Using the responses from an array of qualitative research conducted over time, Twenge has tracked the changes in attitudes and behaviours of the newest generational cohort to hit the workforce. iGen, Centennials, or Gen Z as they are variously known, are defined by Twenge as being born between 1995 and 2012.
Most importantly, they are the post-internet generation – the first cohort to have been born into the internet age, and the first generation not to have known life before the smartphone and tablet. The pervasive nature of these technologies has huge ramifications for how iGen makes sense of and interacts with the wider world, with significant implications for both employers and marketers looking to engage and work with this demographic.
So just when we thought we were getting our heads around the Millennial generation, iGen is set to perplex still further. If only one thing is clear, it’s that talent management as we’ve known it in the past must adapt to meet the diverse and often opposing demands of a truly multigenerational workforce.