Gen Z’s Values and Future Aspirations: Insights from Two Finnish Studies

Generation Z (Gen Z), the cohort born in and after 1995, is steadily making up a large share of the population and workforce. This means Gen Z, their values, preferences, and expectations are increasingly shaping communities and influencing human resource strategies across various sectors. As individuals’ behaviour is greatly influenced by their values (Schwartz, 1992), it is important to understand the personal values that affect Gen Z’s everyday decisions in terms of their personal and work life. This understanding can be leveraged by policymakers, educators and employers to shape purposeful communities, living environments, and work contexts that meet the expectations of different generations. This has led some to argue that employers and employees should engage in a psychological contract stipulating mutual expectations (Schroth, 2019). Ayoobzadeh et al. (2024) have likewise noted the importance of organisations meeting these needs and expectations of the future workforce as not achieving value congruence likely leads to not attracting or retaining them.

While Gen Z is globally the largest living generation, constituting 32 per cent of the total population (Miller & Lu, 2018), in Finland, individuals aged 20 to 29 years comprise only 12 per cent of the population (European Commission, 2024). Further, Finland is the most rapidly ageing country in Europe and among the five fastest-ageing populations worldwide (UN, n.d.). This demographic shift is expected to reduce the size of the working-age population (EURES, 2023). Finland’s small labour force raises concerns about sustaining global competitiveness and the viability of its welfare state, which relies on a productive workforce. An ageing population and declining birth rate have heightened these pressures on the labour market.

Currently, most of Finland faces labour market mismatches between job seekers’ skills and available positions, leading to an expected increase in the unemployment rate (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, 2023). Unemployment is particularly prevalent in industrial, technical, art, administrative and office work sectors, while other fields, especially health and social services, suffer from labour shortages (EURES, 2023). Finland is a knowledge economy and most of the jobs in shortage are of the high-skilled type (OECD, 2019). Challenges also persist in the transition from education to the labour market, despite Finland’s consistently high rankings in global education comparisons. One’s future and finding a job have been found most common concerns among Finnish young people (Kivijärvi, 2023) in line with a global survey (Deloitte, 2023) that identified unemployment as one of the top concerns of Gen Z. Youth unemployment in Finland is higher than the OECD average of 10 per cent (OECD, 2019) although it has decreased from 16,7 per cent in 2020 to 11,5 per cent in 2023 (THL, n.d.). Effectively engaging young people in the labour market is vital for their well-being and for broader economic growth and social cohesion. The OECD (2019) stresses the global priority of investing in youth, requiring aligned education and labour market policies. Understanding Gen Z’s values is key to developing programmes that enhance their workforce integration and societal contribution.

In this article, we will report results from two studies conducted in Finland among Gen Z students and discuss how the findings may reflect young adults’ values regarding their living environment and the work context. The use of two distinct data sets allows for a comprehensive exploration of both work-related and broader life perspectives among young adults. The quantitative data from Study A provides insights into participants’ preferences regarding their living environment and career aspirations, while the qualitative data from Study B delves deeper into work-related values and motivations. To address potential challenges in comparing these data sets, the results of each study are presented separately in the Results section. This separation ensures that the unique contexts and methods of each study are respected. However, the complementary nature of these perspectives enables a broader interpretation of young adults’ values, which is undertaken in the Discussion section.

Background

Generational theory holds that individuals, part of the same cohort, hold similar views, perceptions and beliefs as a result of having experienced similar formative events while growing up. These in turn shape their world view, their values and the relative salience they attach to specific values (Campbell et al., 2017; Scholz & Rennig, 2019). Due to their wide inclusion criteria, spanning nearly 20 years, the homogeneity of generational cohorts is questionable (Ng et al., 2022). In recent years, the utility of generational cohorts has been further criticised for being too simplistic and prone to generalisation (Parry & Urwin, 2021). Despite these concerns, generational research has not diminished as some argue such studies persist because of their continued usefulness in understanding what drives individuals belonging to the same cohort group (Twenge, 2023).

Existing literature highlights both similarities and differences in generational values (Azimi et al., 2021; Helve, 2023; Leijen et al., 2022). While both Gen Z and Gen Y value universalism and benevolence, Gen Z places more emphasis on stimulation, hedonism, and personal success (Azimi et al., 2021). Younger people generally prioritise openness-to-change values, while older groups focus on conservation values (Leijen et al., 2022). Contrary to concerns that Gen Z is less work-oriented, Pyöriä et al. (2017) found the importance of work has remained high over decades, with Määttä & Westerback (2022) suggesting it has even increased among young adults.

In their orientation on their living environment, young adults are strongly affected by the pull of cities for what these urban areas represent to them not just in terms of employment opportunities, but also symbolically and affectively (Farrugia, 2016). As young adults find themselves at a formative stage of life going through many impactful experiences, urban areas are very much associated with growing up and finding one’s place in life (Stockdale et al., 2018). In a study of Swedish rural youth, (Rönnlund, 2020) showed that despite identifying with their rural home regions, youth still felt a strong inclination to move away, thereby confirming the pervasiveness of narratives of cities as places of success and opportunity and rural areas as marginalised. The dominance of the mobility imperative suggests it is hard to contend with, however, engaging with young adults at a values level, both in terms of their personal and work values, may be meaningful to achieve value congruence.

Work values have been defined as basic and influential beliefs related to the work context that serve as criteria for assessing the salience of specific work attributes (Jin & Rounds, 2012; Ros et al., 1999). For several decades, work value studies have supported their relevance and association with positive outcomes related to the attraction and retention of young people, such as job satisfaction (Busque-Carrier et al., 2022), work engagement (Sortheix et al., 2013), and needs satisfaction at work (Vansteenkiste et al., 2007). Despite the extensive research in the area of work values, many conceptualisations exist (Abessolo et al., 2017).

Work values are key to shaping vocational identity, as prioritising them aligns with its development (Porfeli et al., 2013). Vocational identity involves a clear understanding of one’s goals, interests, traits, and skills, enabling better career decisions amid uncertainty (Wang et al., 2023). Porfeli et al. (2011) emphasise that forming a worker identity is crucial in the transition from adolescence to adulthood and, in parallel, from student to worker. Individuals’ work values have been found least stable during college years which is widely considered a formative time during which students crystalize their self-identities (Gupta et al., 2015; Jin & Rounds, 2012). Gen Z studies suggest that, in terms of their work values, Gen Z particularly values learning and professional development (Chillakuri, 2020; De Boer & Bordoloi, 2022), work-life balance (Ayoobzadeh et al., 2024; Chillakuri, 2020), job security and stability (Ayoobzadeh et al., 2024; Maloni et al., 2019), and making an impact through visible results (De Boer & Bordoloi, 2022; Maloni et al., 2019). The importance of positive work environments is also reinforced (Ramírez et al., 2022).  

Since the pandemic, Gen Z has been found to increasingly shift toward virtuous behaviours, as well as moderation, meaningfulness, and self-realization (Grénman et al., 2024). They have also been recognized as sustainable consumers due to awareness of climate change (Gurova, 2024; Kymäläinen et al., 2021). While some agreement can be found across the different studies, findings also reflect the heterogeneity of this generation in their espousal of work values due to e.g. gender and nationality differences in spite of increased global interconnectedness (De Boer & Bordoloi, 2022; Ng et al., 2022). Academic studies on Gen Z in Finland remain scarce, however, research by the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK, 2020) among young adults in Finland reported that the most important aspects of work include good salary, good colleagues, and work content.

Recent surveys have revealed concerning results regarding Gen Z’s mental health. In a global survey, almost half (46%) reported feeling stressed or anxious all or most of the time, and 52 per cent reported feeling burned out (Deloitte, 2023). In the most recent UN World Happiness Report (Helliwell et al., 2024), Finland was ranked the happiest country for the seventh year in a row. Noteworthily, the least happy age group in Finland was young people (age below 30), and considering young, Finland was ranked seventh in the world. While the well-being of most Finnish young adults is good, concerns have been raised about the prevalence of mental health problems among young people. Based on the Finnish Student Health Survey (THL, 2023), anxiety, depression, and feelings of loneliness or exhaustion were common among vocational education students. An extensive survey of higher education students in 2021 revealed that these problems were also widespread in higher education and that many students in universities of applied sciences felt unable to overcome their difficulties, drowned under the workload of studies, and lost interest in their studies. (THL, 2021)

Gen Z has garnered significant attention in both media and academia, being the first digital-centric generation with distinct life and work expectations. Benítez-Márquez et al. (2021) found a rise in Gen Z research since 2018, particularly in management, generational diversity, and sectors like tourism, psychology, and nursing. However, values research on Finnish Gen Z remains limited, with existing studies mainly focusing on their consumer behaviour (Grénman et al., 2024; Gurova, 2024; Kymäläinen et al., 2021). This article seeks to fill the present void in Finnish Gen Z studies, which is particularly relevant as Finland’s socio-demographic challenge to sustain its knowledge economy heavily depends on its successful retention and attraction of young people across its regions.

By examining the Gen Z preferences for both their living and work environments, this is one of the first studies to offer such a wide perspective. Additionally, few studies have examined domestic and international students simultaneously, however, incorporating the perspectives of both groups is particularly relevant as both groups are expected to make up Finland’s future workforce.

While the small sample size and the specific focus of our study limit its generalisability, the generational framework provides a useful lens for exploring broad trends and underlying factors that influence young adults’ values. It is important to note that our study does not aim to generalise findings to the entire Gen Z cohort but rather seeks to highlight specific themes within a Finnish context. Moreover, as emphasised in the literature (Ng et al., 2022; Rudolph & Zacher, 2022), we acknowledge the inherent heterogeneity within generational categories, driven by factors such as gender, educational background, and cultural context. This study seeks to explore such diversity rather than assume homogeneity, aligning with calls for more nuanced analyses of generational data.

Methods

Research Context

This article combines results from two independent studies (Study A and Study B) conducted at Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) (Study A and Study B) and Tavastia Vocational College (Study A). HAMK has about 9000 students across seven campuses. Education offered in seven fields is planned to serve business and industry needs, and the institution works closely with work-life partners. Tavastia Vocational College is part of an education consortium that provides both general and vocational upper-secondary education. The vocational college has approximately 2300 students. Education is offered in six fields including 33 study programs.

As the present study’s sample includes vocational and university students (Study A) and domestic and international students (Study B), the analysis will allow for the juxtaposition of each sample group’s value preferences to identify similarities and differences. This is particularly relevant as (Ng et al., 2022) noted the importance of studying the heterogeneity of generational cohorts by examining individual and contextual factors and (Ayoobzadeh et al., 2024) found significant differences between domestic and international students’ career expectations.

Study A

The data of Study A were collected in a project called “Promoting students’ employment and settling down in Kanta-Häme (in Finnish Opiskelijoiden työllistymisen ja pitovoiman edistäminen Kanta-Hämeessä)” funded by the European Social Fund Plus.

The data were collected using an electronic survey focused on the students’ experiences and views regarding the study path, career guidance, employment, and choosing a place to live. The Webropol questionnaire included 24 questions focusing on background information (n = 2), employment (n = 6), study path and career guidance (n = 6), and choosing a place to live (n = 10). No personal data were collected.

In this paper, we report the results of students’ dream jobs and criteria for choosing a place to live. Dream jobs were asked with two multiple-choice questions considering wished employment type and work contact type. Criteria for choosing a place to live were asked in two questions. First, the respondents used a 5-point Likert scale to indicate how relevant they found 18 aspects describing a neighbourhood. Second, they ranked the three most important criteria for choosing a place to live from 11 items. They could also select “Other” and write a new criterion.

The data were collected between 22September and 15 October 2023 at HAMK and Tavastia Vocational College. The target participants for the survey were young students in the final stages of their studies in certain fields of education. The students were eligible to participate if they:

• studied business; health and welfare; engineering, manufacturing and construction; agriculture or forestry; arts; tourism, catering and domestic services.
• had started their studies in the year 2021 or earlier.
• were under 29 years old.

After receiving a research permit from both institutes, the invitation to participate was sent by email including an introductory letter and a hyperlink to the survey. The invitation was sent to 2 312 students of university of applied sciences and 265 vocational college students. To increase the response rate, we used two email reminders and a postponed deadline (Edwards et al., 2023). Of the 2577 students invited, 232 completed the survey (response rate 9%).

The data were exported from Webropol to SPSS version 29 (IBM Corp, NY, USA) for further analysis. Descriptive statistical methods were used to depict the respondents and the results. When relevant, we determined the associations between respondents from a university of applied sciences and a vocational college by using a cross-tabulation with Fisher’s exact test.

Study B

The data of Study B were gathered in the context of a doctoral research project aimed at exploring the work value preferences of regional young adults in different EU regions.

Study B was qualitative in nature, utilizing a focus group methodology to explore the work value preferences of rural young adults. The group discussion format allowed participants to share their main motivations for the espousal and disavowal of specific work values and enabled the identification of areas of consensus between respondents. A semi-structured interview guide was developed in conjunction with earlier literature (Gesthuizen et al., 2019; Maloni et al., 2019; Porfeli et al., 2013) and pilot tested with a group of international students at a Dutch regional university of applied sciences in June 2023.

After a research permission was granted by the HAMK, a local lecturer assisted in the recruitment of the respondents for two focus group discussions. This study exclusively focused on students from the business domain. The first panel included international undergraduate students of International Business, while the other panel was solely composed of domestic students from the same degree programme. Signed informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to each focus group that took place in person in November 2023. The discussions were between 1 hour and 6 minutes and 1 hour and 43 minutes in length respectively.

At the start of the discussion, respondents were provided with a work values questionnaire, a revised version of Maloni et al.’s (2019) inventory, which was validated in prior quantitative studies (De Boer & Bordoloi, 2022, 2023). This questionnaire measures eight latent work value constructs and twenty-five constituting individual-level work values. The latent work value constructs include extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, stability, altruism, supervisory facilitation, social engagement, global citizenship, and leisure. Respondents were asked to rank the work values provided in order of importance in relation to their ideal job position after graduation. This enabled them to lock in their answers, and these served as the basis for the subsequent dialogue.

Following each focus group discussion, a debriefing took place between the moderator and observer present in the room to discuss and compare key observations and exchange perspectives on the level of interaction between the participants. Subsequently, the discussions were transcribed verbatim and compared against the original recording to ensure the accuracy of the transcript.

The verified transcripts were analysed using the thematic analysis approach of Braun and Clarke (2022) to inductively generate initial codes. These codes were further refined upon review of the combined analysis of the separate focus groups to ensure the final codes were representative of all discussions. The next step involved a more deductive approach to align the codes to extant literature. From this, the emergent themes were established.

Findings

Study A

The data of Study A comprised of 232 participants (Figure 1). The respondents were mostly (89,7 %) from the university of applied sciences (n = 208). They studied in a program of health and welfare (36,1 %), agriculture or forestry (30,8 %), business (13,9 %), engineering (13,9 %), or arts (5,3 %). The other tenth (10,3 %) were from vocational college (n = 24). Their field of education was health and welfare (29,2 %), arts (29,2 %), business (25,0 %), or catering and domestic services (16,7 %).

Choosing a place to live

When the participants assessed the relevance of specific characteristics of the living neighbourhood, they found most of the 18 items important (17 items with a median of 4–5 on a 5-point Likert scale). The item ranked highest was safe living. The students also valued job opportunities and a comfortable and green environment. The lowest scores were given to self-employment opportunities. Also, family-friendliness, modernity, activities and events, and finding friends were less relevant aspects of the living neighbourhood (Figure 2).

When choosing a place to live, the most important criterion was finding a job corresponding to one’s education. Job from own field was selected as one of the three most important by 71 per cent of participants, whereas only 11 per cent valued any job. The top three criteria also included an apartment (53 %) and a living environment (53 %). (Figure 3).

Hopes for employment

A clear majority of the participants wished for a full-time job (74,1 %). Seven per cent found their dream job to be self-employment. Part-time jobs or on-call work were most rarely selected. There were statistically significant differences between institutions (p = 0.001). The university of applied sciences students were more interested in full-time jobs (77,4 %) than students in vocational college (45,8 %). Students in vocational college pursued one or several part-time jobs (25,0 %) more often than students in university of applied sciences (7,7 %). Noteworthily, a quarter of vocational college students found the type of job not relevant or were unable to specify their answer (Table 1).

About a third of participants wanted to have permanent employment (63,8 %), while fixed-term employment was desired only for 7,3 per cent and others found it not relevant or were unsure. The answers differed between institutions (p = 0.002). Namely, most of the students at the university of applied sciences selected permanent employment (67,3 %) compared to vocational college students (33,3 %), from which 58 per cent found dream type of employment not relevant or unsure (Table 1).

Table 1. Dream jobs.

		UAS	VC	Total
Dream employment type, n (%)	Full-time job	161 (77.4)	11 (45.8)	172 (74.1)
	One part-time job	8 (3.8)	2 (8.3)	10 (4.3)
	On-call work or several part-time jobs	7 (3.4)	4 (16.7)	11 (4.7)
	Self-employment	16 (7.7)	1 (4.2)	17 (7.3)
	Not relevant / cannot say	16 (7.7)	6 (25.0)	22 (9.5)
	Total	208 (100)	24 (100)	232 (100)
Dream work contract type, n (%)	Permanent employment	140 (67.3)	8 (33.3)	148 (63.8)
	Fixed-term employment	15 (7.2)	2 (8.3)	17 (7.3)
	Not relevant / cannot say	53 (25.5)	14 (58.3)	67 (28.9)
	Total	208 (100)	24 (100)	232 (100)

UAS = university of applied sciences
VC = vocational college

Study B

The data for study B were obtained from two focus group discussions with 11 international (n = 8) and domestic (n = 3) undergraduate students of International Business. The majority (64 %) were in the final years of their studies. The participants were all between 20 and 24 years of age. The male participants (n = 7) outnumbered the number of females (n = 4). The international students comprised five students from Eastern and Central Europe, two students from Western European countries and one South Asian student. Table 2 below presents the key demographic information of the participants.

Table 2. Participants in Study B.

Code	Gender	Nationality
IS-1	Male	Luxembourg
IS-2	Female	Bangladesh
IS-3	Male	Czech Republic
IS-4	Male	Slovakia
IS-5	Male	German
IS-6	Female	Romania
IS-7	Female	Poland
IS-8	Male	Slovakia
DS-1	Female	Finland
DS-2	Male	Finland
DS-3	Male	Finland

IS = International student
DS = Domestic student

Three main themes that emerged from the analysis were learning and development, financial security and stability, and meaningful work. Learning and development was deemed most important by both international and domestic students in connection to their ideal job position after graduation. The need for financial stability was also a salient theme with both student groups. The third dominant theme, meaningful work, was solely considered important by international students.

Learning for personal and professional development

Learning for personal and professional development was deemed the most important work value in relation to their ideal job after graduation. Students described the process of personal and professional growth as an integral part of one’s career journey. Several students also expressed an awareness of the need for lifelong learning, particularly early on in one’s career, to invest in oneself and learn as much as possible. One student particularly linked the importance of learning to the career stage fresh graduates find themselves in, remarking that,

“Right after college, [I want to] develop myself as much as possible. Like five or ten years. And then like, sustain it somehow.”

(IS-3)

Learning similarly appeared to be closely connected to students’ wish for career advancement and their belief that acquiring new knowledge and skills will allow them to take the next professional step. For example, one student alluded to this by stating that,

“[I]t’s also important to constantly advance and to learn new ways to do things and to learn new points of view of other people and just to learn more about essentially everything, but especially new skills.”

(IS-8)

In both discussions, student narratives reflected the necessity of learning in today’s fast-paced technology-driven world and the need to maintain a relevant skill set. However, while the international students discussed this contextual perspective in positive or neutral ways as a sign of the times, the domestic students appeared to primarily be pessimistic and anxious about the pace of societal transformation, emphasising the insecurities resulting from change and anxieties related to falling behind. One domestic student reflected on this by sharing his observations on the reasons behind these trepidations,

“It seems like we all have this kind of dread about the future. I think for me, it might come more in this, how should I say it, this global kind of keeping up with the whole globe and being aware of everything all at once. … There’s a lot of inflation, there’s instability and I think that you could see that as a bit of fear.”

(DS-3)

Some of the fears expressed are linked to students’ life and career stages and their need for guidance and direction as they embark on their professional careers. For example, one Finnish student remarked that,

“I think because we are all so young and just in the beginning of our career, it is really scary to stand there, straight from school, it is like, what do I need to do?”

(DS-1)

This suggests the salience of the “instruction” work value is apparently strongly connected to learning and the amount of support provided during this professional development journey.

Financial security and stability

Student narratives revealed that money is considered one of the most salient work values by young adults in Finland, particularly as it is intrinsically connected to securing one’s material wealth and financial security, both in the short and longer term. Participants expressed the importance of money as a prerequisite for all other work values measured in the utilised work value questionnaire. This supports the rationale that basic needs are to be satisfied first in order “to pay the bills.” Some of the international students questioned the utility of work if one is not paid. For example, one student noted,

“I can’t afford to wait to pay my rent, to pay for my food. … What’s the point of doing something difficult, but ultimately not getting the value of my work?”

(IS-8)

A domestic student commented on short-term contracts not being conducive to financial stability and meeting basic needs,

“And then it’s a year and that’s kind of not so secure feeling and I need to pay my bills and all of that.”

(DS-1)

In both panels, comments were made regarding the importance of money, but some student narratives suggested a certain level of discomfort with this as the students did not wish to be perceived as greedy. Instead, they appeared to reinforce the inescapable necessity of money. One domestic student noted,

“It is important in this world, whether we like it or not.”

(DS-2)

However, some students were less apologetic explicitly stating the need to prioritise oneself in pursuit of a secure future. As one student observed,

“I go that you’re your own number one priority and with money, you can secure yourself for the future.”

(IS-4)

International students emphasised the transactional nature of work, arguing that through work individuals trade in valuable time and contribute to an organisation, which, following a quid pro quo type of reasoning, should be compensated financially. A student tellingly remarked,

“So, what is the point of having a job if you’re not getting paid for it?”

(IS-5)

While retirement was not consistently ranked high, some participants expressed doubts about the longevity of current retirement schemes, thereby stressing the importance of proactively taking control of one’s own financial situation and anticipating this thereby ensuring financial security in the future. One student underscored the urgency he experienced by noting that,

“The sooner I start worrying about it, the more time I have to adapt to it and set myself and my life up in a way that I have certainty at the end of my working age.”

(IS-1)

Meaningful work

The third theme stemming from the analysis concerned students’ expressed preference for engaging in work that is either personally meaningful to themselves or valuable to wider society. This desire was reflected in the salience among international students of three work values, namely, visible results, idealism and creativity.

Some students noted the importance of seeing the impact of their contribution. Their narratives included references to previous internships and other work experiences serving as examples of situations in which they were unable to see the results of their work due to, for example, the large size of an organisation and its accompanying hierarchical processes or slow pace of decision-making. As such, these forms of engaging practically with the world of work served as important antecedents of specific work values and their salience.

Several students, particularly females, explained the importance of idealism in their future jobs after graduation by alluding to their wish to make a positive societal contribution. As one student remarked,

“I always have this feeling that I want to change the world, even though maybe it’s not really possible. But if I could find a job that at least gives something to the world that would be perfect.”

(IS-7)

Another female student referred to utilising one’s talents for the benefit of society stating,

“I am very convinced that everyone has a gift or several gifts. If we are aware of that we can give back to the world. I could never work in a job where I don’t feel like I can use my gifts or that I can do something meaningful.”

(IS-6)

Some student narratives explained creativity in the form of being able to shape one’s own tasks and to complete these as they see fit rather than being micromanaged or following standard operating procedures. In a similar vein, several students expressed a strong preference for new and challenging tasks over repetitive and monotonous ones. They also voiced an aversion towards repetitive and slow-paced tasks as opposites of learning and growing. For example, one student described these sentiments quite visually,

“I would rather jump in cold water over and over again than just being nice and warm. I hate it.”

(IS-6)

Discussion

Our results indicate that Finnish Gen Z highly values proximity to nature, safety, and accessibility to services when choosing a place to live. Regarding employment, Gen Z prioritises job security, work-life balance, and professional development opportunities. These findings align with previous studies, which emphasise that Gen Z seeks stability and growth in their careers (Ayoobzadeh et al., 2024; Chillakuri, 2020). The desire for a positive work environment and meaningful work also emerged, echoing the value Gen Z places on organizational culture and impactful roles (Ramírez et al., 2022).

The emphasis on safety in the findings is particularly notable, possibly reflecting the uncertainty of current global crises. Gen Z has grown up during globally challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Azimi et al., 2021; Grénman et al., 2024). Concerns have been raised that young adults’ mental health problems may been exacerbated by recent disruptive times (Middleton et al., 2021). Current crises have impacted Gen Z’s environmental and social consciousness, well-being, and study and work opportunities (Grénman et al., 2024) and caused them worries about uncertainty in their future (Azimi et al., 2021). For example, The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened concerns about personal physical and psychological safety (Azimi et al., 2021; Middleton et al., 2021). Recent studies have suggested psychological distress related to the Russian-Ukrainian war among young adults in Europe (Greenglass et al., 2024; Regnoli et al., 2024). In a Finnish study, 63 per cent of 110 young adults reported that the war decreased their sense of safety (Eronen et al., 2022). These events have made safety a critical factor, not only in living environments but also in work expectations.

Our results show that Gen Z seeks stability through permanent, full-time employment, conflicting with the reality of high part-time and temporary employment rates among young people in Finland (OECD, 2019). An interesting finding was that a significant number of vocational college students reported uncertainty or indifference regarding their preferred type of job or employment contract. This suggests that many young adults may require support in clarifying their personal preferences and aspirations related to their career paths. Such uncertainty could stem from a lack of knowledge about diverse career options, as well as anxieties about precarious work, an uncertain labour market (Allan et al., 2021), and the tension between the expectations of the working world and the values and aspirations of young adults (Ågren, 2023). We also wonder whether the low interest in self-employment is linked with the perceived precarious nature of being one’s own boss and prevailing conceptions of risks and unpredictability (Conen & Schippers, 2019). Our results imply that financial security and confidence in the future are other aspects of safety, reflected in the importance Gen Z places on salary and financial independence. Awareness of potential future challenges, such as unsustainable pension schemes, further influences their focus on financial planning. Affordability in living environments is also a primary concern, likely driven by rising living costs (Deloitte, 2023). Gen Z seeks locations that balance affordability with access to amenities and opportunities.

Our findings suggest that some students, Finnish in particular, feel vulnerable and lack self-confidence. They expressed a need for support and career guidance, feeling overwhelmed by the fast-paced, turbulent job market. This might explain why they prioritised instruction and friendships in their work values, in contrast to international students. Interestingly, social networks, modernity, and community activities of the living environment were less important to our respondents than expected. Previous research suggests that these aspects are significant for young adults and that they seek out living environments for symbolic and affective reasons (Farrugia, 2016). The low relevance of family-friendliness as a desirable neighbourhood feature likely reflects the respondents’ life stage. According to life course development theory (Rérat, 2014), family-friendliness becomes more significant as individuals transition to parenthood.

Our results reinforce the importance of personal and professional growth opportunities for Gen Z. They are drawn to environments that offer access to education, job prospects, and quality of life. Moreover, they value meaningful work that has a positive impact, reflecting their desire to spend time on activities that benefit organisations and society. This is in line with earlier knowledge that Gen Z highlights sustainability and wishes to drive change in their organisations (Deloitte, 2023). The preference for green spaces and sustainable transportation options suggests that Gen Z prioritises environmental consciousness. This may be linked to Finland’s cultural context, where nature plays a key role in well-being. It has even been suggested that Finland being the happiest country in the world is partly due to people’s close connection with nature (Fagerholm et al., 2021; Lahti & Seppälä, 2024).

Conclusions and implications for practice and future research

Today’s young adults face an increasingly volatile world. They feel pressure to acquire relevant skills while navigating these challenges with their values as a guide, balancing priorities against nice-to-haves. Understanding Gen Z’s values and preferences is critical for creating supportive living and working environments. Our study highlights the importance of safety, job security, and well-being. Addressing these needs can help policymakers and employers engage this vital demographic, supporting sustainable development and organisational success. Our study has several implications for policy and practice.

For urban planners, understanding Gen Z’s living environment preferences can guide residential development to attract young talent. For employers, recognizing this generation’s diverse work values can inform HR practices that enhance job satisfaction and retention. The increased focus on safety among Gen Z may indicate a broader societal shift toward prioritising resilience and security. Urban planners and policymakers should design environments that promote both safety and community resilience. Career stability is another major concern, and organisations should offer clear career pathways, stable contracts, and supportive work environments. Career guidance in educational institutions is crucial, as many students feel overwhelmed by rapid societal changes. Such programmes can help students transition smoothly from education to work (Education GPS, OECD, n.d.) as well as promote self-employment by highlighting its positive aspects, aligning with Gen Z’s key work values of growth and meaningful work. Interestingly, our data reveal some heterogeneity within Gen Z, particularly between domestic and international students, as well as between vocational and university students. This variation underscores the need for flexible HR strategies that address diverse needs and expectations.

A key limitation of our study relates to its scope and composition of the data. While we aimed to explore generational values, the relatively small sample size and the specific focus on certain educational institutes and fields of study limit the generalisability of our findings. As a result, comparisons between different groups of respondents are somewhat difficult. Given these limitations, reported differences and variations should be considered indicative rather than conclusive. Additionally, the integration of both quantitative and qualitative data from largely distinct participant groups leads to the different data sets not being fully aligned. Despite these limitations, our study findings expose perspectives of Gen Z in a peripheral context. These merit further exploration as leveraging this generation’s perceptions is crucial in ensuring peripheral regions remain attractive places to live and work.

Future research could also explore the heterogeneity within Gen Z, considering factors like gender, educational background, and culture as the work values study, in particular, exposed differences in vocational values espoused between male and female students as well as between domestic and international students. Longitudinal studies could offer insights into how values evolve over time, especially as values are least stable during young adulthood (Jin & Rounds, 2012). Comparative studies across regions could enrich our understanding of Gen Z’s global perspectives, offering insights into how employers and policymakers can attract and retain young talent in peripheral areas facing skills shortages.