’s co-workers viewed him in a different light.

The days of his co-workers sneering at him and whispering behind his back were in Kiragu’s rearview from that moment.

For Jacinta Nduku, an employed Gen Z, her internship was her most trying time.

Before starting her internship, Nduku had planned to simply keep her head down and learn as much as she could.

Vowing to keep her sharp tongue in check, Nduku began her three-month internship.

Within the first week, Nduku came to the realization that she was in for a bumpy ride.

To begin with, the stipend the company had promised the interns seemed to be a fantasy sold to them. Assuming that the company would rectify this misstep, Nduku tried to keep a positive attitude.

However, when the company went out of its way to overwork the interns, Nduku felt her patience slowly wearing thin.

In the mornings, Nduku and other interns would be forced to get to the office at six in the morning just to tidy up the office and get coffee ready for the full-time employees.

When the official working hours began, Nduku spent her day sorting through the mountain of documents waiting for her on her desk.

The company had also set a target that the interns had to meet before they were permitted to have their one-hour lunch break.

More often than not, this one-hour lunch break was shortened, with the interns being instructed to get back to work.

What pushed Nduku over the edge was when the company randomly demanded that the interns also work on weekends.

The weekends had been the calm to her storm while interning at that company.

For the one silver lining to be snatched, Nduku ultimately reached her wit’s end.

Nduku recounts, “I just remember trying to calm myself as I informed the boss that if nothing changed, the interns would be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.”

Thinking she would be sent packing, Nduku was pleasantly surprised when the company loosened the leash they had on the interns.

Nevertheless, when her internship ended, Nduku could not have asked for anything better. Not willing to work for a company that does not respect young people, Nduku declined the opportunity of being a full-time employee.

The drastic change in workplace culture has been met with a mixture of reactions from the older people in the workplace.

Titus Omondi, a millennial employed for ten years, never imagined a day when the youngest people in the office would be a force to reckon with.

Omondi recalls that when he was starting his career, young people were expected to adapt to any work environment, no matter how toxic it was.

During that time, older people in the office would often treat the younger people like doormats, and their malicious actions had no consequences.

 “Personally, the Gen Z speaking up on micro-aggressions in the workplace is a step in the right direction—workplace toxicity should no longer be normalized,” Omondi explains.

Unlike Omondi, Jane Wambui, a millennial employed for fifteen years, views the Gen Z revolution in the workplace as a mere act of rebellion.

Wambui believes that young people being subjected to tougher working conditions at the beginning of their careers is the natural order of life.

Though not condoning blatant mistreatment, Wambui feels like Gen Z are prone to complaining about everything, no matter how trivial.

During her time, Wambui believes that the tough working conditions they were subjected to in the beginning of their careers were what ultimately led to their success.

Through these tough working conditions, the young people at the time were able to sharpen their skills, making them the best version of themselves professionally.

 “If the Gen Z are not subjected to tough conditions at the beginning of their careers, how will they know that they are truly cut out for a specific career in the long run?” Wambui complains.

According to Geoffrey Musyimi, a millennial boss, Gen Z employees are the face of what the future workplace culture will unfold into.

Being a millennial boss of a tech company with a lot of Gen Z employees, managing this generation at work is a skill he has cultivated over the years.

At first, Musyimi thought that the blunt personality of his Gen Z employees was a recipe for disaster.

However, after taking the time to listen to the complaints and opinions presented by his Gen Z employees, Musyimi realized that their reasoning was justifiable most times.

Moreover, the innovative drive in his Gen Z employees has ultimately ensured that his tech company remains relevant and profitable.

 “Instead of being at war with Gen Z employees, more would come from the older generations acknowledging that being young does not equate to ignorance,” Musyimi emphasizes.