To attract Gen Z, we need a new approach to work
The Italian business world is facing a complex transition: companies are struggling to retain young talent, and generational turnover appears to have stalled. As highlighted in a recent article in Il Post titled“Companies Are Struggling with Generation Z,” businesses are facing challenges because today’s twenty-somethings exhibit a more detached approach to work and a constant search for work-life balance, rejecting purely authoritarian leadership models. However, mistaking this search for balance for disinterest would be a strategic mistake. Data from the recent Randstad study “Generation Z’s Work Model” actually paint a picture of a generation that is extremely clear-headed and focused on its own ambitions:
- Long-term perspective: 85% of Gen Z members often or always consider their long-term career goals when evaluating a new role.
- Extreme turnover: given uncertain career prospects, the average tenure at a company during the first five years of a career is just 1.1 years.
- Cutting-edge technology: Gen Z is driving the adoption of artificial intelligence, with 55% of young professionals already using it to solve operational problems in the workplace.
The real problem stems from the shrinking job market: with a 29% drop in entry-level positions since January 2024, young people feel stuck in a market that demands innovation but struggles to make room for them.
An opportunity for transformation for SMEs
At Upskill 4.0, we do not see a “generational crisis,” but rather a major opportunity for transformation for Italian SMEs. Retaining and attracting digital natives requires not only new contract formats, but also the adoption of an organizational mindset based on fairness, flexibility, and the intelligent use of new technologies. While Generation Z is the ideal vehicle for bringing Artificial Intelligence into traditional supply chains, companies must equip themselves with tools and methodologies capable of embracing innovative proposals that can accelerate corporate competitiveness and allow talent to thrive in an environment that prioritizes listening, experimentation, and opportunities for growth.
Our proposal: making companies attractive by focusing on technological innovation
To turn this vision into concrete action, we have developed an ecosystem of initiatives for individual companies and local foundations in which Gen Z’s enthusiasm for new technologies serves as a practical tool for optimizing business processes and solving corporate challenges. All of this is centered around a methodology that focuses on developing design skills through Design Thinking and technological skills through targeted training in artificial intelligence and vibe-coding.
In the AI for Business program, for example, we put teams of professionals under 35 from five companies in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza—Evotec, Logistica Uno, Corà, Metalba Aluminium, and Zordan—at the forefront of our project solutions. These young professionals learned to use generative artificial intelligence tools while working on real-world business use cases to improve logistics, sales, and decision-making processes.
With Ri-generazioni AI, on the other hand, we focused on empowering young people by combining the potential of Artificial Intelligence with design projects that have a significant social and local impact, with the goal of enabling them to apply the skills and methodologies they acquired in future work settings. Through a hands-on workshop on “vibe coding” and prompt engineering, participants used AI as a tool to create platforms, digital maps, and conversational chatbots.
Creating a corporate culture centered on technological experimentation is not something that happens overnight; building an organization that is open to innovation, prioritizes training, and equips employees with the tools to propose and drive innovation transforms AI into a strategic asset for attracting talent and strengthening the region’s competitiveness.
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Ready to transform your organization and attract tomorrow’s leaders?
Email us at info@upskill40.it to design your next hands-on training program and experiment with artificial intelligence.
