Currently, the labor market is facing many challenges after the Covid pandemic. While many employees were laid off during the pandemic, companies are now searching intensively for qualified workers. While the average vacancy rate is rising, job portals also report new open positions peaks. In this context, Gen Z becomes relevant, as they have already partially entered the labor market and expect to account for 27% of the global workforce in 2025. This generation is described as the most socially oriented and educated generation and wants to actively make a difference. Due to the labor shortage, there is increasing competition for highly qualified workers, which makes it particularly relevant for companies to understand what Gen Z expects from their employers. Therefore, this study investigates the meaning and assessment of Gen Z regarding the sustainability and purpose of a workplace.  To address this research gap and why Gen Z applies to a specific company, three focus groups with 5 participants each were conducted. The participants were master’s students enrolled in a business program. The comparison between the existing literature and the findings shows that the sustainability and purpose of Gen Z concerning the workplace are essential. Participants indicated that they would prefer working for a sustainable company. It is crucial to Gen Z in the study that their values align with the company's values and that there is a high level of transparency and authenticity. A limitation of the study's findings are more catered to Gen Z business master students and may not apply to the whole generation.

This thesis explores the sociological underpinnings of generation by drawing on Mannheim's theory of generations and applying the concept as an explanative force in long-term societal change. Individuals of the same cohort and national culture make for a generation location; they share a similar parameter of experience within the stream of history. As individuals collectively enter into the formative years of adolescence, significant Imprint Events can forge a bond between them in terms of mindset and worldview (Habitus), which endure over the life course. This group of individuals, as a result, develop a generational consciousness that is distinct from other groups who had different generation locations and formative imprints. When that group interacts with elements of their social order through the lens of their distinct generational consciousness, they truly become a social generation. Social generations are not monolithic, however, and separate generation units can emerge when individuals respond to the same formative circumstances in different ways. Some generation units are so prominent or vocal that their response, despite being one of many, is perceived as the perspective of the generation; these units tend to define the legacy of that generation. Through actualizing their generational consciousness in ways both intentional and unintentional, grand and minuscule, a generation acts upon the social process, creating social change or maintaining the status quo. Younger generations, because they are less socialized and routinized by the present configuration of society, are more likely to drive social change. Because new generations emerge with their own consciousness and create change in the image of that consciousness, the ceaseless process of generation succession can be viewed as a driving force of history.

This paper explores the crucial role of language in understanding the spiritual lives of young people today, commonly known as “Gen Z.” Though significant disaffiliation rates among young people often cause alarm within faith communities, this paper argues that listening carefully to the language of young people provides a more nuanced, in-depth picture that statistics on religious affiliation do not capture, which is critical in developing effective pastoral care for young adults. This paper opens with a sociocultural approach to Gen Z, drawing upon generational analysis and sociological data to demonstrate how different types of research yield varied results in their findings on young people’s spiritual lives. The exploration section is followed by a Christian perspective on finding faith in unexpected voices through exegesis of Matthew 15:21-28. This portion of the paper argues that, when we encounter people whose worldview differs from our own, language is integral to challenging and transforming our viewpoint. As a response to this matter of taking young people’s spiritual language seriously, the final part of this paper proposes a listening session for teens and their families in the context of a high school Confirmation program. Ultimately, the goal of this paper is to emphasize the rich interior lives that are already active in young people, even if on paper they may describe themselves as unaffiliated, and that the best way to become part of those ongoing spiritual journeys is through a pastoral ministry that is grounded in accompaniment and listening.

Purpose – The upcoming workforce of Generation Z brings new perspectives to the workplace, while also demonstrating a short-term organizational commitment. This creates a challenge for employers to create a sustainable employee retention. The purpose of this study is to enrich the literature on Gen Z employee turnover, particularly focusing on how companies can manage the rapid and unpredictable turnover associated with Gen Z and the factors that influence how long these employees choose to stay. Method - This explorative single-case study examines a global retail company operating in Sweden. A total of 22 interviews were conducted in three waves, and the analysis was performed using thematic analysis. Findings - In the study, four hygiene factors, three motivators, and four actions for these factors were identified for companies to consider to retain Gen Z. Additionally, a framework was developed to illustrate what actions and dynamic capabilities companies should possess along the employee’s journey from recruitment to exit to lower turnover vulnerability. Theoretical contribution - This study deepens understanding of Gen Z employee retention, turnover vulnerability, and motivation theory. It highlights the balance between retention and turnover and introduces the concept of expectation management, which demonstrates how motivators can shift to hygiene factors based on communicated expectations. Additionally, it emphasizes the role of recruitment in aligning employees with company characteristics to improve retention and explores the dynamic capabilities needed to enhance organizational resilience against turnover. Practical implications - This study offers managers insights into Gen Z employee values, emphasizing job advancement, growth opportunities, and salary as crucial retention factors. It provides a framework to mitigate turnover vulnerability by managing expectations and ensuring motivators remain effective. By utilizing this framework, managers can understand the retentionturnover relationship and enhance resilience by focusing on early relationship building, dynamic employment forms, and knowledge retention. Proactive measures in recruiting the right people are also recommended. Limitations and future research - Generalizing to a broader population may be questioned due to the study's focus on one company and lack of comparative analysis across different businesses and countries. Excluding former employees could also lead to a biased view. Future research should address these limitations by incorporating comparative generational analysis and multicase studies. Additionally, investigating the gig economy and strategies to enhance employee effectiveness could provide further insights into employee retention.

Social media platform TikTok has grown in recent years to become a market leader. Gen Z is a large part of the app's users and they are also more likely to make impulsive purchases. TikTok exposes personalized content to the individuals, which provokes unexpected purchase intentions. The focus of the study is on consumer discovery of viral content related to products from the furniture and interior design industry. The theory review of the research highlights the connection between TikTok and the impulsive buying behavior, as well as the layers that the individual goes through in between.  The purpose of this study is to explore and understand how furniture and interior design that has gone viral on TikTok contributes to Gen Z's impulsive buying behavior. This study aims to provide an understanding of the phenomenon of virality as well as an insight into Gen Z's impulsive buying behaviors. In order to answer the research question, empirical data was collected through a qualitative research method using ten semi-structured interviews. The respondents belonged to Gen Z and were resident in Sweden. The empirical data was analyzed using the method of thematic analysis, which produced three new themes and enabled the research question to be answered.  The conclusion of the thesis showed that TikTok contributes to Gen Z's impulsive buying behavior. EWOM has played a major role in the respondents' purchase decisions. Reviews have evoked needs that then led to impulse purchases while also preventing other purchases when reviews explained the negative features of the product. The results of the study show that the sample means that more impulse purchases have been made since TikTok became the market leader.

Abstract  Background: Online marketing has transformed how businesses engage with consumers, largely through the rise of social media and ephemeral content within. These platforms facilitate direct communication and engagement by providing short-lasting content that captures the consumers’ attention in a quick manner, tapping into consumers’ fear of missing out. Despite increased use of said marketing tactics and content, ephemeral marketing impact on consumer perception and engagement is largely under-researched, specifically with an industry emphasis, in this case the fitness apparel industry. Purpose: The main goal of the study is to find out how Gen Z consumers of the fitness apparel industry perceive and engage with ephemeral marketing, and the variables which have an effect on these. Method: A qualitative method with a deductive approach through two focus groups consisting of Gen Z consumers from Jönköping University. Primary data was analysed through a deductive thematic analysis using a conceptual framework derived from the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Conclusion: A thorough interpretation and analysis of the empirical findings provided a proper understanding of consumers perception and engagement with ephemeral marketing, emphasising the importance of different elements in the ephemeral content. Furthermore, there were new findings regarding the influential factor FOMO, which demonstrated the potential to be an element alongside WOM and eWOM, playing a role in both central and peripheral routes. Thus, a final reconceptualization of the conceptual model is presented.

Dagens organisationer möter nya villkor och krav från de yngre generationerna Millennials och Gen Z på arbetsmarknaden. Med de yngre generationernas nya villkor och krav har organisationen fått det svårare att behålla dem på sin arbetsplats. De har bidragit till en högre personalomsättning än vad tidigare generationer har gjort och denna studie har till syfte att undersöka vad det beror på och vad organisationen bör göra för att behålla dem. Det är även syftet att ta reda på om faktorerna som får Millennials och Gen Z att byta arbetsplats skiljer sig  åt eller om det är samma. Studien genomförde två olika insamlingsmetoder, en kvantiativ och en kvalitativ, som sedan analyserades och tolkades med ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt. Analysen visade att Millennials byter arbetsplats för att; det är brist på balans mellan deras arbetsliv och privatliv, att de inte får den utveckling, utbildning eller befordran de förväntar sig samt för att de känner sig osäkra i sin anställning eller med sin lön. Resultatet visade även att  Gen Z byter arbetsplats på grund av; att de känner sig osäkra i sin anställning eller i sin lön, att det är brist på balans mellan arbetsliv och privatliv samt att de inte kan lita på eller vara stolt över sina ledare/ chefer. Dessutom visade resultatet att organisationer behöver ta reda på vad de yngre generationernas förväntningar är på dem och arbetsplatsen för att kunna behålla dem som  anställda. De behöver veta även att Millennials och Gen Z som anställda skiljer sig åt i sina  förväntningar och behov, samt att de faktorer som dem prioriterar när de väljer arbetsplats inte är samma faktorer som får dem att lämna. / Today's organisations are facing new conditions and demands from the younger generations of  Millennials and Gen Z in the employee market. With the new conditions and demands of the  younger generations, organizations are finding it more difficult to retain them in the workplace. They have contributed to a higher employee turnover rate than previous generations and the aim is to study what it depends on and what organizations should do to retain them. It also aims to  find out if the factors that cause Millennials and Gen Z to change jobs are different or if it is the  same. The study carried out two different collection methods, a quantitative and a qualitative  one, which were then analyzed and interpreted with a qualitative approach. The analyze revealed that Millennials change workplaces because; there is a lack of work-life balance, they  do not get the development, education or the promotion they expect and because they feel insecure in their employment or with their salary. The results also showed that Gen Z changed jobs because; they feel insecure in their employment or salary, there is a lack of work-life balance and that they cannot trust or be proud of their leaders/managers. In addition, the results  showed that organisations need to find out what the younger generations' expectations are of  them and the workplace in order to retain them as employees. They need to know that  Millennials and Gen Z as employees differ in their expectations and needs, and that the factors that they prioritize when choosing a workplace are not the same factors that cause them to leave

Problem background: The voluntary turnover of employees is increasing, the baby boomer generation is retiring and the remaining jobs are to be filled with the workforce left behind, a workforce that is smaller in size. These younger generations (generation Y and Z) have different values and attitudes towards work, and they tend to switch jobs more frequently. This means that companies needs to focus on retaining their personnel. This is particularly true for SMEs since they do not have the same resources to spend on attracting potential workers as larger corporations. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how SMEs use employer branding to retain young employees (18-30 years old) in their organization and how it is perceived. Theoretical framework: Consists of theories regarding employer branding and organizational behaviour. These include signaling theory, functional and symbolic attributes, the seven brand value propositions and organizational reputation. Methodology: The authors has used a deductive qualitative approach where a total of 14 semi structured interviews has been conducted. Seven of the interviews were performed on employees between the age of 18-30 years old from three different companies. The remaining seven were performed on management personnel from the same three companies. The respondents answered a questionnaire at the end of each interview. Empirical results: Contains a summary of each company that were involved as well as what was discussed and uncovered in the interviews. Analysis: It connects the empirical results and the theoretical framework. The found discrepancies and similarities are discussed and analyzed with the seven brand value propositions based on the theoretical framework. Conclusion: It was concluded that there exists a discrepancy between Workers and Management when it comes to the time the Workers are willing to stay. It was also uncovered that development was an important aspect when it came to the young employees turnover intention as well as flexible schedules, support from management, salaries and varying work tasks. The reputation of the companies was also not accurate which in turn could affect the matching potential between organization and individual.

Background: Increased awareness of the climate crisis leads to sustainability becoming moreimportant to many people as the actions made today will have a large impact on futuregenerations. Generation Z is soon to be the largest consumer group globally, where most peopleare interested in implementing sustainable lifestyles. Gen Z will soon hold a powerful positionas fashion consumers and has the ability to drive positive changes for societies globally. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study consumer attitudes and behaviour towardspurchasing sustainable fashion products on the Swedish market. The group aimed to be studiedincludes people over the age of 18 in Sweden that belong to generational cohort Z. Method: The method used for this research is exploratory, taking on an inductive approachand collecting qualitative data through 10 semi-structured interviews with people between theages of 18-27 in Sweden. The findings from the data emerged from thematic analysis. Conclusion: The results show that there is a genuine concern for the climate and the future ofthe planet among the cohort, which also has an impact on the attitude. Despite the positiveattitude towards purchasing sustainable fashion products, there is an existing gap between thepositive attitude and consumer behaviour. The accumulated value from factors such as price,style, and availability is often higher than the sole value of an item’s sustainability factor.

Brands’ engagement in activism is increasing as consumers expect more of brands, especially the younger generations. However, brands have different intentions behind their engagement in activism. The purpose of this thesis is to explore female Gen Z consumers’ perception of global brands’ engagement in activism, and how this perception influences their brand loyalty. Female Gen Z consumers’ mind is explored since previous research indicates that there are gender differences within perception and loyalty. A qualitative method in the form of four online focus groups were conducted to collect empirical data. Three findings were discovered, which contributed to understanding of the existing gap in research. Firstly, female Gen Z consumers positively perceived global brands’ engagement in activism. Secondly, they perceived and responded to brand activism based on the campaigns’ message, its connection to the brand and its offerings. Thirdly, female Gen Z consumers’ perception influenced their brand loyalty. The study contributes with an additional understanding of young female consumers’ perspective which can be useful for marketers when creating activist campaigns. Future research could study the perspective of male Gen Z consumers or Gen Z consumers to get additional understanding.