“Generation Toolbelt” is a column dedicated to exploring Generation Z, its relationship to the workplace and its role in helping fill construction’s labor gap.
There’s a solid chance that, as you’re reading this, I am on vacation.
I’m also a member of Generation Z, a group that places value on both a job well done and a robust personal life, as well as a cohort the construction industry is working hard to court.
When it comes to planning vacation, construction’s demanding nature means it’s hard enough to coordinate for time away. It’s another hurdle to have to justify it to a boss.
“I feel like tighter milestones and quick project deadlines in general mean you really have to plan out vacation pretty far in advance,” said Nate Haight, 26, an assistant project manager at a larger national contractor.
On top of planning for time away, Gen Z has to shoulder the expense of travel. Gen Z workers — typically more junior in their career — might not have as much disposable income for extravagant trips and are instead opting for taking shorter periods of time off.
Based on conversations I had with half a dozen Gen Zers in construction for this column, the toughest part of taking time off is the expectation that they should justify doing so to colleagues — not just their bosses. Even if they’re using earned PTO, Zoomer construction professionals said they can face interrogations when they put in for vacation.
Shorter vacations
Whether swinging hammers or working in the jobsite trailer, young construction employees say they can’t always manage the monetary costs of a lengthy vacation like their senior counterparts.
“I've only been working about a year,” said Jacqueline Yeung, 24, project engineer for McCarthy. “I think unfortunately I'm not at the point where I can afford a really great vacation.”
That, combined with rising costs for traveling this summer, means it’s tougher for them to afford a bigger trip.
“I try to take like one or maybe two longer vacations in the year,” Haight said. “But for the most part, it's a lot of Fridays. Long weekends.”
For craft workers, shorter vacations are more manageable as well. Yeung works in the Bay Area, which she says has a strong union presence. That enables tradesworkers to enjoy longer holiday weekends more often, as unions often extend the break through Mondays when there’s no work on Friday, or vice versa.
Working harder to stop working
In my job, before logging off for my current vacation, I set an outgoing email response, filed this story (and others) and created documentation for my team in case they had questions on my workflow while I’m away.
I was happy to do it. It’ll make my teammates’ lives easier, and they have done the same for me when they take time off. Construction pros similarly work hard to ensure their squad isn’t left high and dry in their absence.
“In my opinion, if you take PTO or vacation, you take it. That's your time. Phones off, done,” said Corbin Bradley, 28, and project manager for Rosendin. “The only requirement for that, though, is to set your team up for success and redirect emails and contacts and make sure somebody is there to replace you.”
But putting in that extra work can feel deflating when employees also encounter pressure to explain their need for a vacation to begin with.
Justifying earned time off
Gen Zers told me when they file for PTO, even well in advance, they’re met with questions. They can be interrogated as to why they’re taking time off.
To some, these aren’t collegial curiosities, but rather inquiries that seem to dig into whether someone deserves their time away.
“Whenever you put in vacation time or you're out for like a week or something, people start making comments,” Haight said. “‘No one wants to work anymore.’ They're joking, but it's also not really a joke.”
On balance, Zoomers I spoke to said their companies have generous PTO offerings, and their direct supervisors tend to encourage them to take the time they need to disconnect. Nonetheless, the comments from teammates can be discouraging for a group of workers that has a reputation for laziness. It’s as though their personal work ethic doesn’t earn them the benefit of the doubt.
What employers can do
A lot of these sensibilities aren’t unique to Gen Z, but the difference is both the monetary expense of taking a vacation as well as the stigma of young employees not wanting to work.
PTO is a workplace benefit. Generous offerings are part of what sources told me they like about their jobs. Making it easier for employees to use those benefits feels like a no-brainer.
In the first edition of this column, I wrote about how Gen Z doesn’t view their careers as their identity, but rather a means to pursue who they are. That can explain the difference in vacation mindset.
“For a lot of the older people in construction, their job is their main thing,” Haight said. “There’s people who — they're not proud of it necessarily — but they'll talk about all these different events that they missed in their kids' lives and wish they had been able to go back. A lot of them are kind of happy when younger people are taking time away for things.”
For what it’s worth, they are indeed using PTO for those events. When asked, sources I spoke to said their near-future plans included catching up with old friends, attending graduations or celebrating weddings. In other words, the kind of life events most important to make time for.
