Chapter 10: Allowing Changing Work Patterns In The Military

Z wants to have the flexibility of being remote combined with the experience of occasionally being mobile when crafting work in the 21st century.

Solution: Increasing remote work, encouraging more lax leave policies, and recruiting foreigner Zers are ways to support the next generation of recruits.

Some of the greatest military conquests of all time have been accomplished by nomadic warriors. Genghis Khan led the Mongols on horseback throughout Asia, and Alexander the Great streamed down from Greece to present-day India. Occasionally moving from one's home is deeply rooted in our hunter-gatherer genetics. As the world industrialized, travel receded, and everything humans needed to survive was closely located with them. While the urge to travel and explore is nothing new, Gen Z has more flexibility in both where they geographically want to work and when they choose to do so. The movement to remote work saw Z become the first generation to do the better portion of a year of online schooling. Zooming became the method of collaborating as purely digital meetings flourished. While the jury is out on whether permanent remote work is here to stay or not, the experience forged a generation that will continue to want to use innovation to increase optionality around location and distance. Z wants to have the flexibility of being remote combined with the experience of occasionally being mobile when crafting work for themselves in the 21st century…

Matthew Weiss is currently an Intelligence Officer in the United States Marine Corps. His book, “We Don’t Want You, Uncle Sam: Examining the Military Recruiting Crisis with Generation Z” is available on amazon in paperback, e-book, and audiobook format.