Millennials Value Flexibility in a Job; Gen Z Values Money
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Employee retention may be a costlier proposition for employers in the next few years as the next generation of Filipino workers demand greater monetary benefits.
Job marketplace site JobStreet.com revealed in a forum on Wednesday, October 11, that Gen Z Filipinos, or those born after 1995, are demanding more allowances or a greater salary package than their predecessors.
“You have to consider that (members of) this generation are starters. They wouldn’t be thinking of retirement plans, not even vacation leaves, but they would demand upfront for a large salary,” JobStreet Philippines Country Manager Philip Gioco said at the sidelines of the two-day People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) annual conference held at the Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom in Pasay City.
The findings were based on the results of JobStreet’s Compensation and Benefit Survey, which was conducted over the past year with “more than a thousand participants.” Respondents were asked to choose their top 10 preferred company benefits out of the 32 named options clustered into four categories: leaves, health, work-life balance and monetary.
Under leaves are 10 options, from paternity leave to religious leave, while the health category has four options, ranging from insurance to a smoke cessation program. Under work-life balance are benefits seeking more time outside of workplace, thus flexible work time and work from home options are included. The monetary category, as expected, has the most items, which includes personal loan and food allowance.
The findings showed a Filipino employee population seeking more compensation and more time away from the workplace.
Gen Z Filipino workers, in particular, chose five items under the monetary category, making them the group that tallied the highest number of options from said category. This new generation of employees is demanding different kinds of loans and allowances—from transportation allowances to personal loans.
The preference is different from what millennials, or those born from 1980 to 1994, and Gen X, or those born from 1961 to 1979, have prioritized when they took over the job market: more time outside the office. Millennials demanded five more leave benefits--from birthday leave to marriage leave--on top of flexible work hours while Gen X-ers asked for four more leave benefits.
While two generations apart, Gen Z workers are finding a common thread with Baby Boomers or those born from 1945 to 1959 as employees at this age are similarly seeking more compensation, albeit in different forms. This generation isn’t seeking allowances as much as loans and stock options, or financial assistance that will help them retire.
Gioco said the same respondents revealed that if such benefits are provided by the companies they belong to, they would be willing “to spend the rest of their career in the same firm.”
Still, he reminded companies that the four generations of employees have different career priorities.
While Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers are focused on staying in one company for the rest of their careers, Millennials and Gen Z Filipinos are becoming more inclined to diverse workplaces and opportunities abroad.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
