Last week we started a new blog series looking at the importance and value of people in construction. Hopefully, this set the stage and made the case that people are still one of the most important assets on the construction jobsite. Today, let’s better understand who the worker of tomorrow is. This is a topic we explored in our recent report Who Is the Worker of Tomorrow. Also, this is a topic Peggy Smedley is exploring over on her new Substack account.
For this blog, let’s start with the basics.
Baby Boomers are known for their work ethic and loyalty to companies—but this generation is currently exiting the workforce faster than we can prepare and they are taking their knowledge and know-how with them. So, who do we rely on next? Gen X, Gen Y (Millennials), and Gen Z.
Believe it or not, some Gen Xers are also nearing retirement, having been born between the 1960s and 1980s. Often considered the forgotten generation, Generation X is a smaller generation sandwiched in between two large ones. Having grown up as latch-key kids, this generation is often independent and resourceful. They grew up with personal computers, but not quite smartphones.
Millennials were born in the 1980s and 1990s. Let’s be clear. This generation is no longer the young, tech-savvy generation it once was. This generation is coming up on middle age and this generation is raising babies and many people in this generation are working multiple jobs. They were the generation that was told to go to college by their parents and came out of college following the economic crisis of 2008. They graduated with a load of college debt, and they are all competing for the same white-collar jobs.
Gen Z are the digital natives of today. They are experiencing an almost exclusively digital hiring experience. Many of them don’t know anything different from remote work—and many of them have come to expect it.
Now that we know a bit of the basics of who is in the workforce, the next step is to truly understand what is on the minds of today’s workers.
- What do they want and need from a career?
- What are the top reasons they stay in their current position?
- What are their thoughts on AI (artificial intelligence)?
- Do they have a mentor at work?
- Are they planning to stay in their career or are they planning to leave?
These are the key questions employers need to consider. These are the factors that will ultimately shape the success of each company in the future. After first understanding the value of people on the jobsite, this is the next step—understanding the workers themselves and what they want and need from a career.
To learn more about who the worker of tomorrow is and perhaps more importantly what they want and need from a career in the construction industry, follow along over on Peggy’s new Substack account or explore our in-depth report Who Is the Worker of Tomorrow.
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