Hiring Gen Z Developers: What Matters Most to Them?

Gen Z devs are bussin. No cap.

But to pull them, you need rizz. Otherwise it’s just sus.

Made it past that? 

Good. You don’t need it.

Sure, there are differences between people born 20 years ago and those born 50 years ago. But you can’t think of Gen Z as some alien species. We’re all human, after all.

Still, it helps to be aware of the cultural and technological changes in that 30-year gap that have impacted the newest generation to enter the workforce.

For example, Gen Z were born between the late 1990s and early 2010s. They’ve been swimming in digital tech their whole lives.

That doesn’t automatically mean they’re “better” at it, but they have a different relationship with tech than people who had to wait until after puberty to get their first 18-foot, 300-lb desktop that sounded like a plane taking off.

They also have a different relationship with work itself. 

One qualitative study showed a greater onus on work-life balance, mental health and wellbeing, and humble, vulnerable leadership compared to other generations.

If you’re looking to hire a developer in the next few years, one in three of them will be Gen Z.

Are you doing enough to hire them, specifically? Is your company offering the things that they care about?

If not, can you really afford to eliminate a third of your talent pool?

This article will help you understand what drives Gen Z in the workforce, and how you can use that understanding to hire them ahead of your competitors.

Table of Contents

• Understanding Gen Z’s Core Values and Expectations
• What Gen Z Developers Look for in Employers
• Gen Z Developer Salary Expectations and Benefits
• Overcoming the Challenges of Hiring Gen Z Developers
• Strategies to Attract Gen Z Developers to Your Company 
• Conclusion
  

Understanding Gen Z’s Core Values and Expectations

The first step to attracting a target group of applicants is to understand them.

You need to know what they want and what they don’t.

Remove the obstacles and implement the selling points, if they’re not there already.

Lastly, make sure they’re aware you have the things they want.

Let’s start with understanding.

While you can’t tar everyone with the same brush, broadly speaking, if you ask them, Gen Z has different work priorities from other generations.

Some translate that to being more workshy, but that’s not the case. It’s not that they want to work less or are more disinterested; they simply want more flexibility, both in terms of location and hours.

Similarly, they’re more likely to care about equality, diversity, and inclusion, with 91% stating this is a high priority.

They’re also looking for clear career plans with relatively fast development.

None of this is to say that these are Gen Z-exclusive traits – many millennials and others will feel the same – but it gives an overview of what to consider.

What Gen Z Developers Look for in Employers

Now we know what Gen Z tend to care about. There’s still questions to answer.

How does that translate into what Gen Z looks for in a job? 

What is the most important workplace factor for Gen Z?

When they’re on your website, social media, or even job advert, what’ll catch their eye that makes them think, “I can see myself working here”? 

Much of it links back to their values:

Career growth opportunities

Gen Z devs are eager to learn, improve, and advance. It might be early in their career, so they want clear progression pathways and continuous development. They might look for evidence of structured mentorship, technical upskilling, or exposure to innovative projects. 

Work-life balance

If Gen Z hears you work until all hours with a rigid, mandatory structure, they might be put off. Work-life balance ranks highly among Gen Z engineers. They expect flexible hours, healthy boundaries, and the ability to unplug. Companies that normalise “off” time and measure performance by output, rather than time at a desk, will be more appealing.

Company culture

A healthy workplace culture is crucial. That’s one that’s inclusive, collaborative, and psychologically safe. It doesn’t take much for a prospective Gen Z dev to look up workplace culture horror stories on Glassdoor. If there’s evidence of a genuine connection between teams, even when working remotely, that’s a big plus. Employers that publicly celebrate personal wins are much more attractive.

Technological infrastructure

The more savvy of Gen Z grew up with access to, or at least awareness of, cutting-edge tech. If they see you using Windows XP, that could be a dealbreaker. Outdated systems or clunky workflows can be highly off-putting. They expect fast, modern tools: up-to-date IDEs, automation, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-native environments that won’t frustrate them.

Transparency and communication

Generally speaking, Gen Z have a nonsense radar. Maybe growing up with the internet made them jaded and cynical, who knows (and who can blame them?). This means they value transparency and honesty. When you talk about company performance, goals, and leadership decisions, is there spin, or are you genuine? They’ll be on the lookout for clear, truthful communication (or lack thereof).

Gen Z Developer Salary Expectations and Benefits

What are Gen Z workers most expecting from their employment commitments?

Even though Gen Z can be newer to the career scene, it doesn’t mean they’re naïve about remuneration.

While they may have fewer years of experience under their belt (though, of course, not always), it’s unreasonable to assume they’ll be cheaper. And, in many cases, it’s illegal to offer them less because they’re Gen Z.

With that in mind, let’s look at what they’re likely to expect and what you should offer them to be attractive.

“Competitive” Compensation:

Of course, it’s impossible to put an exact figure on what a Gen Z developer will be looking for – there are simply too many variables.

What you shouldn’t do, though, is advertise your vacancy as having a “competitive salary”. That’s almost a meme in Gen Z culture. It means nothing, and only tells them you’re likely to be a cagey, possibly untrustworthy enterprise.

Nor should you be trying to underpay in the hopes that their experience means they’re more naïve about their worth. 

Instead, if you want the top candidates, do your research. Look online at what constitutes a genuinely competitive salary. Bear in mind, whatever research you’re doing into average salaries, they’ll likely be doing the exact same.

Don’t have the time? Contact us for more tailored insight – we’ve placed enough Gen Z that we have a good frame of reference. 

Either way, you should be as generous as your budget will allow. Then make sure this attractive figure is spotlit on your recruitment marketing.

If you really can’t disclose a salary, whether due to internal policies or there simply being too wide a range, be transparent. Explain the situation. You’ll garner more trust if you do.

All that being said, money isn’t the be-all and end-all.

Non-Monetary Benefits:

Chances are, you’ll already have some form of benefits structure in place, which is great. Gen Z will hardly baulk at a decent contributory pension, even if it might seem a little further off for them. 

Still, this generation typically values benefits that enhance well-being: flexible hours, mental health support, gym memberships, or budgets for continuous learning. They’re more likely to see these as essentials than extras.

So, if you don’t have these types of benefits in place, it makes sense to lobby for them.

Equity and Impact:

Gen Z also wants a sense of ownership – literally and figuratively. Stock options, performance bonuses, or opportunities to influence company direction all increase engagement. When developers feel their work has visible impact, they’re more motivated to stay.

Overcoming the Challenges of Hiring Gen Z Developers

One of the Gen Z hiring problems is the disparity between their expectations and what’s actually offered.4

Besides remuneration, which should be clear from the outset (you’ll have big problems if it’s not), how else can we ensure we’re offering what Gen Z expects?

Here’s 5 tips:

1. Offer flexible working

Give them flexibility – not just in where they work, but how. Remote work is huge draw for many. If there’s anything you’re struggling with regarding remote working, you can ask us at Remote Crew – it’s kind of our specialty.

Beyond that, hybrid schedules and asynchronous communication options give them some of the freedom they want. If you don’t have these options already, make sure you devise a way of implementing them that suits both your business objectives and your developers’ needs.

2. Provide clear growth pathways

Outline how developers can progress within your organisation. Not just in terms of promotion or job titles, but in skills, languages, technologies. How are you going to help them be better at what they do? How will your Gen Z career trends be shaped?

3. Create a positive work culture

Do you look after employee mental health and wellbeing? How? 

Make sure your managers are trained to look after their staff and give feedback well. 

If your developers are remote, host occasional in-person meetups, online social events, or even just create opportunities for cross-team collaboration.

4. Be transparent and purpose-driven

Gen Z cares about stuff. So should you. 

What’s tricky is you can’t fake this. If you’re not transparent, it makes it worse. 

But chances are, your company values are something positive that people can get behind, so stand by them. Show why you live your values.

Demonstrate that your leadership decisions are for the greater good. That DEI commitments are genuine. Ideally, that your company contributes to something bigger than profit. 

Not every company can make wheelchairs for puppies. But what purpose do you serve? How is it making the world a better place? 

Modernize your candidate experience

If your application process is complicated and fusty, Gen Z will think you are too. A fast and engaging hiring process is essential. 

That means respecting their time. No having them enter information that’s in their CV. No 15-minute long forms. And no “assume you’re unsuccessful if you haven’t heard back”.

Keep interview rounds to a minimum, and with sensible questions.

Consider simplifying technical assessments, whether you use live coding, online tests, or take-home assignments, and make sure candidates receive prompt feedback.

Strategies to Attract Gen Z Developers to Your Company

You’d think that having the things that Gen Z developers are looking for would be enough to attract them. Flexible working, a positive culture, the opportunity to learn…

But it’s not.

They need to know you have them. That means marketing it. Shouting about it. Especially online, in job adverts, careers pages, and social media.

So your strategies are twofold.

1. Offer what they want
2. Make sure they’re aware of it

So, using the last section as a guide, here’s some actionable examples for attracting Gen Z:

• Tell stories about others who’ve moved up through the company, and what they’ve learned. Mention you offer regular one-to-ones, learning budgets, and mentorship programmes. Describe your defined promotion criteria. Of course, you’ll have to put all this in place first, if it’s not already.
  
• Post about your positive work culture. Recognise your developer achievements publicly, on your socials or your website.
  
• Your values shouldn’t be just an in-house memo or a plaque in the lobby. Maybe you include them as part of your marketing – it's time to include them as part of your hiring. Make sure your potential applicants know about your purpose, especially in terms of how and why it can benefit them.
  
• Mention in your job ads how easy your application process is. Tell them not to worry if their CV’s not up-to-date. Remove any obstacles that might switch them off from applying. The important thing is you get them in the hiring funnel – you can deal with the admin afterward.
  

Conclusion

The beauty of making improvements to your employment offering that’ll attract Gen Z is that they’ll also improve your hiring chances with all generations.

Sure, Gen Z love flexible working and meaningful work. But who doesn’t? Even if the average millennial cares more about job stability, having a positive work-life balance is hardly repulsive.

Purposeful work, clear progression structures, transparent salaries – these are all things everyone benefits from.

Of course, it helps to be flexible. As we know, not everyone in Gen Z is the same. If it turns out some of your hires prefer set working hours at an office location, it’s not for you to tell them they’re “wrong”. 

And vice versa, if your Millennial or Gen X employees want in on some of your Gen Z benefits, it makes sense to let them.

You can introduce and champion Gen Z attraction while still listening to your employees as individuals, and ensuring they’re all as happy and engaged as can be.

But if, after all this excellent advice, you’re still struggling, get in touch. We have a database of thousands of pre-vetted candidates, many of whom are Gen Z. We’ll help you hire them.