Why won't gen z join the army?

Are gen z values a career consideration?

Hello!

Thank you for joining me, I’m so glad you’re here.

OK, I’ve given in and started watching Severance. I wasn’t drawn to it initially because I don’t like stuff that messes with your mind (I cannot read Murakami for this reason). But it was Bruce Daisley’s newsletter that finally got me to check it out. And it is very good, with a little weirdness but not (so far, 3 eps in) overly so.

DANGER: has your job become your identity?

I very much like workplace tv shows. I loved The Bold Type, and Partner Track, though both of these are women-centric and not on the same level as Severance. If you have any workplace tv show recommendations for me, please throw them my way!

I attended a secondary school careers fair recently. These events aren’t the kind of yesteryear; companies go all out with their stands, trying to coax students their way. Just as I was arranging my delightful bowl of “fuzzy googly-eyed monsters with hard hats on”, the local football club opposite us started to inflate a MASSIVE goal. On top of the noise from the busy hall with all the students, AND the stage with a sound system on which the sixth formers were serenading us, the noise from the blower keeping the goal inflated and the size of the goal itself made the sporty attendees suddenly the most disliked people in the room.

As they swiftly deflated the goal, I reminisced to my colleague about a careers fair I went to years ago, where the army had attended. Their efforts to get students to approach them involved a table full of empty (? I hope so!) guns of varying sizes. No other company in the hall had a chance while kids were able to pick up and hold actual guns.

I wondered if the army actually needed to try so hard. There are always a number of people in each year group who naturally gravitate towards working there, including the annoying reasoning of “I don’t have to try at my GCSEs, I’ll just join the army”.

It seems as though the army in the UK is facing a recruitment crisis (The i paper). Only 11% of gen z would fight for their country (though we have to consider that it’s different to want to fight for your country in times of war, and wanting a career in the army). This is despite both the army and the navy having had increased applications in recent years, following dips (gov):

(The gap is due to a change in recruitment system).

I think we can feel the step up in recruitment efforts - I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen a certain navy recruitment advert quite a lot over the last few weeks. It starts with a lady being shown around an office, made out to be super boring, contrasted with what life may be like in The Navy.

It’s an advert that gets my goat, because whenever there are options on the table (see also: uni vs apprenticeships) I dislike it when one side punches down to the other in an effort to make themselves look to be the better choice. Informed decisions are important, and showing office jobs to be more boring than they probably are, and The Navy to be more exciting than it probably is, isn’t helpful.

I wondered if the armed forces are having to go in hard with recruitment due to gen z being (apparently) more values-driven. I feel like so many articles, books and “thought leaders” are trying to drive home the message to organisations that they have to be perfectly diverse, with a steller sustainability record and employee-centred work cultures otherwise they can wave goodbye to gen z employees. When describing gen z, KcKinsey refers to them as “inclusive consumers…socially progressive dreamers”.

This is where we fall into the danger zone of generalisation, because while there may be gen z consumers doing things like driving up the sales of non-alcoholic drinks (Forbes) it’s often reported that gen z men are more conservative than other generations before them (Tortoise Media). Perhaps they do want their women back in the kitchen, but making them a vegan sandwich with a nice zero-alcohol beer to wash it down with.

It’s interesting to see how the values of gen z are playing out in their career choices.

Personal values and careers isn’t something much discussed, I feel, but it’s super important. I myself have had times in my career where I’ve been in interview with places like Philip Morris (American Tobacco), and last year when I was looking for work, I was approached by Babcock (arms makers). Each time, I had to consider where my ethics fit with working there; companies like this often overcompensate from being in an unpleasant industry with excellent company culture, with great pay and benefits. Despite what I may feel about climate change, if I were offered a role at Shell, I’d have a hard time saying no, due to what I’ve read and heard (on podcasts) about their great culture. (This HBR podcast is something I listened to back in 2022 but it left such an impression on me that I think about it to this day. It discusses “stay interviews” as a way of retaining talent, and the speaker from Shell made me really want to work there.)

A friend of mine switched jobs a few years ago to a company I really dislike. Though a household brand, the CEO is controversial, backed Brexit and then sucked up (…) all his vacancies and replaced them in Asia. Ew.

When my friend started working there, I asked her how on earth she could stomach working for such a doofus. She replied that while there were downsides involved (as there are with any company, of course), the experience working at a company like that was invaluable. Sure enough, she’s now moved to a much nicer company, using that great experience she gained.

So perhaps when I spot, for example, young people focusing on apprenticeships in the defence industry (Reddit) it’s not the case that someone turned up to their careers fair, gave them a bit too much sugar and coaxed them into applying without explaining exactly what they do. Perhaps it’s just as simple as them offering really very good apprenticeships, and gen z want that experience.

I would love to hear from careers ed friends about what conversations look like with students and values when looking at careers. Would be great to understand where they place values (of any kind) when looking for roles.

Links

My content

I spoke with the great Chris Webb in his newsletter The Week in Careers. He quizzed me about Applicant Tracking Systems, and I explained why there’s no need to create “ATS-beating CVs”.

I wrote on LinkedIn about how US TikTok creators are making our students concerned about achieving £100k salaries.

I also wrote on LinkedIn about the “Tea Alarm” trend and how it could be used in employer content. The post tanked…perhaps because I linked to TikTok content in the comments.

LinkedIn

HelloFresh made some redundancies, and created a job fair for impacted employees. Really great idea.

Rolling on from my last newsletter where I discussed the need for reserve lists for early careers programmes, Steve Keith notes that 34% of gen z have not shown up on their first day of an accepted job.

Reddit

The downside of giving employees autonomy over corporate social media…Waitrose is a great example of social media being used well, with their shops having their own accounts. But when an employee used the account to post unpleasant content, it shows how these things need proper guardrails.

Found this really helpful post about how to prepare for interviews. Great content for students going into their first interviews!

TikTok

First up is this deadpan video from Royal Mail giving a tour of their offices. The video has good engagement but I think perhaps the joke is going over my head.

@royalmail#bts #deadpan #comedy #apprentice #officetour #sales #nationalcareersweek #career

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How can science take you to Thailand? This great video from a woman doing research into toxic food is both fascinating, and explores a role I hadn’t even considered before!

@thedollydiary8Russian roulette with parasites 🫣🪱 This liver fluke (O. viverrini) is often found in freshwater fish and the eggs are microscopic so you wouldn’t know just by looking. If people eat infected fish, the parasites settle in the bile ducts, where they cause chronic inflammation. Over time, this can lead to fibrosis of the liver and bile duct and eventually, a deadly form of liver cancer called cholangiocarcinoma. Thailand, especially the Isan region, has one of the highest rates of this cancer in the world, with many cases linked to a lifetime of consuming raw fish dishes like this. In some communities up to 80% of people are infected but the cancer had rarely developed before people reached 50. Once it does, though, there is little hope for patients. Despite efforts to raise awareness, some older generations often continue eating Koi Pla as part of their cultural tradition, but the attitude of young people is changing. This is thanks to researchers at Khon Kaen University who are studying ways to prevent and detect liver fluke infections early to reduce this public health crisis. They have implemented campaigns for years and have successfully lowered the infection rates, and il be talking in more detail about this in one of my following videos!! Big thank you to the community for welcoming us to the village and taking time out their day to share this with us, best experience ever!! 😊 #thailand #isan #koipla #liverfluke #tropicalmedicine #stem #thedollydiary #travelvlog #insectdiet #iwd

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Lastly, I’ve been seeing more videos where employees are recording meetings lately. There’s a creator called Rosemary who filmed a meeting on her second day where she was made redundant. And then we have a British woman who filmed telling her manager that she’s quitting. Is it the case that this is becoming more common, or is it that my algorithm is showing me this content more? Not sure.

Have a great week ahead!

Until next time,

Charlotte