How Gen Z dey change di definition of ‘prestigious’ jobs

Younger workers fit don begin change wetin e mean to work for elite job – and even reduce di importance entirely.

Even before Molly Johnson-Jones graduate from Oxford University for 2015, she feel professional pressure to get big job for high-power industry.

She say she and her university friends feel say many sectors dey wey get prestige alias class – particularly for di field of finance, consulting, medicine and law.

Dat na why Johnson-Jones end up for investment banking for two years once she graduate, even though e no feel say na di right position.

Dis kind of “very traditional industries” really get prestige, according to Jonah Stillman, wey be co-founder of GenGuru, one consulting firm wey focus on different generations for di workplace.

Stillman, wey be Gen Zer, say dis sentiment dey present for higher-education settings, but e add say many pipo across generations don bin feel di pressure before university to pursue dis paths, including from family members or high-school counsellors.

“We don grow up with dis expectation,” according to Andrew Roth, wey be 24 years old, and wey graduate from Tennessee, US-based Vanderbilt University for 2021.

“Wen I get to Vanderbilt, I quickly dey drawn into di ‘all roads lead to finance and consulting path’. "

"E just feel very easy to go dat way … everyone dey go dat way.” Roth tok.

E personlize di pressure to pursue dis path from di atmosphere of im competitive university, im fellow mates and alumni wey dey for powerful positions for dis industries.

As Gen Z join di workforce, however, experts and younger workers say wetin dem consider as high-status job fit don dey wide – and even don become less relevant overall.

Some younger workers still dey tok say to make money important, especially as cost of living don climb go up; and working for certain firms or for specific industries fit make a career.

But many dey also highlight oda elements, like corporate values, flexibility, autonomy and freedom from di long-hours and plenti work.

2020 graduate Danielle Farage, wey be 24 years old, say she also feel say di definition of prestige job dey narrow while she bin dey University of Southern California, and tok about pressure to get elite job, especially from her fellow mate.

“Dis dey dia well-well, and e dey so serious because everyone dey post about dia jobs,” di Gen Zer, wey dey based in Brooklyn, New York tok.

Plenti of Gen Zers – especially those wey attend elite universities – still dey go for high-profile industries.

Farage agree say many new graduates still “want to go di straight-and narrow path”

She know several of her mates wey still dey “very much into di prestige, because everyone around you dey like, oh, I need to get big-five consulting job … I wan to go do intern for dis big bank next summer”.

But Farage don also see many Gen Zers re-define prestige job as one wey dey improve dia own life.

Dis fit include one position wey fit make di worker to live di lifestyle wey dem want – weda say e be entrepreneur, dey work for one industry wey dey in line with dia values and passion or getting job wey go fit make dem build dia personal brand on di side.

Farage na example; while e hold full-time job as a director of growth and marketing for one start-up, she also dey focus on building side business as a work futurist, focusing on di experience of Gen Z.

To dey able to “gain skills for area of business and build … your passion – to me, dat na prestige”, she tok.

Roth, too, find imsef say e dey far away from im expected path of finance and consulting, particularly wen Covid-19 hit during one semester wey e dey study for abroad.

Throughout di pandemic, e tok say, e become “very clear to me say a lot of organizations dey get hard time to listen and understand di needs of young pipo”.

Afta graduation, e change im plans to entrepreneurship and start dcdx, dat na one Gen Z research and strategy firm.

“E dey like say our association with prestige don change,” New York-based Roth tok.

“Prestige get e association with … afta di traditional ways. And I think a whole rejection around dat dey, especially for dis kind of progressive generation.”

Some data show say Gen Z dey truly shift towards more meaningful work.

April 2023 data from LinkedIn of more than 7,000 global workers, wey BBC Worklife review, show say 64% of Gen Zers for di UK, France, Germany and Ireland now consider am important to work for companies wey dey in line with dia values.

Di data also show dis young workers highlight work-life balance and career growth as top draws for potential workplaces.

Along with di way Gen Z attitudes dey shift, plus di embrace of entrepreneurship and emphasis on values, dis mindset shift fit dey in part because mechanisms behind finding jobs and seeing potential alternative career paths dey change, according to Josh Graff, managing director of EMEA and LATAM at LinkedIn.

With greater number of jobs wey dem dey post online, “pipo get so much more access to information today than we do wen we dey apply for a job 20-plus years ago … dis allow you to get much beta visibility into a wealth of roles”, e tok.

“Dat shift for di workplace, in di workforce … dey lead pipo to understand say plenti of broader options dey out there.”

Johnson-Jones, wey now be 30 years, say di changing definition of prestigious work don also get to older generations, including millennials, like hersef.

She move out of investment banking “for her health”, and finally start her own company: Flexa Careers, na global directory of flexible-work companies.

She believe say older workers dey express sentiments wey dey similar to Gen Z, also get view with wetin define elite job; dem dey similarly dey re-define di term as careers wey dey enable beta lifestyles.

But di difference, according to Johnson-Jones, na say many millennials dey re-imagine dis definition out of necessity, often afta dem don dey affected by di very competitive, long-hours industries wey dem feel say dem gatz enta wen dem finish university.

“We no need to dey work 60 hours a week for office just for a title or decent pay,” she tok. “Because how many pipo get time to spend di money, anyway?”

For im part, Roth believe say many of im friends wey go di traditional prestige route dey also re-think dia choice.

“I think a lot of dem dey actually look me with a little bit of envy and saying, ‘hey, I wish I bin don do something similar to wetin you do’. Pipo dey come around to dat mindset.”