Unemployment, cost of living give Mzansi’s Gen Zs and millennials a headache, survey finds

South Africa’s Gen Zs and millennials are more concerned about unemployment and the cost of living, a survey by Deloitte has revealed.

Gene Zs refers to the generation born from 1997 to 2012, while millennials who are sometimes referred to as Generation Y, were born between 1981 and 1996. 

It is these aforementioned groups of South Africans that were interviewed as part of Deloitte Global’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey. The survey is in its 13^th year.

The survey spoke with 22 800 respondents across 44 countries, including South Africa to explore their attitudes about work and the world around them.

A total of 300 South African Gen Zs were interviewed while only 201 millennials participated in the survey. Despite the smidgen number of surveyed South Africans, the concerns of these few are reflected when one looks at most of the manifestos of political parties campaigning for votes in this year’s elections.

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The numbers

A total of 47% Gen Z correspondence from South Africa reveal that their top concerns are unemployment, while 37% are concerned about the cost of living.

Roughly six in 10 Gen Zs (56%) and millennials (55%) live payday-to-payday − up five points for Gen Zs and three points for millennials since last year. And around three in 10 say they do not feel financially secure. This number would most likely increase if they interviewed another 500 South Africans.

Having a sense of purpose is key to workplace satisfaction and well-being for these age groups.

About 44% of Gen Zs have turned down an employer based on their personal ethics or beliefs. While 86% of them say having a sense of purpose is very or somewhat important to their overall job satisfaction and well-being.

Mental well-being is more important to these generations, compared to the much older citizens. Consistent with last year’s findings, work/life balance is the top consideration when Gen Zs and millennials are choosing an employer.

Only about half of Gen Zs (51%) and millennials (56%) rate their mental health as good or extremely good.

While stress levels have improved slightly since last year, they remain high, with 40% of Gen Zs and 35% of millennials saying they feel stressed all or most of the time.

While the sense of activism is palpable in their belief, as six in 10 Gen Zs (61%) and millennials (58%) believe they have the power to drive change within their organisations.

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