Younger Gen Z workers, have become more productive during lockdown due to their tech-savvy nature and the use of technology to communicate and carry out tasks their jobs entail.
This is according to Milkround, who found that 60 per cent of Gen Z employees have been more productive during lockdown, mainly due to the fact they have embraced the heightened use of technology during their daily roles.
More mature workers have been overwhelmed by the use of technology, however, 60 per cent of staff have said that younger employees in their team often help older colleagues with their technical questions. With over two-thirds (69 per cent) of UK employees think that younger staff members are in a better position to adapt to the lockdown where digital communication is vital.
Over half (52 per cent) struggled with the use of video conferencing which drops to 31 per cent for 18-22-year-olds. Only 11 per cent of Gen Z have said their use of digital communication has increased, showing that the younger demographic were already using to this form of working.
However, younger workers find themselves in a more volatile position in the job market during the spread of COVID-19. A quarter of 18-22-year-olds have been furloughed in comparison to 13 per cent of the older workforce, as well as 13 per cent of younger workers being made redundant compared to 1 per cent of older workers.
This has resulted in 1.8 million Gen Z and Millennials using Zoom (44 per cent), Microsoft Teams (23 per cent) and Skype (20 per cent) to be interviewed for new jobs. Over eight-tenths (81 per cent) are confident they will be able to secure a new role using these platforms.
Georgie Brazier, graduate jobs expert at Milkround said:
The state of flux that the graduate employment market has been in since the start of lockdown has instilled a reliance on technology, and specifically video conferencing platforms. It is no great surprise that younger workers are more at ease with using these platforms. What has been reassuring is that these younger workers are taking to video conferencing platforms to secure new job roles too. Their longstanding use of social media to communicate has set them in good stead for the lockdown. Gen Z and Millennials are now benefiting professionally from their use of social media platforms.
Despite not having as much experience in the workforce as other colleagues, they are leading the way during isolation by leveraging their innate tech-savvy skillsets.
These results are based on a survey conducted by Opinium, a strategic insight agency which asked 2,004 UK employees as well as 501 Gen Z UK employees.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
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