When it comes to retaining Generation Z, experts and Gen Zers alike say a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is nonnegotiable.Youssef Hasweh, 20, has had experiences in the workplace where he hasn’t felt supported as a person of color.
“We’re not afraid to tell a brand when they’re doing it wrong. We point out ways where they’re being tone deaf or something just needs to be cleaned up,” Hasweh said., so it should come as no surprise the generation wants employers to have policies that reflect and support that, said Rachel Lipson, co-founder and director of the Project on Workforce at Harvard University’s Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy.
“The entry of Gen Z into workplaces is forcing employers to reckon more directly with the inequities that they’ve had in their own labor forces and how to truly create more inclusive cultures, where people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds feel welcome and have the ability to equitably advance and thrive,” Lipson said.