If your small business is hiring, you might want to see this list of what’s important to Gen Z candidates — what they’re looking for in a job, and in an employer. 

Their priorities may surprise you. Gaining insight into this group born between 1997 and 2012 could help your business attract, land and retain talented staff.

Health Benefits

The top draw for Gen Z job-seekers is not salary but health benefits, according to a recent survey of this group of young workers.

Health benefits ranked as the top priority for 72 percent of the 11,000 new or recent high school graduates surveyed by the National Society of High School Scholars or NSHSS.

Work-Life Balance

Gen Z job-seekers shared strong feelings about balancing life and work in the NSHSS survey, with 62 percent saying “time-off benefits” were important to them.

Further, 62 percent told the poll they wanted a flexible work schedule but only 13 percent said they considered remote work options important when choosing a job, says the group’s 2026 Gen Z survey of 11,000 soon-to-be graduates and early-career professionals.

Supportive Work Environment

While the Gen Z demographic has been described as “digital natives” — they’ve grown up in a work dominated by social media and smart phones — they still want a job that offers them opportunities to learn, including how AI is used in the workplace.

"Today’s young people have a different mindset from what they've seen historically coming out of college," said James Lewis, president and co-founder of NSHSS, in an EBN article.

"This generation was really impacted by COVID and they're seeking the ability to now be in a work environment where they can learn from their employers and have interactions with their managers and role models within these spaces." 

The NSHSS poll also pointed to Gen Z’s feelings about the uncertainty around AI in the workplace, and society.

“Despite nearly half of young people using AI on a daily or weekly basis, employers don't always recognize that uncertainty around AI is shaping how young people evaluate their career paths and job offers,” said Lewis in the EBN article by associate editor Paula Peralta. 

Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed said they see AI having a more negative than positive impact on society, despite nearly half using AI daily or weekly. Further, their priorities include understanding how AI will impact their work, the poll found.

"There's so much uncertainty right now while these young people are attending college and trying to decide what sort of profession they want to pursue," Lewis said, according to the EBN post.

"Any opportunity for companies to really put forward a vision on how they'll incorporate tech into those professions and in future strategies will be helpful." 

Employee Equity, Social Responsibility, Purpose

In addition to work-life balance, most of those surveyed by NSHSS said they’re looking for a company culture that values fair treatment of employees and social responsibility.

When asked to rank the most important values within an organization, fair treatment of all employees topped the Gen Z-ers’ list, followed by work-life balance then social responsibility. 

“For employers, educators and institutions, the message is clear: engaging this generation will require not only opportunity, but also trust, flexibility and a meaningful sense of purpose,” notes the NSHSS report about the survey.

More people are seeking values from their jobs that go beyond a paycheck, including deeper connections, radical flexibility, personal growth, holistic well-being, and shared purpose, writes Christopher Kaufman, cofounder and former chief creative officer of the global ecommerce platform StockX, in a Forbes article.

That’s especially true for Gen Z workers, who have advocated empathy, purpose and psychological safety in a workplace, he says.

“A company’s purpose and values it reflects can be a major factor in deciding whether they’ll take a job or not,” Kaufman writes, pointing to a survey that showed 39 percent of Gen Z-ers saying they turned down offers from companies that do not align with their values.

Transparent Communication

When recruiting Gen Z candidates, across media and in interviews, HR specialists advise small business owners to communicate and highlight the type of work culture the company offers its employees.

The NSHSS poll found that Gen Z cares most about gaining skills, professional development and a positive work environment.

What Gen Z workers are looking for in the workplace makes good business sense for employees across generations, says Kaufman in the Forbes article.

“Continuous learning enables individuals to develop in ways that benefit them both on the job and beyond, breaking down traditional work-life barriers,” he says. 

“Authentic leadership that values transparency and open communication can build trust and engagement, while a positive work-life integration reduces burnout and improves overall productivity.”

For more expert information on hiring, see Top 5 Job Interview Questions Every Small Business Should Ask and 3 Tips for Finding and Hiring the Best Seasonal Staff