Watch Out, Because Gen Z Is Prepping to Take Over the Workforce

It seems like every major company, from the food industry to the tech industry, is catering to the elusive millennial generation.

But Gen Z, those aged 15 to 20, is a whole different kind of group -- one with the powerhouse combination of traditional values and digital prowess.

Gen Z will want careers of "purpose and pragmatism," according to a recent Monster (ticker: MWW) news release highlighting its survey of more than 2,000 people including the baby boomer, X, Y and Z generations.

About 58 percent of this emerging employee base -- versus 41 percent of today's workforce -- is willing to work nights and weekends if it means more money.

As Bloomberg notes, this isn't a complete shock. This younger demographic usually doesn't have the childcare worries that plague the other generations.

What's evident are Gen Z's lofty ambitions: 76 percent consider themselves "owners of their careers" and close to half of them are interested in owning a business, as opposed to 32 percent factoring in all working generations.

But do these ambitions translate to booming investing for Gen Z, and even millennials? Not necessarily, even though millennials will be keeping the market going. Ernst & Young's global sector leader for consumer products and retail, Kristina Rogers tells Business Insider, "Millennials are considered to be risk averse, so they tend to be savers rather than investors in the stock market, because they've seen their parents or whomever go through the 2000s." Stephanie Shields, vice president of product and marketing at Aflac Group Insurance, even wrote a post entitled: "Gen Z: Saving for the Future but Avoiding Investing."

Gen Z's values also suggest companies may not have to keep the extra perks -- like Ping-Pong -- flowing. Health insurance, a competitive salary and a boss they respect make up the generation's "must haves" in a first job, according to a news release.

This is atypical of current millennial rhetoric. Some millennials apparently can't even be bothered to clean up after eating a simple bowl of cereal.

"As I talk to many employers, the focus is still on millennials, with a lot of questions about perks like nap pods and free lunches," Seth Matheson, director of Talent Fusion by Monster, said in the release.

Monster highlights employer branding as the key to attracting candidates. This means establishing clear brand identity, i.e. through solid communication, definition of purpose and honing in on uniqueness. But what it means for investors is up for debate -- and will likely require night and weekend work to figure it out.

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David Oliver is Associate Editor, Social Media at U.S. News & World Report. Follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, or send him an email at doliver@usnews.com.