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Generation Z in Germany – born after 1995 – follows in many ways similar trends to be seen in other countries. Contrary to Generation Y, it is less career-focussed, less keen on financial rewards and less willing to work flexible in a competitive world with total work–life blending. They look for structure, security and feeling good. What is different: Germany is one of the few countries in the world in which Generation Z in many cases can live up to their dreams. Germany has a prospering economy, a stable society and still a good educational system. Most important, for young people, it has an unemployment rate of virtually zero per cent. Therefore, companies definitely must engage in the war for talents and provide Generation Z with a fitting employer value proposition: Generation Z looks for meaningful and exciting work but seeks also meaning and excitement in private lives. In particular, they demand a clear separation of their private lives from their job. All this stands in contrast to the ambitions of the industrial sector in Germany promoting a more Generation Y-type environment with flexibility, agility and work–life blending. This conflict is not dealt with in an open way, since politics and media stand on the side of the large companies. Still, the power of Generation Z is not to be underestimated. Therefore, the chapter leaves it for the future to find out whether the Generation Z or other forces will win.

Europe currently displays a fascinating complexity. It experiences severe disruptions in the economic and educational systems, the labour markets and the political orientation. Also, we see demographic issues with not enough young people on the one hand, and also not enough acceptable jobs on the other hand. All this raises questions regarding the consequences resulting from these dynamics for the young generation. This chapter deals in particular with the so-called ‘Generation Z’, which started – depending on the chosen author – between 1990 and 1995. In this analysis, the concept of ‘generation’ by Karl Mannheim plays an important role since it explains to us why and how cohorts of people are shaped in a specific period of time in a very similar way. When dealing with Generation Z, the following hypothesis of global convergence immediately comes up: since Generation Z is a digitally connected generation, it must move in the same direction. Even though this is partially true on the global scale, we see differences – even within Europe, since Europe is a heterogeneous space. Therefore, we cannot talk about ‘the European Generation Z’ but rather about the ‘Generations Z in Europe’ with their differences, their similarities and their dreams about their future. Besides arriving at the letter ‘Z’ in Generation Z by just continuing from X and Y to Z, the ‘Z’ provides us another interpretation: It stands for ‘zeitgeist’ and for a promising vision of Europe.

Generation Z in Japan, born between 1995 and 2010, has unique characteristics. First, they are pessimists, which is mainly because of the challenging environment in which they were raised, with long-lasting low economic growth and multiple natural disasters. Second, they are digital natives, with a high level of digital device literacy. Raised in a highly advanced technological environment, they benefit in various ways by leveraging such devices. Also, they value relationships with family and friends, forming very close intimate relationships with their parents and broad shallow relationships with their friends. These unique characteristics turn Generation Z into a careful spender in consumption, and a stability seeker in workplaces. As consumers, they are very knowledgeable using both online/offline information, thus, are very selective and cautious when spending their money trying to prepare for the possible risk in the future. As employees, they are less loyal to companies and value their private life higher than their work life. A guideline for targeting Generation Z in Japan is presented.

This chapter provides fresh insight into the lives of Generation Z in Turkey, who are described as the generation born after 1995. The chapter uses secondary information harvested from academic and popular literature, and national statistics. In addition, results from a quantitative survey conducted among 237 Generation Z members in Turkey and insights gathered from a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews performed with 12 individuals from Generation Z have been utilised. Understanding Generation Z in Turkey is challenging because the effects of fast digitalisation, cultural globalisation, and new challenges in attaining high-quality education and finding good jobs are not yet fully known. This chapter offers insights on Turkish Generation Z, including but not limited to their (1) future-orientation, (2) multipolarity of selves, (3) identity as consumers, and (4) perceived challenges regarding future work life.

Traditionally, organizational theory has been a receptacle of methods and mechanisms from network theory. In this paper, we argue that organizational theory can also be an active contributor to network theory’s conceptual development. To that end, we make explicit a theoretical strategy that has only been used informally by network theorists so far, which – following Vaughan (2002) – we refer to as analogical theorizing. Using the basic correspondence between dyadic relationships as the most minimal form of “organization,” we show that processes and mechanisms extracted from various theoretical strands of organizational theory can be mapped onto the dynamics of social relationships. This allows us to build novel theoretical insight as it pertains to issue of relationship emergence, maintenance, and decay in social networks.

After a period of accelerated workplace change, this chapter takes an interpretivist-constructionist approach to explore the experiences of, and perceptions around, flexible and hybrid working among a sample of women owners/directors in the UK small and medium size enterprise (SME) public relations (PR) agency community. Their views, both in terms of running teams and their own engagement with flexible and hybrid working, are discussed through both a personal and a sociocultural lens, with particular reference to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the gendered experience. Specifically, we consider whether global events have alleviated or heightened concerns around teamwork, collaboration, creativity and culture. This chapter adds to a growing body of research into flexible and hybrid working relating to the PR profession and focuses on gendered experience which has often seen women caregivers and those in unstable relationships at a disadvantage with career progression. We explore whether recent events have ‘improved’ the situation for women in PR. We consider how the life stage and personal experience of the individual owner/director impacts their learned and dynamic attitude development and assess whether flexibility for family is viewed differently to other needs. Themes include authentic leadership and responding to ‘the crucible’, reputation and ‘doing the right thing’ and discretionary effort and ‘work ‘til it hurts culture’.

Generation Z, including individuals born from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, is said to be different from other generations before. Generation Z is said to be the generation of digital natives, with multiple identities; a worried and creative generation who value collaborative consumption; and a generation looking forward. The authors present here tentative observations of Generation Z in Asia using theoretical approaches and scientific backgrounds: the authors show how socialisation theory (parents and peer group) and technology (relationship with smartphones) offer meaningful perspectives to understand Generation Z behaviours in Asia. Finally, the authors ask some key questions about dealing with Generation Z in Asia in the field of smartphone use, consumer behaviour (shopping orientation), collaborative consumption (sharing), and work context.

Drawing on the idea of bio-power from wider social theory, this paper will demonstrate how life itself (bios) is now a crucial resource enlisted by capitalism. To explain this, the concept of biocracy is introduced to demonstrate how the informal subcultures, social intelligence and personal attributes of workers are currently being put to work. All that Fordism once feared is now the medium of a new form of exploitation. But as life itself is colonized in ever more expansive ways, resistance appears once again. A new political landscape has crystallized transforming the old tension between capital and labour into one between capital and life. Its manifesto is defined not by the demand for more, less or fairer work, but the end of work.