How to Reach Gen Z in the 21st Century Workforce

Editor's note: The following article was written by Tim Baumgarten, A.C.E., training and development supervisor, Terminix Service, Inc. Baumgarten shared how pest management professionals can better reach and retain Gen Z professionals in the industry. 

We have all heard the complaints: “They don’t want to work.” “They’re soft.” “They expect everything handed to them.”

 However, here is the truth: most of that’s wrong. The issue isn’t that Generation Z can’t work, doesn’t want to work, or won’t work. The issue is we often fail to speak their language, train them with relevance, or connect what we are offering to what they actually value. If you stop to think about it, every single generation you have ever worked with all had people in it that did not want to work, were soft and/or expected everything handed to them.

Our inability to connect with Gen Z is not on them. It is on us.  There are a few things we all have to embrace:

1. If we like them, agree with them or not, they are our current workforce. 
2. The things we grew up with and became comfortable with at work and the times associated with them are gone, and they are not coming back.
3. We can complain about it, or learn to deal with it. 

To understand Gen Z, you have to realize this: they have never known a world without smartphones, Wi-Fi, GPS, streaming content, or social media. They have lived through a global pandemic during their formative years, witnessed political and cultural instability, been told (all of their lives) climate change and other factors will destroy the world, and their economic future is uncertain at best. Today, all they see and hear is how badly employers view them and what they bring to the table.  What would you think if that were your norm?

Here is what Gen Z wants out of work — especially in industries like pest control:

Clarity, real-time feedback, purpose, flexibility, growth. They are not afraid of hard work. However, they want to know the work means something — and they want to know how to do it well. If you train them right, you will often find they can be fast, loyal, and proud to be part of something real.

We lose Gen Z in pest control not because the work is too hard — but because we train them like it’s 1998. We hand them a big policy binder and expect them to care. We act like they should be grateful just to have a job. We don’t show them the "why." 

According to surveys and research, here’s what works:

1.  Visual and Interactive Training
2. Mentorship and Connection
3. Tell the Story
4. Career Maps
5. Stop the "Back in My Day" Talk.

If we want to engage Gen Z in our industry, we must adapt how we train, how we lead, and how we communicate. They aren’t broken — they’re just built for a world we did not grow up in, and frankly, many of us do not seem to understand, or want to understand.

However, with the right approach, they have the potential to build your business in ways you haven’t imagined yet.

References:

1. Pew Research Center (2024). How Gen Z Views Work, Identity, and Technology. www.pewresearch.org
2. SHRM (2023). Workforce Readiness and Gen Z: Bridging the Expectation Gap. www.shrm.org
3. McKinsey & Company (2022). What Gen Z Really Wants at Work — and How to Give It to Them. www.mckinsey.com
4. Deloitte (2023). 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey. www.deloitte.com
5. Gallup (2024). State of the Global Workplace Report. www.gallup.com
6. NPMA Workforce Development Tools. Gen Z Recruitment and Retention Resources. www.npmapestworld.org