A panelist at the 2026 Lockton Global Benefits Forum Hong Kong challenges the idea that generational differences are just about flexibility versus stability. She argues that what Gen Z and Gen X really want is career transparency and trust, not what stereotypes suggest. Open communication uncovers what actually matters to each generation.
I think one of the previous sessions, Vivi, I don't know where she is, she was actually talking about the different expectations and she gave the examples of Gen Z typically, I don't want to generalize, but typically they want more flexibility and then maybe they want more entrepreneurship, whereas on the other hand, Gen X, for example, we want more stability or we might be thinking about retirement. So I think the problem is not so much knowing that people want different things, the information is out there. I think it's going one level deeper and understanding why people want that. Because— Because if we don't understand the motivation, then it creates a lot of friction. And I'm going to give a very simple example. A couple of years ago, when I was in the corporate world, one of my employees, one of my direct reports, after 6 months, she told me that she wanted to know how to be promoted. And to me, it was like, what do you mean? You've just been here for 6 months. In my generation, it was about put your head down, do the work, and someone will recognize you. But then when I started to have a conversation with her, she was a much younger generation, she was explaining that what she wanted is to do a great job. And she wanted to have career progression, and she wanted to have transparency so that she knew that if she was here and she wanted to get here, what she needed to do and what were the competencies to bridge that gap. And so I find that very often the conversation is about oh what does one generation want? What does the other generation want? When in reality is much more about the mindset of why do they want this and how can we find that common ground? Another example is with the working from home. Typically, gen We are we have to be in the office because that's how I see you and that's how I grew up in my corporate culture. So that's what we want. On the other hand, you're gonna have Gen Z who say, "Well, but I'm much more productive. Why do I have to waste two hours of transport?" And when you have that open conversation, then you realize that it's actually not so much about whether you work from home or whether you work from a coffee shop. It's much more about trust. And if one party wants visibility and transparency and the other wants flexibility, how do we find So I think that's really the conversation. Why do people want to go to the, the root cause? So it's all about open and authentic communication, right?
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