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> when the company asked a diverse group of consultants — including sociologists who study “Generation Z” and how junior high students socialize and learn — to
by hpoe 5y ago
> when the company asked a diverse group of consultants — including sociologists who study “Generation Z” and how junior high students socialize and learn — to imagine what future workers would want.
Danger Will Robinson Danger!
Why would anyone try and make decisions based on the preference of jr. High students. Making decisions based on youth in the most unstable period of their life when they are incredibly hormonal and still not all that logical seems like a recipe for disaster.
I don't know about you but my jr. High self was an idiot and nothing he said or did was a good idea.
Or is the idea that we don't want to have the next gen adapt to a new way of socializing and interacting in a professional workplace? That too seems like a bad move.
- Laremere 5y agoIt's not that they only consulted them, it's that they included them. That seems entirely reasonable - these people are going to be entering the workforce. Google wants to be attractive to them, or at the very least prevent being actively unattractive. Additionally, gen Z is growing up with technology in a way that surpasses even millennials. They may have deep expectations about how technology should work in ways that older people don't.
- Sebb767 5y agoSure, but the grandparent alludes to the fact that what they think of as great now can easily change by the time they enter the workforce - and, given that we're talking about engineering jobs that usually require a degree, it will take some time. Additionally, these people don't have much work experience. A lot of ideas - such as open offices, work from home or skipping documentation - feel fine until you've worked with them and found their drawbacks. It might work for some, but it does not for a lot of others.
- high_derivative 5y agoWhy anyone would ask sociologists about how tech work should be done is absolutely beyond me.
- nr2x 5y agoThink of it as a specialized systems engineering process, but with people. Sociologists are good at that.
- vagrantJin 5y agoI agree. I think as a society, we need to stop fetishizing youth. Not contempt - but tone it down a bit. Kids today have wanton access to internet and technology but aren't any smarter or better at making decisions. One might make an argument that they may be worse. Certainly more prone to group think than generations previous which is good and terrible at the same time.
- phreeza 5y ago> Kids today have wanton access to internet and technology but aren't any smarter or better at making decisions. Citation needed, I guess? Teen pregnancies are way down, for example.
- crocodiletears 5y agoThat could have as much to do with the contemporary social environment as it does with actual decisionmaking. Sex among youth is down overall - even pre-pandemic, iirc.
- nomdep 5y agoYou don’t need to be extra smart to use a condom, just not being extra dumb. That’s a very low bar isn’t it?
- novok 5y agoIn 7 years their L3 engineers are going to be those jr. high gen Z kids, and in real estate, your office furniture and space plans need to last at least 10-20 years.