Gen Alpha is coming. Here’s how HR can prepare the workplace.

During these (please forgive us for using this phrase) uncertain times, it may seem like the world can’t possibly get more confusing. Well, hold on to your chairs: we need to talk about Gen Alpha.

Gen Alpha, which includes those born roughly between 2010 and 2024, is primed to make its workplace debut by 2028, and by 2034, millennial, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha workers will make up 80% of the labor market, according to the World Economic Forum. (Millennials made up 36% of the workforce, while Gen Z accounted for 18%, according to 2024 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

“Organizations, professionals, HR professionals alike have to really tune in. And this isn’t a get-to-know this generation and then put it on the shelf for five or 10 years. We have to constantly be revisiting this conversation and trying to understand the nuances of every generation,” said Ryan Jenkins, generational expert and author of The Generation Z Guide and The Millennial Manual. Generations’ formative years, he said, can offer HR “big clues” about how they can prepare for their future workforce.

Generational hoopla. Generational research is nothing new. Sean Lyons, a leadership and management professor and associate dean of research and graduate studies at the University of Guelph in Canada, has been studying generations in the workplace since the 1990s. While millennials sparked a lot of interest in generational dynamics, Lyons told HR Brew that fascination has only grown.

“It’s kind of become something like a spectator sport to talk about different generations and how they interact. In Canada, we actually have a game show called Battle of the Generations,” said Lyons.

People leaders, he said, can theorize about what HR can expect from Gen Alpha in the workplace by considering the influences that shaped their formative years.

“People aren’t really different. They’re just reacting to different times, and they’re reacting to those different times at a specific stage in their life,” Lyons said. “It’s just that they’re playing with their lives in a very different theater than was the case 20 years ago…so their attitudes are different because they’re reacting to something new.”

What is going on with Gen Alpha? Technology, Lyons said, can be a “generation maker,” because of how it can affect communication and behavior.

Millennials came of age during the dawn of the internet and smart phones. Gen Z grew up with social media and Zoom. Those technologies shaped their interpersonal skills and sociology, Jenkins told HR Brew. Generative AI, as well as other existing and future technologies, will have a similar effect on Gen Alpha, he added, something he’s already seen firsthand raising his three Gen Alpha kids.

“We’re just now starting to really understand how technology can thwart our interpersonal skills, big one of those being communication, and so there’s a whole new generation of parents like myself…that are trying to put heavy guard rails on technology,” he said. “So that we can have a generation that is really benefiting from all of the different interpersonal skill development that they get at these important ages.”

One way Gen Alpha may differ from previous generations, Lyons said, is in regards to individualism. Baby Boomers were dubbed by older generations as the “me-generation,” and every generation since then has become more self-focused, he added. Millennials were even dubbed the “me-me generation.”

Another differentiator may be their experience with the Covid-19 pandemic. While the pandemic affected Gen Z’s transition into adulthood and the workplace, “the echoes of Covid,” Lyons said, have shaped Gen Alpha’s view of the world. So have the current political and economic climates. “It’s a grim time,” he said.

“This is a generation that’s going to have those pieces as resonating footprints on their life course, so what that tends to do to a generation is it makes them skeptical. It makes them a little bit cynical, and it robs them of opportunities that makes them just optimistic,” he said.

Some workforce planning tips. When navigating differences in the workplace, Jenkins said he advises people leaders to focus on the why behind how work gets done, not the way work gets done.

“What that means is, ‘this is always how we’ve done it mindset’ is a really slippery slope to irrelevance now more than ever. So, we have to be married to the mission of our organization, that’s the ‘why,’ but we need to be open to the approach,” he said. “Organizations…should be thinking about ways in which they can leverage the unique strengths of that generation at the same time not compromising the why. Why that organization or that team exists.”

Gen Alpha will have unique work preferences, but they’ll likely be built upon those held by Gen Z and millennials. Gen Z workers are digital natives; and Gen Alpha will be AI natives. Gen Z prioritizes flexibility and work-life balance; and Gen Alpha may view these as table stakes.

People leaders should remain open-minded about Gen Alpha, Lyons said, and avoid stereotyping them (“they’re lazy, and entitled, and that their work ethic is bad”), as older generations tend to do. They should also consider their silly, even nonsensical communication style (think, “6-7” or “skibidi toilet”) and how it may affect their rapport with older generations in the future workplace.

At the end of the day, Lyons said he’s optimistic about the outlook for Gen Alpha, because they’ll have Gen Z leaders who can help make the workplace better for them.

“We need to really put ourselves in their position and say, ‘Wow, it’s a complicated world for young people,’” Lyons said. “The abundance of opportunity that used to be there is not there right now. Of course, they’re anxious and depressed, and there’s just a lot of mental health challenges, so having compassion for that is a really critical piece to developing the workforce of the future.”

This is one of the stories of our Quarter Century Project, which highlights the various ways industry has changed over the last 25 years. Check back each month for new pieces in this series and explore our timeline featuring the ongoing series.

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