Young people starting their careers could be ascribed to Generation Z, or Gen Z for short. According to McCrindle, more than a quarter of workers will be Gen Z employees after a few years. They grew up with a completely different mindset than the previous generations, and they have a separate understanding of what a professional setting should look like, what the relationship between colleagues and bosses should be, and what their rights are.
They brought in a more laid-back attitude, which is seen in the clothes they wear or how they communicate. Recently, a couple of TikTok videos went viral for showing what emails from a Gen Z employee look like as they drop boring sign-offs like ‘kind regards,’ ‘best wishes,’ or ‘cordially’ and come up with their own very sincere, genuine and funny sign-offs.
One video was shared by Truman, a representative of Gen Z who works at NinetyEight, “a culturally-driven strategic impact consultancy built by and for Gen-Z,” where all the employees were born in 1998.
6.6 million people watched the video, and 1.2 million liked the video. It is a true reflection of the young generation, and you can’t be mad at them for not being professional as those sign-offs are so genuine; besides, if they do their job, there is no harm in adding funny email signatures.
So, what do the Gen Z email sign-offs look like?
People online were amused by this TikTok video showing how Gen Z is signing off emails
Image credits: ninetyeightla
Another video that went viral was made from the perspective of a millennial who started a new company selling “activewear for athletes and couch potatoes alike” and only hired Gen Z employees. The boss shared the hilarious email signatures among his employees, and 2.9 million people saw the video.
These two videos are evidence that Gen Z is changing the business environment and that they tend to be more genuine, sincere, and non-apologetic for feeling the way they do about their jobs.
Image credits: ninetyeightla
These people work at a company where all the employees are born in 1998 and they are changing how business works
Image credits: ninetyeightla
How Does Gen Z Sign Off Emails?
Bored Panda reached out to NinetyEight and talked with one of the employees there, Truman Rae, about how Gen Z differs from other generations as employees and if they could change how some corporations currently work. But firstly, we wanted to know more about the Gen Z email sign-offs, and Truman revealed more details to us, “On internal emails and Slack messages, our team is comfortable being ourselves and value maintaining a fun atmosphere. On internal emails, our signoffs vary all the time; TikTok just pulled our favorites. We’d prefer also to be comfortable on client-facing emails, but not everyone operates on that wavelength.”
Image credits: ninetyeightla
How the Gen Z is Changing Corporate Culture
Even though the funny email sign-offs are just one small detail that shows how young people communicate in a professional setting, Truman shared with us how he thinks Gen Z employees have a different attitude towards jobs altogether, “More than any other generation, Gen-Z is dedicated to reimagining corporate, capitalistic structures. This is more than just installing a ping pong table or hammocks in your workplace. I think we’ll start seeing more horizontal organization structures and more openness in letting people work how they want to. Some of this might be internal within existing companies, but I’m most excited to see Gen-Z-founded companies like NinetyEight radically rethink what work and productivity look like.”
Image credits: ninetyeightla
Emphasis on Morals and Ethics in the Workplace
Counterterrorism professional turned career coach Ashley Stahl (via Forbes) also feels that Gen Z is quite different from other generations in terms of their attitude to their work. She points out a few things.
Gen Z first cares about the company’s morals, ethics, and environmental impact. They also care about how inclusive and diverse the workplace is, as they don’t tolerate discrimination. It is also important to Gen Z workers that the company is transparent and communicates with them.
The signoffs are very informal and they represent what the employees are feeling without any hidden meanings
Image credits: ninetyeightla
Life-work Balance and Respect Are the Most Important Factors
Connect Team, the company that created an app to make companies work more smoothly as it provides a space to create things like shift schedules, plan tasks, or follow attendance, has noticed how Gen Z workers are different from the previous generations.
According to the Connect Team, they have high values and seek a stable life-work balance. For many, having enough rest is more important than receiving a high salary.
Gen Z also values relationships in the workplace. They prefer to have a team and at least some kind of interaction with another human. In a survey by Rainmaker Thinking, Gen Z said that the most critical factor in human interaction is supportive leadership.
If we remember all the stories of young employees quitting their jobs that we discussed here on Bored Panda, most likely, the employees resigned because they couldn’t bear their managers. Hence, the data officially shows that not putting up with disrespect in the workplace is a generation-wide attitude.
Image credits: ninetyeightla
Image credits: ninetyeightla
Clear Goals is the Best Motivation for Gen Z
To work their best, Gen Z employees need to know what is expected of them and where the company is going so they’ll know how they can help achieve the common goal. They also need feedback and regular communication with their managers, not just an annual report of what has been done and what can be improved.
Another point that Connecteam points out as necessary when working with Gen Z is that they like technology and want its most updated version. They are valuable as employees because they can learn how to use sophisticated programs very quickly, and they will be demotivated if the equipment they have to work with is outdated.
Businesses noticed that Gen Z's attitude to work is completely different from other generations
Image credits: foxandrobin
Cultural Shift Starts With Small Things and Funny Email Sign-Offs
Because Gen Z workers have different values and want more from their employers, so they greatly impact how corporations proceed with business. Truman sees that change, “I think Gen-Z is already shifting corporate culture in both structural and minute ways. More than any other generation, we push corporations to be socially responsible, aware, and accepting. There’s still a long, long way to go, but I like the direction we’re going in. Rejecting boring and effectively meaningless sign-offs like ‘Best regards’ and ‘Thank you’ is just a fun, but small, way to strip power from traditional corporate culture.”
Image credits: foxandrobin
They are still hard-working, but more demanding so companies have to adapt as more and more of the workforce is made up of Gen Z
Image credits: foxandrobin
The Remote Work Debate
We also were curious about what Gen Z workers think companies should change to create a better work environment for everyone, and Truman believes that right now, employers should carefully consider their working-from-home or from-office policies, “Right now, we’re seeing various companies pressure employees to work in-office again. Many value working in person and are excited to return to the office. Still, a large segment of people enjoy working from home full-time or would rather only go into the office when necessary. To many Gen-Zs, it’s obvious that companies should facilitate their employees’ various workstyles rather than force them to return to an old status quo for normalcy.”
Image credits: foxandrobin
Image credits: foxandrobin
Gen Z Are All About Fairness When It Comes to Work
It seems that Gen Z just wants to be productive at work and not be bothered when they rest; they want the company to have decent human values and have a friendly relationship with colleagues, which includes informal emails and funny email signatures.
These requirements don’t seem unreasonable, and a company meeting these requirements sounds like a pretty cool place to work. Gen Z is onto something and probably has the right approach to work, so if they continue like this, we might not view business the same way in the future.
You can watch the video below
So, How Do You End a Sassy Email?
For the info that we gleaned in this article and from the TikTok videos at hand, here are some original tips for a passive-aggressive email sign-off that will get your message through:
Be yourself. Are you finding a task too difficult or a person too distracted to read what you mean? Tell them so!
Be kind. Fun email sign-offs are fun as long as they are kind-hearted and well-meaning. Look at the Gen Z sign-offs mentioned here—they’re sassy but always entertaining.
Have fun. Writing a corporate email might be just as dull to you as the person who has to read it. Have fun with it to lighten up the atmosphere! Choose funny ways to sign off an email and add comedy to your day.
So, did you find these Gen Z email sign-offs amusing? Do you think they are appropriate in a work setting? Also, what are your thoughts about Gen Z changing work relationships and how business is done in general? Let us know your reactions and opinions in the comments!
People in the comments loved the email signatures and offered some of their own
