The younger set doesn't like what they believe is fake news about their work ethic and attitudes, according to Zapier's report, "Misunderstood generations: What Millennials and Gen Z actually think about work."

On behalf of Zapier, The Harris Poll surveyed more than 500 working millennials and more than 500 working Gen Zers, and found that they disagree with most of what the press has reported on them over the last several years.

The biggest misunderstanding: that they are job hoppers. While that may have been true when the first wave of millennials were just starting their careers, now that a fair amount have settled down and are having kids of their own, most are also staying put at their jobs.

In this latest survey, millennials say they plan on staying at their current job for a total of ten years, on average, and Gen Zers plan to stay for six years, on average. This could be that many are managers — more than three in five millennials (62 percent) and nearly half of Gen Zers (49 percent) say they have direct reports.

Overall, almost two-thirds of Gen Zers (65 percent) and nearly three-quarters of millennials (73 percent) feel their job is a key component of their personal identity.

"You might think younger generations are disloyal to employers," the authors write. "Turns out most see their job as core to their identity, and want to stay in their current job long term. You might think younger generations are wasting work time on social media. Turns out many are doing the opposite, spending their evenings responding to work communications."

Roughly seven in 10 Gen Zers (71 percent) and millennials (69 percent) responding to the survey admit they are constantly on or checking their work communication tools outside of work. A third of Gen Zers (33 percent) and 39 percent of millennials say they check their work email/messaging tools more than they check their personal social media.

What's more, roughly two-thirds of Gen Zers (66 percent) and almost three in five millennials (57 percent) say they expect their teammates to respond to them outside of work hours. All of this could be why a majority of Gen Zers (69 percent) and millennials (73 percent) have experienced periods of decreased work productivity due to job burnout.

"Social media addicts? More like workaholics," the authors write. "Tech overload could be behind employee burnout."

Other key survey findings include:

Roughly three-quarters of millennials (76 percent) and almost two-thirds of Gen Zers (64 percent) work in knowledge-based jobs, including professional, managerial or administrative work.
One in six Gen Zers and millennials (16 percent each) have quit a job because their employer did not provide the proper technology for them to do their job. Just over two-thirds of Gen Zers (69 percent) and more than three-quarters of millennials (76 percent) say they would be less likely to hire someone if they did not have basic computer skills.
Nearly four in five Gen Z managers (79 percent) and more than four in five millennial managers (85 percent) say they encourage their direct reports to solve problems using technology. This includes technologies like automation, with almost nine in 10 Gen Z (86 percent) and millennial (87 percent) managers say they are open to their direct reports automating parts of their job.
Younger workers embrace automation as a solution, and nearly all Gen Zers (95 percent) and millennials (93 percent) say they would be willing to automate parts of their job.
Most Gen Zers (91 percent) and millennials (85 percent) think all employers should have a mental health work policy in place. More than three-quarters of Gen Zers (77 percent) and millennials (78 percent) say the ability to discuss mental health openly at work is important to them.
A quarter of Gen Zers (25 percent) and nearly a third of millennials (31 percent) say they have felt competitive against their coworkers.
About a quarter of Gen Zers (27 percent) and millennials (24 percent) say they discuss politics with coworkers.
More than two in five Gen Zers (41 percent) and millennials (45 percent) think their parents don't really understand their job.

Read more:

Instant Insights /

Forget everything you know about millennial and Gen Z employee stereotypes

More From HR Executive

Related Stories

Recommended For You