Randstad, one of the world’s largest staffing providers, and Future Workplace, an HR executive network and research firm, released the “Gen Z & Millennials Collide @ Work” report, which focuses on the impact of Gen Z entering the workplace for the first time and how millennials are engaging with them. Consistent with a similar study in 2014, Gen Z and millennials continue to prefer communicating with co-workers and managers in person in lieu of email and phone, with 41% of Gen Z reporting corporate offices are their workplace preference.

In this year’s global survey, both Gen Z and millennials said communication was the most important quality of a leader, compared to honesty in 2014.

“One of the most pervasive themes from this year’s global study is Gen Z’s propensity and desire for collaboration,” said Jim Link, chief human resources officer at Randstad North America. “Whether it is in a corporate office, at home or in a coffee shop, Gen Z workers prefer collaborative work environments. In fact, our study found that global Gen Z workers named ‘co-workers who like to collaborate’ as the type of worker who would help them do their best work, second only to co-workers who work as hard as they do. Furthermore, more than half (54%) of Gen Z’s said the people they work with is the top workplace attribute that enables them to do their best work. Companies seeking to be an employer of choice must leverage the collaborative revolution taking place and provide the technology, tools and processes that facilitate and encourage it.”

Additional results from the survey include:

• Younger generations want more social media integration at work, but admit it is also their biggest distraction. Globally, the technologies that Gen Z and millennials want their employers to incorporate into the workplace include: social media (41%), wearables (27%) and virtual reality (26%). While they want to embrace social media, 46% of both generations also agree it is their biggest distraction from getting work done, followed closely by text messaging at 39% and email at 31%.
• They want to work in the technology sector. Both Gen Z and Millennials are most interested in working in technology (45%) and education (17%). Both groups are least interested in insurance (3%), energy and utilities (3%) and telecommunications (4%). Almost half of Gen Z and millennials, 49%, said they intend to work in their current industry for their entire career, compared to 31% who said they won’t.
• Globally, work flexibility is now more desirable than healthcare coverage. In 2016, work flexibility has become a more desired employee benefit than healthcare for millennials and Gen Z, yet only 34% of companies offer it. This compares with 2014, when healthcare coverage was the most desired employee benefit by both generations, yet only 50% of companies offered it.
• While most have only worked in one country, they desire to work in many. The survey found 71% of global Gen Z and millennials have only worked in one country thus far in their careers, yet 56% aspire to work in more than one country in the future. Those wanting to work in more than one country are more likely to say their companies are performing well financially or have better employee satisfaction scores.
• The annual performance review is vanishing. The annual performance review is coming to an end as more Gen Z and millennials are receiving feedback either daily (19%), weekly (24%) or “regularly” (23%), instead of annually (3%). In the US specifically, 28% of Gen Z and 17 percent of Millennials receive feedback regularly.
• Millennial managers struggle to navigate the corporate environment. In addition to stress and money, millennials named “corporate politics” as one of the biggest obstacles that could get in the way of work performance. Additionally, only 27% said they are extremely well-prepared to work in a team environment or rate their personal skills as “very good.”

“Despite the introduction and proliferation of new technologies at work, millennials and Gen Z value the in-person communication that comes with a traditional corporate office much like older generations do,” said Dan Schawbel, research director at Future Workplace. “At the same time, they also seek flexible hours and telecommuting that two-thirds of companies still fail to offer. Companies that want to successfully recruit, retain and grow their young talent must look to corporate culture as their competitive advantage moving forward.”

The survey was fielded in the US, UK, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Argentina, India, China, Canada and South Africa between June 22 and July 11, 2016. For this survey, 4,066 respondents were asked about their preparation for work, as well as expectations and experiences of their workplaces. The study targeted two separate groups: Gen Z: 22-year-olds in full-time employment (1,965 surveys); and millennial: 23- to 34-year olds in full-time employment (2,101 surveys), in order to compare expectations with the reality of workplace experiences.