Gen Z, Millennial workers think these office faux pas are OK

From baby boomers millennials and workplace safety to Gen Zers, organizations could have up to four generations of workers. And for safety professionals, bridging the gaps between these groups (preferred communication methods and learning styles, for example) can be a challenge. Ultimately, telemedicine is the workplace safety technology that makes it easy for employers to assuage the fears of their millennial workforce. OrthoLive offers employers a cost-effective Telemedicine Injury Care subscription service that brings a clinical team directly to triage an on-site injury. This tool improves employee satisfaction while reducing employer costs. A recent article in Entrepreneur Magazine makes it clear that today’s modern workforce no longer wants training, and would rather learn through experience.

Establishing a Strong Safety Culture: Challenges and Solutions

Boomers’ biological clock to have children, except for the use of advanced technologies, has ended. Until recently, the U.S. was the only country among 41 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) without federal paid leave for new parents. Workplace risk assessments for expecting parents, common among OECD countries, are practically non-existent in the US. Among OECD countries, the U.S. ranks near the bottom in categories that include preterm births, low birthweight, birth defects, infant mortality, and maternal mortality. While she has no doubts about the benefits of psychological safety, Black has a great deal of sympathy for leaders who are working to align many different teams and implement sweeping cultural initiatives.

• Both physical health and mental wellbeing are integral to workplace safety and should be prioritised by employers.
• Of the 1,000 small- to mid-sized U.S. business owners surveyed, almost one-third of business owners rely on technologies like telematics, drones, wearables and building sensors to support workplace safety.
• This offer is not valid for sales orders signed after December 31, 2024, and may not be combined with any other BCN Services offers.
• They may not hesitate to leave unapologetically when they find a job to be mundane or void of purpose.
• As Michael Stone explained in lengthy profile published in Forbes on May 18, 2021, these youngest workers are members of the most stressed out generation and are looking for stability and trust in an unstable world.
• As attention spans rapidly shorten, an uninterrupted slideshow turns viewers into a roomful of zombies within five minutes.
• Effective communication is especially important because communication directly impacts how people learn, collaborate, and respond to performance management.

Mental Health Support

If you are looking to further your career in occupational safety and health, understanding the millennial perspective is vital. Knowing what these employees expect from their employers can ensure that your efforts to support safer workplaces are effective. This drive to promote workplace safety is also reflected in the way that millennials approach their careers. Many millennials are looking for careers that align with their values and that allow them to make a positive impact on the world. They are choosing careers in fields such as health and safety, where they can work to improve the lives of others and to help make the world a safer place. Promoting worker safety by using social media, videos, or other digital tools will help millennial job candidates know your workplace is safe.

Adaptable work schedules, including hybrid and remote models, are essential for these generations to balance personal and professional lives seamlessly. Columbia Southern University utilizes various forms of automated technology communication with students. For quality purposes, CSU may monitor and/or record these communications. By submitting this request, students and/or their representatives are consenting to monitoring and/or recording of such communications to include, but not limited to, phone, email, and text messaging. You give Columbia Southern University consent to call, text and email you at the information above, including your wireless number if provided, regarding educational services. You may still choose to enroll in the university if you do not provide consent.

• It’s different for millennials, who have grown up with exposure to the violence occurring all around us.
• Clearly, an employee who has the ability to identify problems and research solutions without fearing retaliation will be more likely than not to do those things.
• Of course, this is not necessarily reflective of the actual levels of stress and burnout, simply that younger people are more likely to report it.
• Lifelong learning should be encouraged across all age groups to ensure that employees stay abreast of industry developments and best safety practices.
• “Millennials are all about experiences over possessions, and that’s not changing in 2025,” Grzegorz Kowalski, the CEO and founder of TripOffice.com, told Newsweek.
• These challenges have motivated Gen Zers to become activists who look for organizations worthy of their trust and where they can take a strong stance on the issues that matter to them.

Trump Must Work to Craft a New National Identity On Day One Opinion

Today millennials represent more than 35% of the working adult population, but by 2025 they will increase to 75%. Much has been written about the millennial’s need for speed and their impatience with long-winded or ineffective processes. Millennials are so impatient they famously have a reputation for waiting only 12 to 18-months for a job promotion before moving on to something else. Within this context, it’s easy to see how this population could grow frustrated by a traditionally long and drawn-out response to a workplace injury. As technology advances, we’ll also witness changes in the methods to conduct and implement safety training and its expectations. For instance, drastic changes in technology are already here but will continue to shape how companies conduct their training for years to come.

Jumpstart Your Learning

Boomer pros advanced through their career with devotion and memorization to OSHA 29 CFR sections and equivalent regs. To many OHS boomers, if a hazard is not specifically governed by OSHA, its workplace health and safety significance is diminished or ignored. This logic gets infused and is hard to remove due to OHS boomers’ influence on their younger counterparts. It hinders movement toward a holistic approach to workplace health and safety — including new concepts such as social responsibility and climate protection. Their preemployment experiences also differed significantly from those for millennials and Gen Zers. Baby boomers are much more likely to have gone to war, worked for a family business and tinkered on cars.

Engaging Millennial and Gen Z Employees in Workplace Safety

Being tech-savvy is their defining characteristics and their propensity for instant gratification makes them fast learners who can multi-task work using multiple forms of technology. This offer cannot be combined with any other promotions and is only available to new BCN Services, Inc. customers in the Continental United States. This specific promotion applies to all administrative fees serviced and invoiced during a calendar year. This promotion does not include additional non-payroll services (excludes pass-through costs, courier, and other delivery fees, including fees for off-cycle, hardware, or penalty/interest). Fast-forward 87 years and another fire in Bronx, New York, claimed 87 lives, this time at Happy Land Social Club. And then, 27 years after that, the world was treated to a weeks-long news cycle when a high-rise fire at Grenfell Tower in London claimed as many as 79 lives.

There were differences between me and my father, and me and my children. Businesses should look for domiciles that balance a need for quality regulations with a process that isn’t overly bureaucratic and is seamless for business owners to navigate. Hard markets in commercial insurance lines have been a problem for years now. Many lines don’t show signs of softening, though some, like cyber, have ebbed over the past few years. Employer health insurance premiums rise 7% to $25,572 for families in 2024, while coverage of new weight-loss drugs remains limited, KFF survey finds.

As AI reshapes industries and automates tasks, workers can future-proof their careers by embracing adaptability and focusing on uniquely human skills. Veiga offers seven tips to help employees remain competitive in an AI-driven workforce. Danny Veiga, founder and chief AI strategist at Chadix believes these finding are a wake-up call for all professions and generations. And he cautions that, while the risks are real, so are the opportunities for those who embrace strategic upskilling and adaptability. “These findings shouldn’t be interpreted as a death knell for Millennial careers,” Veiga emphasizes. “Rather, they highlight the urgent need for targeted upskilling and strategic career pivoting within this demographic. The key is to embrace AI as a tool for enhancement rather than viewing it solely as a threat.”

Asking a millennial or Gen Zer to perform a seemingly risky task without proper training and equipment can erode trust and make them consider new employment options. Clearly, an employee who has the ability to identify problems and research solutions without fearing retaliation will be more likely than not to do those things. Going a step further, workers who take active roles in improving workplace safety will see the meaning in their work and communicate that meaning to others. Experience on the job makes a difference when it comes to working safely. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show injury rates for short-tenure workers are about 50 percent higher than the rates for workers with more time on the job. But Gen Z employees will, almost by definition, be in their first jobs.