It has become de rigour to frame Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) as difficult, entitled and not really prepared to get their hands dirty. To be honest, it’s a little lazy. Gen Z, like many generations that have gone before, arrive at the workplace with an energy for new ideas and ways of working. The big difference with Gen Z is that it is the first truly digital generation, but this also dovetails with new thinking around climate responsibilities, diversity, and inclusion. This is understandable, given their coming of age during a growing environmental crisis and social change. However, these values should not define their working habits. Gen Z has a lot to give and wants to work as much as the next generation. The problem facing many organisations - and the field service industry is no different here - is how to attract this new generation of workers given the growing global competition for talent? For the field service industry this is of particular concern given its ageing workforce. According to research, almost three quarters of companies (73%) identify an ageing workforce as a potential threat to their field service Maintenance Matters Focus on: Skills & Training 16 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk Annual Buyers’ Guide 2024 The need for a Gen Z injection to meet digitaldriven maintenance Wendy Tai, Director of Product Marketing for ServiceMax, looks at why there is a need for a Gen Z injection to meet digital-driven maintenance challenges and asks whether the industry is doing enough to embrace and train a younger generation of technicians? operations. This is not just because organisations will be left with employment gaps, it’s all because of the changing nature of field service towards more digitally driven solutions. While a degree of existing engineers can and will upskill, there are of course those that are not able to do so. As technologies advance, so the need for a more digitally driven field service team grows. Interestingly, the above research also found that over two thirds (67%) of companies feel that technology plays a key role in attracting new talent to field service - but the same could also be said for so many other organisations and industries. What is becoming clear is that digital tools and capabilities are becoming a common denominator in attracting Gen Z, so by that score, any organisation that lacks digitally driven ways of working will not be able to compete for talent. Servitisation and the lure of lifecycle management A London School of Economics (LSE) report last year suggested that Gen Z has very specific expectations of working environments and digital tools. The reports says that these include “a lack of tolerance for latency in communication,” as well as “a frustration with legacy solutions and the inability to expediently source information.” For field service teams, technology has enabled dramatic transformations, not just in ways of working but in how organisations Wendy Tai, Director of Product Marketing for ServiceMax
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