Work-life balance and flexible hours are just a few of the top 10 prioritized qualities of hourly employment for the Gen Z workforce.
That is according to Donna Hood Crecca, a principal with Chicago-based Technomic, CSP’s sister research arm, and Jason Read, director of store operations for Pennsylvania-based Wawa, at CSP’s Outlook Leadership conference, which kicked off Tuesday in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
- Wawa is No. 10 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
With the Gen Z presence in the labor force growing, they are also the most diverse generation in U.S. history, Crecca said. Gen Z are those born 1993-2007 and account for nearly one-fifth of the U.S. workforce, surpassing baby boomers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“They are a unique group of individuals that we’re looking to engage as consumers—but also as employees,” Crecca said.
In their presentation Gen Z: Engaging Your Current and Future Workforce, Crecca and Read unpacked characteristics to better understand the Gen Z mindset and what that they bring as an employee.
“They are very in tune with the concept of social responsibility, and they’re also raised in an era of somewhat social unrest,” Crecca said.
With that kind of mindset, Gen Z brings to employers very high expectations and very high standards around things like social responsibility and fair wages, she said.
In the presentation they described Gen Z as the “true” digital natives. “They are the first generation to be completely raised with the internet and digital connectivity at their fingertips,” said Crecca.
Despite being connected, she said there is a documented dichotomy with this generation, including high levels of anxiety, stress and depression.
Those in this generation, Crecca said might remember the economic downturn of 2008, parents getting laid off and the subsequent inflationary period. Because of these factors, she said, there is an upshot to all of this.
“They really do value work-life balance,” Crecca said. “Interestingly, with that, some of them don’t really subscribe to the 9-to-5 job, they go towards more of a gig economy or hustle economy.”
When it comes to personal finances, Gen Z is very pragmatic because they have grown up in tumultuous times in terms of the economy, she said.
The growth of Gen Z in the workforce continues to increase, Read told the audience.
“From 2018 to 2024, this population has gone from making up 5% of your workforce to nearly 20% and that number will continue to grow as the years go on,” Read said.
Looking for feedback from retailers in the audience, Read asked whether they are doing anything differently now versus a few years ago to capture, retain and train this particular generation.
One audience member said cell phones are now involved in everyday work and another said allowing more remote work for Gen Z employees.
Read tied this question back to what changes Wawa has done saying the retailer has completely revamped how they hire, especially from the Gen Z generation.
“We have gone from www.waw/careers to now a QR code on the hiring poster at the front door,” Read said. “By the time we’re done making your hoagie and you’re out the door, you can actually already have applied for a job.”
Crecca and Read both agreed that when it comes to Gen Z, it is important to meet them where they are as opposed to the other way around when it comes to hiring.
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