How to Support Remote Gen Z Employees in the Time of COVID

Millions of Americans have now received the COVID-19 vaccine. Infections are starting to decrease nation-wide. These trends provide a reason to be optimistic that the end of the pandemic is near. However, the impacts of COVID-19 will be long-lasting. Many employees are more stressed out now than they have ever been before, especially younger workers who have been forced to work from home. This stress will persist for many workers, and employers will face the difficult but important task of supporting their employees moving forward.

In this post, we’ll discuss this topic in depth. Specifically, we’ll talk about:

• Why Young Workers Experience Higher Levels of Stress
• What Young Workers Want in the Workplace
• How Business Leaders Can Support Young Workers

Young Workers Experience Higher Levels of Stress

A recent survey performed by the firm Grokker focused on the “State of Stress” in today’s workforce. The survey had two key findings:

• Workers between the ages of 18 and 29 experience higher levels of stress than any other age group.
• Employees who are working from home experience more stress than those who work at an office (or other location that must be traveled to).

It can be assumed from the survey results that younger employees who work from home are experiencing extremely high levels of stress.

If you are age 30 or older, take a minute to think back to your first few years in the workplace after completing school. Imagine how hard it would have been to feel confident, optimistic, and well-prepared for your role if you were forced to work at home so early in your career? Think about the networking, hallway conversations, conferences, relationships, and conventions that you would have missed out on. Young workers are missing out on these opportunities, and it’s making them feel unprepared for the next steps in their future careers.

The future of the post-COVID world also has a lot of uncertainty. Younger workers are understandably worried about the future of their chosen industries. Older workers, on the other hand, are generally more established in their careers and are closer to retirement, which lightens that stress.

The Grokker survey also found that the higher stress levels young remote workers are experiencing have negatively impacted other areas of health in the following categories:

• Mental health (72%)
• Physical health: (54%)
• Sleep: (54%)
• Nutrition: (50%)

The percentages above indicate the number of workers who feel that stress from working from home has negatively impacted the corresponding aspects of their health.

What Young Workers Want in the Workplace

Younger workers have different motivations than their older counterparts. According to recent studies on the topic of workplace motivation, younger workers are motivated more by benefits and workplace relationships and less by salary.

This becomes problematic in the modern era of working from home. Many workplace perks and benefits like parties, teambuilding activities, free food, fitness centers, etc. are much harder to come by for employees who are working from home.

As we discussed in the previous section, it’s also much more difficult to build meaningful relationships with coworkers and colleagues when working remotely. Hallway conversations and the ten-minute blocks of time before and after in-person meetings have traditionally been great opportunities for employees to get to know each other. When everyone logs into a meeting the minute it starts and logs out the minute it ends, there is little time left for casual conversations or networking.

It’s clear how the absence of these benefits and opportunities are having negative effects on younger workers.

How Business Leaders Can Support Young Workers

Business leaders should consider the research that we’ve explained in the previous two sections and make a game plan for how to help young workers feel less stressed out.

Here are some strategies to consider:

• Work with your HR team to offer or adapt common workplace benefits and perks so that they can be adapted for at home workers. For example, if your building or office has a gym that cannot be used by remote employees, consider offering a gym or fitness equipment reimbursement program. Under such a program, employees can exercise at or near their homes and have the costs reimbursed.
• Add a few minutes to the beginning or end of each calendar invite with the purpose of socializing and networking. If a meeting is supposed to start at 9:00am, set up the calendar invite for 8:50am until 10:10am so that employees can spend 20 minutes talking about their weekend plans, their families, or common interests.
• Show empathy for the stress younger workers are experiencing. Make an effort to normalize conversations about stress and mental health in your workplace. If you feel like there are any stigmas or taboos related to those topics in your organization, do whatever it takes to overcome them.
• Make sure employees have a good understanding of all the benefits that are available to them. Too often, employees are unaware of key benefits like Employee Assistance Programs that offer versatile support resources. Work with your HR team to develop educational materials to help young employees understand the full spectrum of benefits that are available.

Key Takeaways

The data is clear. Younger employees who work remotely experience more stress than any other group in the workplace. This stress negatively affects other areas of their health such as diet, exercise, and sleep.

Younger employees highly value employment benefits, opportunities, and relationships. This is a key difference compared to older employees who put more value on salary.

In order for business leaders to support young, remote employees during these stressful times, strategies should be put in place that help employees feel connected and supported.

Examples of such strategies include:

• Work with your HR team, or a trusted HR partner, to offer or adapt common workplace benefits and perks so that they can be adapted for at home workers.
• Add a few minutes to the beginning or end of each calendar invite with the purpose of socializing and networking.
• Make an effort to normalize conversations about stress and mental health in your workplace.
• Work with your HR team to develop educational materials to help young employees understand the full spectrum of benefits that are available.