❶Now that members of Generation Z are graduating college （36） this spring——the most commonly-accepted definition says this generation was born after 1995, give or take a year——the attention has been rising steadily in recent weeks.❷Gen Zs are about to hit the streets looking for work in a labor market that's tighter than it*s been in decades. ❷And employers are planning on hiring about 17 percent more new graduates for jobs in the S. this year than last, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.❹Everybody wants to know how the people who will soon inhabit those empty office cubicles will differ from those who came before them.
❶If "entitled" is the most common adjective, fairly or not, applied to millennials (those born between 1981 and 1995), the catchwords for Generation Z are practical and cautious. ❷According to the career counselors and experts who study them, Generation Zs are clear-eyed, economic pragmatists. ❸Despite graduating into the best economy in the past 50 years, Gen Zs know what an economic train wreck looks like.❹They were impressionable kids during the crash of 2008, when many of their parents lost their jobs or their life savings or both. ❷They aren't interested in taking any chances.❻The booming economy seems to have done little to assuage this underlying generational sense of anxious urgency, especially for those who have college debt.❼College loan balances in the U. S. now stand at a record $1. 5 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.
❶One survey from Accenture found that 88 percent of graduating seniors this year chose their major with a job in mind.❷In a 2019 survey of University of Georgia students, meanwhile, the career office found the most desirable trait in a future employer was the ability to offer secure employment (followed by professional development and training, and then inspiring purpose).❸Job security or stability was the second most important career goal (work-life balance was number one), followed by a sense of being dedicated to a cause or to feel good about serving the greater good.
❶That's a big change from the previous generation. ❷"Millennials wanted more flexibility in their lives," notes Tanya Michelsen, Associate Director of YouthSight, a UK-based brand manager that conducts regular 60-day surveys of British youth, in findings that might just as well apply to American youth.❸"Generation Z are looking for more certainty and stability, because of the rise of the gig economy.❹They have trouble seeing a financial future and they are quite risk averse." C
📝 全文释义（点击展开）
由于Z—代的成员将于今年春季 从大学毕业——对于这一代人最广为接受的 定义是，在1995年（或其前后一年）之后 出生的人——最近几周，社会对他们的关注 度持续上升。Z—代即将步入社会,在比过 去几十年竞争更为激烈的就业市场中寻找工 作。全美高校和雇主协会进行的一项调查 显示，雇主们计划今年在美国雇用的应届毕 业生人数比去年增加了约17%o每个人都想 知道，即将在这些空置的办公隔间工作的人 与先于他们来的那些人有何不同。 如果说“有资格”是用来形容千禧一代 那些在1981-1995年间出生的人)最常见的 形容词(无论公平与否)，那么Z—代的标 签就是务实和谨慎。据研究Z—代的职业顾 问和专家所说，Z—代是头脑清晰的经济实用 主义者。(37)虽然毕业于50年以来经济情 况最佳的时代，但是Z—代了解经济列车遭 遇重创时的情景。(38)在2008年的经济危 机中，这些孩子深受影响，当时许多孩子的 父母或失去工作，或用掉毕生积蓄，或两者 皆有。他们不愿冒险。蓬勃发展的经济似乎 并没有缓解这一代人心中潜藏的焦虑紧迫感， 尤其对于那些背负大学债务的人而言。美联 储的数据显示，美国大学贷款额目前已达到创 纪录的1.5万亿美元。 埃森哲公司的一项调查发现，今年88% 的应届毕业生曾在选择专业时考虑到工作问 题。与此同时，就业指导中心在2019年对佐 治亚大学学生进行的一项调查中发现，未来 雇主最受欢迎的特征是能够提供有保障的工 作(其次是职业发展和培训，之后是鼓舞人 心的目标)。工作安全或稳定是第二重要的 职业目标(工作与生活的平衡居于首位)， 紧随其后的是对一项事业的专注感或对服务 更伟大事业的满足感。 与上一代人相比，这是一个很大的变化。 千禧一代希望他们的生活拥有更多的 灵活性，” YouthSight的副总监同时也是英 国品牌经理人的塔尼娅・迈克尔森指出。她 定期对英国青年进行为期60天的调查，该调 查的结果可能也适用于美国青年。(40) “由 于零工经济的崛起，Z—代正在寻求更大的 确定性和稳定性。他们难以预见自己未来的 经济情况，并且非常厌恶风险。”