Gen Zers are expected to comprise nearly 25% of the workforce by 2020, U.S. Department of Labor data shows. Gen Z, or those born from 1994 to 2010, number 72.8 million, according to David Stillman, a generational expert, researcher and author. His comments are featured in a Q&A from Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Stillman and his Gen Z son, Jonah, shared their thoughts on what the newest generation of workers means for companies. David Stillman says that companies “have a golden opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive,” as Gen Z’s oldest members start their careers.

“If leaders get to know what makes Gen Z tick today, then they can better prepare to recruit and retain them,” Stillman says. “It’s not about ‘out with the old and in with the new;’ it’s about anticipating where the conflicts might be and how best to prepare.”

Stillman notes that business leaders in the 1990s were ill-prepared for Gen X and misfired badly by sticking to the once-a-year formal review that worked well for the Boomer generation. “Many Xers left their workplaces in search of companies that would give them more information more often,” he says. 

One big difference employers should be aware of is that while Millennials wanted work that meant more than a paycheck and were interested in making society better, Gen Z grew up amid the Recession of 2007-08.

Gen Z is “putting money and job security at the top of the list,” Stillman says. “Sure, they want to make a difference, but surviving and thriving are more important. The cultures that can foster that are the ones that will win the war for talent with Gen Z.”

Stillman’s son, Jonah, 17, agrees that his generation’s “survival mode” mentality means “we are focused on creating security at a younger age.”

“Usually companies think about reaching out to college students or they offer internships,” Jonah Stillman notes. “But innovative companies are looking for ways to partner with high schools to get on the radar even sooner.”

And where Millennials often were criticized for coming across as entitled--justified or not--Jonah Stillman says that won’t be the case with his generation. “It’s never easy to be the youngest or newest employee, but because we know we have to start at the bottom and are not delusional about what it will take. We’re hopeful we can create the common ground we need to be accepted and get ahead,” he says. “Where Millennials came across as feeling the job was lucky to have them, we feel we are lucky to have the job.”

Employers should be prepared for big differences in what Gen Z and previous generations value as important when it comes to diversity, communications, technology and benefits, says Jim Link, chief human resources officer at Randstad North America. So reports Employee Benefit News.

One new priority is that Gen Z cares more about workplace flexibility over healthcare benefits, Link notes. Companies that provide student loan repayment benefits are important for both Millennials and Gen Z, he adds. 

Employers need to do better to showcase what they have to offer Gen Z via social media platforms like YouTube to win over this talent. For co-workers and managers, gender, age, looks, race and sexuality won’t matter much to Gen Z workers, Link says.

And Latinos will overtake White workers as the majority of the Gen Z workforce, he adds. Link’s group did a study on Gen Z last year that found 28% want immediate feedback from their managers after every project, 26% want weekly feedback and 20% want feedback daily. Only 1% want to wait for an annual review, SHRM reports. 

"If you haven't adjusted your feedback process, you need to do it," Link says. "They get everything else in their life in real time.”