What do GenZ software engineers really think?

Young software engineers discuss values, what frustrates them about working in tech, and what they really think of older colleagues. Responses to our exclusive survey.

👋 Hi, this is Gergely with a free issue of the Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter. In every issue, I cover topics related to Big Tech and startups through the lens of engineering managers and senior engineers. To issues like this every week, subscribe:

Before we start, I have a small favor to ask. Closer to three years of starting the newsletter, I am still not entirely sure who reads it, and what topics you’d enjoy reading more of! I’d like to change this: but I need your help. Could you please answer 9 short questions that will help with just this. It should not take more than a few minutes of your time, but it will greatly help me with writing even more relevant articles. Thank you!

---

These days, most new grad software engineers belong to “Generation Z” (GenZ,) having been born between 1997 and 2012. This is a cohort about which lots is written and said, but the Pragmatic Engineer is the first publication to ask GenZ engineers what they think in a survey. 

So, strap in as we dive into responses from the latest generation of tech talent, and find out what young professionals really think about modern workplaces and their more “experienced” colleagues!

In Part 1 of this mini-series, we covered how seasoned professionals perceive their newer colleagues; covering how they view GenZ, how to mentor younger talent, approaches to working well together, and some advice from the ‘older’ generation. 

Now, it’s time to turn the table. In this article, we find out how GenZ software engineers see themselves, and get their takes on colleagues from the Millennial and GenX generations. Side note: it was so much fun going through the unfiltered responses from GenZ folks. Normally, we’d thank them for such honesty, but it seems that directness is a distinctive characteristic of this generation! 

Of course, this survey is a small sample, and catch-all terms like “GenZ” unavoidably overlook the wide diversity of thought and behavior that exists among younger tech professionals. With that said, let’s get into GenZ’s feedback. We cover:

1. Survey respondents. Mostly entry-level positions in the US and Europe, aged between 24 and 27. GenZ overrepresented itself in this survey.

2. Characteristics. More informal communication, wanting to not be underestimated, a bias for modern technology, and more.

3. Values. Flexibility, transparent cultures, work with purpose, and growth opportunities.

4. Frustrations. Lack of career progress, poor onboarding and documentation, and too much or not enough process. GenZ can tell when a business is in trouble.

5. “Older folks.” A bimodal split in GenZ’s responses to older colleagues’ attitude to work, their low-quality written communication and unexpected skill sets, and being oblivious of tech YouTubers and channels.

6. Good managers / bad managers. The traits of “good” and “bad” managers seem to be generation-independent.

7. Comradery with Millennials, but not GenX? Age might have the most to do with how GenZ professionals relate to colleagues from other generations. Younger Millennials and GenZ seem to get along well, but this might not be so true with GenX.

1. Who took part in this survey?

Here’s how responses break down by role, age, region, and education.

By role. Most respondents are in entry-level software engineering roles, with a few seniors and managers:

Role split of 59 respondents

By age, most respondents are aged between 24 and 27 at the time of publication:

Respondents’ years of birth, and approximate ages

The single 20-year-old respondent in this survey is the only developer-turned-CEO; they started to code at 13 years old and founded a developer agency aged just 17, in Singapore. The company lists more than a dozen satisfied corporate customers. This kind of hustle is great to see!

Region. The US and Europe are the most represented regions:

Respondents by location

Education and Technology

Interestingly, 80% of respondents hold a computer science degree or equivalent, and 87% began computer science studies at university or college:

Paths into tech: Only 13% of respondents don’t have a higher education background

Considering the challenging job market which new grads face, I expect more companies to only hire grads with relevant university or college degrees – and to make fewer exceptions to this. 

A respondent with a high-school diploma got into tech via an apprenticeship program in the UK. This person believes some senior leaders are reluctant to support GenZ’ers from non-traditional educational backgrounds (i.e.: no degree.) The respondent didn’t let this discourage them – great spirit!

GenZ overrepresented in survey results

A total of 59 GenZ software engineers took the survey, with 63 respondents from other generations, which means GenZ folks are around 4x more active in sharing their views, relative to the generational split of this newsletter’s readership. In Part 1 of this series, GenX was overrepresented:

Self-reported generational membership, and the split between survey responses

2. How do GenZ’ers see themselves?

A few observations on how GenZ software engineers described themselves, and their values

Straight away, there are opinions which both GenZ and older generation share about the youngest professionals:

More informal, open, and articulate about feelings

GenZ feels genuinely open at work, and this comes across in the survey.

“I can bring my true self to work. Even with jokes, and on a daily basis at the office.” – business engineer at a Big Tech, Brazil

“They get me. We have a lot of clear communication. If there’s an issue, they say so, as do I.” – backend engineer at a product studio, Belgium

“1:1's are a pretty great concept, especially when there are actually heart-to-hearts about feelings surrounding work and life.” – developer at a larger company, Canada

GenZ also has a good sense of when they’re being misunderstood. When this happens, some GenZ’ers are acutely aware of it, and clam up:

“I feel like there is a barrier between my older colleagues. I do not feel like I can present as my full self, and curate an authentic relationship.” – software engineer at a Big Tech, US

“My team gets me 80%, but there’s some miscommunication, which I can’t quite put my finger on” – software engineer at a bank, Australia

“I feel superficially understood. I feel like I can show some of my personality and speak relatively openly, as long as I don’t get too abstract or idealistic. However, there is a [feeling of] resignation, as I am convinced by experience that my “true self” and opinions wouldn’t be understood if I expressed them fully.” – full stack developer at a startup, Sweden

Gaps in understanding like the above may come down to age and experience, as much as personality.

GenZ wants to take part, and not be underestimated

Respondents repeatedly say they feel their true abilities are undervalued or underestimated:

“I do not feel like my skills as a programmer are being fully utilized on my team. The tool we maintain is over a decade old and there is not much functionality to add, so I don’t get to code much, which is one of my stronger skills.” – software engineer at a bank, US

“The older generation underestimates how much learning is possible outside of the workplace.“ – software engineer at a mid-sized company, France

“Although many do their best to support and guide us, there are a few who undervalue our abilities.” – data engineer at a scaleup, Asia

It seems like some younger respondents are learning the reality that some work gets more recognition than other equally-worthy work does, like this engineer at a Big Tech giant who observes that doing stuff to “keep the lights on” (KTLO) is less appreciated: 

“The impact I have made has not been appreciated in my performance evaluation. My company struggles to reward vital KTLO work.” – software engineer at a Big Tech, US

Feeling capable of doing more than is assigned, is as old as time. The only companies that consistently push new-grad colleagues to exceed their capabilities are early-stage startups, where hands-on managers spot standout hires and give them extra responsibility.

If you feel unchallenged, or that you have an unexpectedly light workload, know that this is not personal. Giving new joiners less responsibility and more time to learn is a hallmark of a considerate workplace or manager! Rather than complain, the solution is to do standout, exemplary work. Consider taking on extra work and making a great job of it. Seek feedback from your manager and if they agree it’s solid, tell them you’re ready to help the team even more. This kind of proactive approach should quickly yield results, and contribute to faster professional and career growth.

Salary and benefits matter

Answering the question, “if you quit your current job, what would be the most likely reasons?” 37% of GenZ mentioned promotion, salary, or benefits. A few responses:

“Older engineers seem completely out of touch with salary bands in the industry, and stay at a place for the sake of comfort. This likely has to do with the mounting responsibilities of adulthood/parenthood.” – developer intern at a Series C company, Canada

“My latest salary increase was really low, despite maxing all my yearly review criteria.” – software engineer at a bank, Australia

“I am actually leaving my job next week. I have another one lined up that provides better opportunities for growth, as well as a promotion + raise.” – software engineer at a Series C startup, US

Switching jobs for financial reasons is common enough across generations. In tech, it’s well known that switching jobs is the fastest way to earn what you’re worth. It is interesting that many GenZ’ers understand this, right at the start of their careers. Just don’t forget that at senior levels, tenure can be increasingly important for promotion to the next level. More on this topic in Preparing for promotions ahead of time.

Respondents with a “good deal” appreciate it, but the assumption that GenZ demands high financial compensation doesn’t fairly reflect the sentiment of survey responses. Several mention that they’re happy with their compensation and perks of the job like a nice commute, free food, and parking. For example, here’s a software developer at a large US airline, on what they like about their job:

“I like the flight benefits and my current tech stack. The people are okay, but that’s not something that’s making me stay. The campus is very nice, as well. Great open office area, great campus to walk around on trails, ride bikes, multiple places to eat.”

GenZ know when they have a “worse” deal than peers. A common theme in responses is that people can identify when their compensation or benefits seem unfair:

“Salary is just average for our company size, and we get significantly fewer days off and PTO days than what I've heard of at other tech companies.” – software developer at a scaleup, New York City

“In early 2023, stock compensation was reduced significantly for new hires. This means my stock comp will not change if I get upleveled. Stock comp is currently about 1/2 of my total comp, which means I have *significantly* less financial incentive to work harder for an uplevel.” – senior engineer at a scaleup, US

On the issue of comp, the responses suggest GenZ respondents are pretty grounded: they appreciate their benefits and attractive compensation, but they’re also unafraid to speak up when they’re paid below-market, or have subpar benefits. 

Bias for modern tech

GenZ respondents express a preference for exploring technologies, and they dislike legacy tech debt. Several say they’re ready to switch jobs for more freedom to explore technologies, to work on more interesting systems or tools, and to escape systems with heavy tech debt.

For a sense of the tech stack, below is a list of technologies which respondents used before getting their first tech jobs:

Languages:

• Java, C, C++, Python, Prolog, Haskell (taught at universities)

• Javascript, Typescript, Go, Rust, Kotlin, Ruby (languages acquired outside of studies)

Frameworks and tools:

• React, Vue

• Node, Flask (Python), Ruby on Rails, Spring Boot

• Android and iOS native development

• Unity game development (we did a Unity tutorial about building a simple game)

• Azure, GCP, AWS, Docker

• Machine Learning, blockchain

Each respondent used a subset of this list, and almost all have used several languages and frameworks before getting their first tech job. It seems that picking up new languages and frameworks “on the go” is second nature to GenZ.

Relatedly, they’re also ahead with new technologies, and like to try out and adopt new technologies: backend libraries like routing controllers, web frameworks like Nest, and languages like Typescript, Kotlin, and Rust. They get frustrated when it seems like older colleagues are holding them back, and see their more seasoned peers as “stuck” in their ways – even with things like using default IDE light settings! 

Red tape is frustrating, as it is for every generation. An engineer shared the experience of waiting a week for approval to install Node.js. Someone else declaimed their company for encouraging learning, while having way too much red tape to actually employ useful technologies. Another mentioned that senior colleagues don’t realize how much friction is in current systems, which gets in the way of efficient working.

Discovering work is tougher than expected

A few responses mention the learning curve for new joiners who discover their work is actually harder than expected, or that coding is only one part of the job. Here’s a 26-year-old developer who works at a bank in the US:

“I love coding, and I’ve been doing it for over a decade, but actually working as a software engineer is not what I expected. I don’t get to code nearly as much as I would like. I want a job where the technology is the product, and is more valued by the business. But I am really concerned that I am not learning enough in this job to get another job.

I used to code all the time. However, now that I work all day and all week at a computer, I don’t have the energy or motivation to work on projects or code that I’m interested in. I feel like I’m stagnating as a programmer and software engineer.”

I empathize with this dev, as I felt the same when working at a bank, where the development part of the job was trivial, and interacting with the business was much more important. There are plenty of jobs which stretch software engineers, but it sounds like this person is in a workplace where engineering is a cost center. They would likely be happier somewhere where it’s a profit center, like a startup, bootstrapped company, or a larger tech-first company. More on cost centers vs profit centers at tech companies.

Other experiences will be familiar to many readers from their first jobs in tech, or when joining a new company. On dealing with pushback:

“I sometimes struggle with pushing my ideas and initiatives, when getting push back from other engineers.” – senior engineer at a publicly traded company, Germany

A GenZ engineer at a startup also shared that business growth has made their workplace a lot more political. Navigating internal politics and gaining influence with colleagues is always tricky, and involves building influence within the organization, or your team. This takes time, and a track record of great work makes it easier.

One respondent finds themselves working in a siloed organization, which slows down the work:

“Our company is very siloed and people don’t like working together. It’s part of our job in developer enablement to drive change, but cultural change is tough. Something as simple as that company staff should have access to all git repositories to promote code reuse, is met with very strong resistance from parts of the organisation, particularly those working on older / legacy applications.” – software engineer at a large company, UK

This is the unfortunate reality of a hard-to-change company culture, combined with the challenge of working on a platform team. There are no easy solutions, but the earlier you’re aware of the problems, the sooner you can decide whether to tackle them, or just remember to avoid similar setups in future.

Work not a core identity

In the first part of this mini-series about this survey, some older colleagues noted that GenZ colleagues guard their free time much more than other generations. Talking with engineering leaders, this sentiment is common.

But in the survey, only one GenZ professional mentioned it. From a fullstack developer at a scaleup, in the EU:

“My colleagues seem to find work to be an important part of their social life, and feel most fulfilled when we meet regularly and have team events. I personally do not care for that — I prefer to keep work and my private social life more separated and I wouldn’t mind working fully remote.”

Articulate and direct in speech

The survey responses show that GenZ is direct and to-the-point in communications, compared to more senior colleagues. Almost all respondents describe themselves as “straight-shooters.”

3. Values

When asked what they value most about their workplace, GenZ respondents say:

Work-life balance, flexibility, autonomy

Flat company structures that offer autonomy were repeatedly cited:

“The organization is very flat and the bureaucracy is minimal for developers.” – fullstack developer at a consulting company, Finland

“It feels empowering that we have full control over our roadmap and project preferences, which allows me to be more invested in my work.” – production engineer at a Big Tech giant in Seattle, US

“There's no visible hierarchy, we relate as colleagues.” – frontend engineer at a seed-stage startup, Nigeria

“My organisation has a flat structure. This means exposure to different projects and areas of work, and senior engineers being approachable.” – product development engineer at a consumer appliances company, Australia

Flexibility, and decent work-life balance are valued by generations of software engineers value, and GenZ is no different:

“I was told all I have to do is go to my meetings and get my work done. I go on runs and do banjo lessons during a nice, long lunch.” – software engineer, Southeastern US

“There is flexibility around starting times (8-9.30am) so long as 8 hours are worked, and flexibility around WFH, although I work exclusively from the office, as I prefer it.” – product development engineer at a consumer appliances company, Australia

“I don't feel a lot of pressure or stress, even when things appear stressful. This is a byproduct of an understanding, adaptive culture.” – frontend intern, Canada

A backend engineer in India noted they have very stressful, 60+ hour working weeks, which is making them consider resigning in order to take a break – even though they’re learning a lot from being at a Series A startup. Long-term overwork is always a challenge, regardless of age. 

An amusing comparison comes from a Google Cloud engineer who previously worked at Amazon, who mentions their work-life balance is “much better compared to Amazon.” As always, it is tricky to compare two companies with 100,000+ employees each. Amazon is generally known for its high expectations, as previously covered in Amazon’s engineering culture.

Valuing remote or hybrid work, versus fully onsite. Unsurprisingly, several respondents say it’s important to be able to work remotely, or at least not have to be at the office every day. This expectation likely reflects the market reality in tech, where many employers have settled on a hybrid pattern of 2-3 days/week in the office. 

Company values matter

Open, transparent culture. Respondents working at companies with this kind of culture appreciate it, while engineers in places without these qualities would prefer more transparency.

“The CEO and CTO are not elitist boomers, and are super open with everyone. That and their hiring strategy led to an awesome team in general.” – engineering manager at an insurance tech company, Portugal

“My company could do better at reducing information silos. We take the ‘engineers don't like meetings’ trope to the extreme. Most information is passed on during 1-1's, or unofficial, secret meetings that happen out of necessity.” – software engineer at an aerospace startup, US

“Improving transparency is something I would like my company to do more on. Decisions come down from ‘the business’ quite frequently.” – senior engineer at a publicly traded tech company, Germany

Working with great people. Team spirit, friendly coworkers, down-to-earth managers, and straightforward colleagues, are qualities identified by GenZ respondents who like their current workplaces.

Purposeful, rewarding work that’s useful. Below is a quote from someone well aligned with their company’s mission, who’s having a good time:

“We’re building some cool new platforms to bring engineers together, encourage collaboration and re-use, and try to remove red tape and politics. It’s quite a rewarding organisation to work in.” – a software engineer at an oil and gas company, UK

Another respondent mentioned they appreciate the freedom to help grow the company:

“I'm free to work in the way I want and where I want, with the main goal to implement things and grow the company.” – frontend team lead at a web hosting company, Lithuania

One in three GenZ respondents would quit if their workplace’s culture is wrong. We asked respondents: “If you were to quit your current job, what would be the most likely reasons?” 35% of respondents mentioned one of:

• Meaningless work

• Feeling unaligned with company values

• Few professional challenges

• Mental health reasons relating to culture or unreasonable expectations

I would interpret the above as “critically important” parts of the job for these respondents: meaning that if these areas are “in the red,” then the chance of them quitting becomes very high. 

Managers who care

Specifically, managers who care about team members. This really makes a difference, as per some responses:

“Management could be more thoughtful about people and their lives. I work with other Gen Z folks, so they ‘get’ me, but my manager often doesn’t.” – engineering manager at a Series A company, San Francisco Bay Area

“All of my managers have been under the age of 45. So far, every single one has been pretty amazing. I always tell my friends (hesitantly) that I never really related to the “evil manager” trope, you often hear about. I think that mainly has to do with the culture that the tech industry has cultivated over the last decade. My team is very empathetic and understanding; you can ask for help, leave the office, or work remotely if you want, voice strong opinions or feelings, and so forth.” – frontend intern at a late-stage robotics company, Canada

GenZ respondents with managers whom they see as low quality, say that it’s souring an otherwise positive experience. Here’s a robotics software engineer at a defense technology scaleup sharing what sounds like less than optimal manager fit:

“My current manager is not supportive of my career growth. It is difficult to bring up any faults with him because he is very judgmental, with clear gaps between his stated preferences versus his actually revealed preferences. 

I feel judged for being younger than him – even though I am pretty proud of my technical skills, and he even learns from me! It feels to me that my manager doesn’t like being in this role, and would be better off as an individual contributor.

The rest of the company is great. But my experience is ruined by my manager.” – robotics software engineer at a defense tech scaleup, US

Onboarding, learning opportunities, mentorship

Based on the survey, It seems good onboarding, helpful documentation and supportive mentorship, are top of mind for many GenZ folks:

“Mentorship is strong, and I had ample time to ramp up. You can do what you want in the sense that if you want to grow and increase your skills, you can. The difference in effort from completing tickets and actually owning something is immense.” – SWE at a Big Tech, US

“Onboarding is done well and in a structured manner. Mentoring is deeply integrated into our culture and we take it seriously. I experienced it from the other end as well, and I like to mentor others.” – senior engineer at a scaleup, Hungary

“Onboarding is extremely well-run and polished. There are several explicit mentorship programs, including special ones for engineers flagged as ‘future leaders’ by managers, and exceptional informal mentorship on my team/org.” – senior engineer at a scaleup valued ~$50B, US

Could onboarding challenges be down to a generational divide? One respondent notes that older engineers don’t care much for keeping up with documentation, and that it’s younger engineers doing this consistently. 

“Onboarding and documentation at my company is not valued despite being absolutely vital. Older engineers would rather just have new engineers ask them what is wrong and hand-hold them, duplicating effort every time. It’s always a younger engineer trying to push for better docs.” – software engineer at a scaleup, US

Generational differences in preference for spoken or written communication are mentioned below, too.

We covered What good and standout onboarding processes look like for software engineers.

Professional growth

Some respondents are positive about their current employer because they feel they learn on the job:

“They are very generous in allowing me to learn. I knew almost nothing about APIs when I first joined, and now I'm implementing workflows using Post OAuth like a pro. There are some truly competent developers who are willing to leverage their expertise to solve problems. “ – developer at a consulting firm, US

“I get to work with some cool technologies and am encouraged to spend time each week learning new things.” – software engineer at a large tech company, US

Having space for self-directed learning is something a few responses mention. These people don’t expect dedicated training, but get to grow their skills with freedom in how they get things done. Absence of mentorship, coupled with autonomy, promote this approach:

“They’re very hands off with me. They handed me 2 contracts to handle, and I’m handling them. As long as I explain my plan, and achieve it, they don’t care how.” – ML engineer an aerospace startup, US

Dedicated learning and development (L&D) days are mentioned in just one response, at a tech consultancy in the UK, where one day per week is dedicated to L&D, or working on internal projects. Consultancies often sell specialist development skills, like expertise in languages like TypeScript or Go, or technologies like ML or AI. L&D can help a company close more clients by giving employees time to specialize in the new technologies customers need.

Documentation and developer experience

Exceptional – or even just good! – internal documentation processes are cited by several GEnZ respondents as a big positive. Respondents from workplaces which lack technical documents say they want this to change. The importance of good developer experience was highlighted by young professional at Meta, which does invest heavily in this area:

“The internal tooling, developer experience, and available infrastructure is second to none, and I would be so much less productive without these things” – a software engineer at Meta, US. We previously covered Meta’s engineering culture.

4. Frustrations

The survey asks GenZ respondents which areas their employers could do better in. Here’s their most common frustrations in descending order. 

Lack of career progression

Getting ahead at work is mentioned most often:

“There is too much variance in career progression, and I feel it can be unfair at times when different organizations have different standards for the same promotion level. It seems like you just get lucky and get a promotion earlier than expected, or you put in the hard work but don't get promoted due to your org's bar being even higher than other places within the company.” – production engineer at a Big Tech, US

“My company has a more traditional HR structure which makes it very difficult to get people promoted and rewarded for hard work. Until late 2021 it was actually impossible to get an in-role promotion in software engineering; you had to apply and interview for other job postings in order to move up!” – software engineer at a more traditional company, UK

Onboarding, documentation, mentorship

Absence of structured onboarding, documentation, and mentorship, are often cited as areas for improvement in GenZ’s survey responses:

“My company typically hires experienced engineers. The downside is we have very little documentation, onboarding, or learning materials. This means you're on your own to develop, which requires forging a lot of personal connections.” — machine learning engineer at a Big Tech, US

“Mentoring is terrible. I was left completely on my own for the first 6-8 months while I collected marginally helpful certifications. At no point did I shadow a project, or get put on something that would actually help the company make better things; I'm basically a nonentity until I can generate revenue for the company.” – a developer at a consulting firm, Southeast US

“My company could provide more learning and development for younger staff.” – senior SRE at a scaleup, US

How much structured mentoring and L&D are available depends on the type of person the company hires, and the internal culture. Early-stage startups rarely offer either, but new joiners get to learn on the job with impactful work assignments. Judging by the survey responses, large companies with resources and plenty of internal systems could improve at showing young colleagues how and why things work, or new joiners may struggle to achieve basic productivity.

Too much process – or not enough

Several GenZ folks call out heavyweight process as a lowlight of their jobs:

• Meetings: too many, resulting in projects taking forever.

• Formal frameworks: like ITSM (Information Technology Service Management.) One company which implemented this, seemed to want to slow down everyone’s work, a respondent claims.

• Product proposals: A software engineer at a Bay Area scaleup shares that their feature development process involves writing product proposals for their own sake.

• Reorgs: a software engineer at a Big Tech complains that priorities are all over the place, and that they’ve been reorged 3 times in two years.

To be fair to bosses, some processes must be in place to avoid chaos during a growth phase. Product proposals (often called Product Requirement Documents, aka PRDs) are used by scaleups-and-above, as are RFCs and design docs. It comes down to finding the right balance; there is rarely – if ever – a “perfect” process, and the best a team or company can do is slash unnecessary processes, while resisting the urge to create a new one for each new problem.

On the other hand, too little process is also cited as a problem by some GenZ respondents. A software engineer at a mid-sized tech company in France shares valid criticism of their company, which the CTO might be wise to note:

“​​My current company doesn't have much process, it’s a bit of a "cowboy coder" culture. We're encountering issues scaling up operations without code reviews, pull requests, or a stable main branch.”

Problems with the business

Founders, CEOs, and CTOs would do well to ask their youngest colleagues what they think of their company’s business outlook, based on the survey responses. Several people share that their biggest issue is that the business is doing badly and that things will get worse unless the leadership turns things around.

The biggest business problems mentioned by GenZ professionals, in quotes:

• Negative cash flow. “The root cause of problems is negative cash flow. People are asked to squeeze out a lot in very little time. As a result, we have practically no work-life-balance.”

• Financial stability. “There have been three rounds of layoffs in the past year. That has also meant there is minimal funding available for promotions, even for top performers.”

• Positioning and PMF. “Product-market fit is a problem. The company needs to better understand the target audience and how to appeal to it.”

• The business. “This EdTech startup I work at is dying. The business and the product are both terrible.”

5. What GenZ really thinks of older colleagues

So, how do GenZ software engineers see “more experienced” colleagues? There are some common themes, but no two responses are identical. In workplaces, the age spread of GenZ professionals is only around 8 years at present, assuming the youngest are aged 18. Meanwhile, other generations are spread across a much wider timespan of up to 40+ years, which makes generalizations even more inevitable, but less specific!

As such, the below should be taken with a pinch of salt as everywhere is different. If you’re a senior professional who recognizes themself in this feedback, I hope you get a smile out of it! Self-awareness is a useful quality.

“Old people’s talk” 

Many GenZ respondents say that much of the chat at work is about topics like family and kids, property ownership, and home-construction projects. One respondent notes: “I can't tell you how many times I've listened to the older guys talk about their kitchen remodels.”

In general, “watercooler chat” reflects where people are in their lives; in the future when GenZ folks comprise most of the workforce, they’ll likely chat about similar domestic topics which sound irrelevant and dull today, when their lives are less settled and predictable.

A bimodal split in attitudes to work

Interestingly, there are two common but contradictory themes in many GenZ responses about how older colleagues folks see work:

• Don’t care about work. Several young respondents claim older colleagues are uninterested in their own work, and are tiring to work with. This is especially the case with co-workers whom they see as “coasting” for their entire careers at one company.

• Care too much. Simultaneously, some older colleagues are seen as caring way too much, to the point of work consuming their lives. The term “no life outside of work” is used by several GenZ folks.

An engineer in the US summarizes it:

“Some don't check Slack after 5pm, others are terminally online. Same with taking PTO (paid time off.”)

All workplaces and generations contain people who see work as just a job, and others who pour their hearts and souls into it. My guess would be GenZ also has a similar split, but it hasn’t revealed itself yet. A GenZ software developer in Finland says:

“If the ambition of non-GenZ engineers is a normal distribution, I feel that the ambition of GenZ engineers is a bimodal distribution”

Written communication doesn’t improve with age

Perhaps unexpectedly, several GenZ respondents say older colleagues have weak written communication skills. This turns on its head the ever-popular stereotype that each generation is a bit worse at writing than the one before it:

“(Some, not all) non-GenZ people are atrocious at communicating via text. They fail to include important context or to communicate all information necessary. They only communicate the exact sentence or phrase in their mind without informing the reader of anything prior which they need to know.” – software engineer at a scaleup, US

“They do not communicate the same way digitally, and prefer email (so many emails.) Another example is how they start off team chats with just “hi” instead of starting with the point of their communication.” – software engineer at a bank, US

Here’s a sentiment many GenZ folks express:

“I love the ‘older’ generation of engineers! Except some of them are horrible at writing responses to questions I ping them. It's like they can only help via video.” – software engineer at a publicly traded company, in the US

In a related observation, a Millennial engineering manager says this generation prefers text messages to meetings:

“Connecting to these people is quite difficult, because they don’t like one-to-one meets or group discussions, and better communicate over messages” – engineering manager, Lithuania

Harsh feedback

“Harsh” is a word used by several young professionals to describe older colleagues, especially managers:

• “Less empathetic, a bit crass”

• “Perhaps the older generation can be a bit harsher and direct when discussing performance or issues.”

• “Management and feedback is sometimes harsh as hell!”

I assume some of this is individual feedback with critique. It’s possible to imagine this could be alarming to some young professionals unfamiliar with unvarnished professional communication, especially when it’s unexpected.

Falling behind in the tech race

Plenty of GenZ respondents reckon older colleagues don’t keep up with new technological developments due to lack of curiosity. One gripe is that some older colleagues don’t know or care about tech beyond the company’s walls. I suspect this criticism applies to individuals, rather than being a universal characteristic of non-GenZ professionals.

Underestimating Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Several GenZ respondents say older colleagues are slow to embrace AI:

“They are generally anti AI (they don’t think it will replace software engineering in <5 years, when it obviously will)” – ML engineer in aerospace, US

“They are bearish on AI and especially AI-infused dev tools.” – software engineer at a hardware startup, US

“They underestimate the power of AI tools.” – software engineer at a fintech, Netherlands

Experienced – sometimes more than expected!

GenZ doesn’t think older colleagues are totally useless, though. Many responses identify strengths and skills which older colleagues possess that impress less experienced co-workers. 

• Fundamental engineering knowledge. “There seems to be a common amount of fundamental engineering knowledge and principles that I have yet to discover, or be able to put in practice. In design reviews or SEV post mortems they ask questions I'd never think of.” – production engineer at a Big Tech, US

• Care more about best practice. “Test-focused, more fussed about coding best practices, doing things “properly,” and avoiding the cutting of corners. I find these are good things.“ – founder at a development agency, Singapore

• Competent. “They know what they're doing, and it's not always due to the experience.“ – software engineer in the space industry, Canada

• Calm during crises. “Really experienced, very calm in times of crisis” – software engineer at a bank, Australia

• “War stories.” “I feel like they have seen a lot of changes and crazy times, and have war stories.” – senior engineer at a scaleup, UK

• Not intimidating. “I like that teammates have strong technical expertise without being intimidating” – software engineer 2 at a Big Tech, US

On estimations:

“They are more conservative about milestones, probably thanks to their experience.“ – software engineer at a startup, Czech Republic

Some respondents admit being surprised by the depth of older colleagues’ knowledge:

“It can seem to me like they might not have the same understanding of technology, but I am surprised by how much technical knowledge and experience some of my colleagues have.” – software developer at a consulting firm, US

Supportive of younger colleagues

Several respondents say more experienced folks are understanding and accommodating of newcomers. One GenZ professional shares that they feel lucky to work with older individuals who help them succeed, while other respondents cite senior colleagues as smart, kind, helpful and amazing colleagues, which is nice to hear.

Several others say they have nothing to complain about with regards to older colleagues, and see eye-to-eye with them. As always, so much of our experience at work depends on other individuals.

A comment by a full stack developer in Sweden speaks to this:

“For the most part, we seem interoperable and socially compatible. I mostly work with Millennials, whom I feel more similar to in spirit, than the stereotypical image of Gen Z would suggest. I also think a lot of it comes down to individual personality and corporate culture.”

One-off observations about older colleagues

• Forget how much friction is in systems. A Google software engineer: “This is a bit of a chicken and egg problem, but I think non-GenZ employees tend to be more senior, and more senior people tend to lose track of all the friction of doing low-level implementation work. I find they usually have much better instincts with experience, but have unrealistic expectations about the flexibility of working in a large system.”

• More opinionated. From a freelance consultant in the US: “Generally, older engineers tend to be more opinionated. Sometimes this is very helpful; they've seen more cases of good and bad practice, they've often reaped what they've sown, and they generally know when to keep working on something, and when it's good enough. But sometimes, this can lead to slower adoption of newer practices and technologies.”

• Not advocating remote working. A developer in Canada suspects that when a return to the office (RTO) was announced at work, older colleagues didn’t resist it due to being used to working at the office for their whole careers.

• Uninterested in digital productivity. A PhD student in France at a scientific research company, tried to talk with colleagues about knowledge management, productivity in the digital era, and smart emailing practices, but found nobody cared about it.

Amusing observations

Older colleagues are regularly clueless about tech YouTubers, claims one respondent in a jab at the low regard some older colleagues have for dev-influencers:

“I would say older developers are not as aware of the rising "developer-influencer" class (Theo, Primeagen, Code Aesthetic, No Boilerplate, etc...) I've discovered many great tools just by watching their content and joining their Discord communities.”

I’ve linked the channels for anyone interested in checking them out – all are interesting.

• ‘Old person jokes’: “They use silly concepts like a ‘Bus Factor’ or a ‘PEBCAK error,’ that only old people think is funny.”

• Dedicated lunch breaks. “They have pretty rigid 9-5 schedules, even though we don't have enforced work hours, and they take lunch breaks! My work hours are sporadic and I don't have a specific lunch break.”

• Fashion flops. “They are not stylish (no, but seriously!)”

• Caffeine. “They are all into coffee culture. They ‘looove’ drinking coffee. They love buying local roasted beans and grinding them, and using their espresso machines or pour overs. Their passion has persuaded me to start buying better beans.”

• Dead tech nostalgia. “They have cool memories of tech in the 2000s and 2010s.”

Not so different, after all?

Here's an observation about how older colleagues are all different, from a senior engineer at a crypto scaleup in the US:

“They're either insanely skilled & pragmatic hacker types, or they're the big tech bureaucracy type that will schedule a meeting, rather than push a PR and move on to other challenges. I learn so much more from the former than from the latter.”

In closing, here’s a software engineer in the US who points out that, ultimately, most of us in tech have more in common than not, whichever generation we’re in.

“A lot of older people don't seem all that different from my generation. It may be a direct consequence of the professional environment, but people are very open to new ideas and new ways to do things. They aren't set in their ways, unlike how we traditionally think of older generations, which might be a result of what technology is: it improves and adapts as new things arise, so the people working here have adopted the same approach.”

This observation is a good reminder that in many ways, age is just a number. What matters most is someone’s attitude to technology and to progress, which matters much more than their age.

6. Good and bad managers

We asked GenZ if their managers “get” them, and people’s responses reveal what young tech workers think makes for a good or bad manager.

Good managers

• Easy to get along with

• Don’t shy away from difficult conversations and hard truths

• Supportive. One respondent says: “I think my manager is on my team, full-stop.”

• Relate easily to their direct report

One respondent mentions that their manager “feels like a friend, and we’re honest with each other.” This suggests a lot of trust, but fundamental power dynamics in such relationships mean it can be risky to form friendships at work because things can change fast. Still, I’ve observed plenty of former managers staying friends with their former direct reports, which speaks to genuine connections.

Bad managers

• Don’t support their directs’ careers

• Authoritarian

• Poor communicators

• Don’t understand colleagues’ work

Regarding the final point, a software engineer at a Big Tech shares:

“I think my manager respects my input, but after a surprisingly negative review, I do not think they have a good understanding of the work I'm doing.”

“Good” versus “bad” traits feel generationally independent. Good managers tend to be empathetic, make their direct reports feel supported, and actively support their professional growth. Managers perceived as “bad” usually don’t have an open communication line with their reports, don’t help the team or individuals to improve, and leave colleagues second-guessing why they’re a manager!

7. Comradery with Millennials, but not GenX?

A common theme in GenZ’s responses is negative experiences with GeX folks – colleagues who are 20+ years older, and are usually managers:

“I had one Gen X manager I really struggled to relate to and communicate with. His perspective on life and work had almost no overlap with mine, making it difficult to be on the same page. He seemed to be very practically minded and cared marginally about how and why we do what we do, just working for the pay check and the material and social comfort it provides. That does not jive with me, at all. 

GenX’ers and earlier millennials also seem inclined to engage in more traditionally slow, closed-off, hierarchical and bureaucratic corporate cultures that (in my opinion) overemphasize experience, at the cost of agility and merit. I find those attributes very demotivating in a way that is difficult to communicate to people who buy into them. ” – full stack developer at a startup, Sweden

Differences between GenZ and GenX seem most pronounced, which likely has a lot to do with the age gap, which is the widest possible now that many Baby Boomers have retired.

A 10-year age gap seems to not be a big deal – except when it is. From an ML engineer at a startup in Germany:

“My managers and coworkers are generally less than 10 years older than me, so I don't spot too many differences. But when it comes to marketing and design, they can have a really hard time understanding what Zoomers like and what is considered cringe.“

Of course, being biased towards similarly-aged people is very normal.

“Most older engineers are fine, though. I just see younger engineers being better at communicating via text medium communication (Slack or email).”

Takeaways

The first survey conducted of GenZ software engineers in tech workplaces provides insights, and some reassurance that professionals of all ages have plenty in common! Thank you to all young professionals who took part in this Pragmatic Engineer survey! It’s been a blast sifting through the responses from the latest generation of tech talent, who will go on to shape our industry in the future.

It’s also clear that labels like “GenZ,” “Millennial,” and “GenX,” overlook the complexity and diversity of individuals who make up these massive cohorts. Nonetheless, generalizing accurately, based on responses, is one task of surveys. We hope this article gives a sense of what it’s like being young and in tech, in GenZ’s own words.

Many differences between this generation and older tech workers seem to come down to the factors of age and experience, and we can assume that it was always so.

In many workplaces, there is no problematic “generation gap.” My sense is that young professionals don’t complain when older colleagues are accommodating, friendly, helpful, and managers care about helping their reports succeed.

In contrast, problems emerge when organizations favor process over progress, managers visibly don’t care about their reports, and businesses are struggling.

Based on the detailed responses of GenZ professionals, they seem like an energetic, honest bunch, who are ready to make a difference. A few respondents say some older colleagues are jaded. GenZ feels like the exact opposite.

Respondents to this survey want to do good work, and many seem to be doing well in their careers to date. They have on-point observations, and no problem with expressing their thoughts in writing. If anything, they might be better written communicators than older professionals!

GenZ respondents are clearly ambitious, and have been picking up new technologies since high school. There may be a bimodal distribution of ambition in this generation, but based on the responses to this survey, I’m bullish about GenZ’s qualities and prospects. If you are a manager with open headcount, I hope this article persuades you to consider new grads, among whom there are surely some standout performers.

Finally, personal attitude matters more than someone’s age. An observation from one GenZ engineer working at a Big Tech has stuck with me, about how technology improves and adapts over time, and that people in their workplace have adopted the same mindset.

The most successful tech professionals keep an open mind, experiment with new ways of doing things, and withhold judgment until they try something. Do this as an older professional, and I predict working with GenZ professionals will be easy.

I hope you found this two-part series interesting and even a bit entertaining! For part one, see GenZ software engineers, according to older colleagues.

Anonymized raw data

Full subscribers can access the original, anonymized data set.

Finally, if you’ve not done so, can you please answer these 9 questions about what topics you’d enjoy reading more in the newsletter, and anonymized demographic details. These will help me write even more relevant articles. Thank you!