In a tight labor market, every potential edge in hiring needs to be taken very seriously. As Gen Z enters the workforce, employers in the engineering and contracting industries must be aware of their technology-related expectations or risk losing great employee prospects to their competitors. This generation grew up with technology all around them. It has become an everyday part of their lives. One could imagine why it’s so critical for employers to ensure that they are providing the right tech tools and resources to adequately support their new, tech-savvy, employees. So, what are the two most crucial ways contracting and engineering teams can accommodate the younger generation’s technology expectations?

On-Demand Accessibility

Gen Z expects on-demand accessibility. Growing up in the era of smartphones, younger employees are used to getting information quickly and easily, which means that employers must provide them with the necessary tools and access so that they can do their job efficiently. Most members of Gen Z simply will not have the patience for analog solutions like pen, paper, manual data entry, and often fruitless Google searches. So this means offering access to critical data in a timely manner – organizations should be prepared to give employees smartphone and cloud-based tech solutions that provide instant retrieval of the insights they need to do their jobs; this could include using artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically extract equipment specifications, identify equipment parts, and estimate remaining useful life of a unit all from one photograph. As an additional benefit to all employees regardless of age, having on-demand software systems will enable employees to complete tasks more quickly as well as cut down on errors from manual data entry.

Cloud Storage Solutions

The cloud provides an easy way for employees to store and share data without having to worry about hardware failures or security risks associated with storing data on local hard drives. This makes it easier for teams to collaborate remotely and ensures that any changes made are updated instantly across all devices connected via the cloud storage solution. These solutions also enhance scalability so that organizations can grow their storage capacity as needed without having to invest in additional physical infrastructure or hardware upgrades. Additionally, cloud storage solutions provide increased flexibility as users can access data from anywhere at any time with just an internet connection—which helps keep everyone connected no matter where they are located geographically or what device they are using (e.g., laptop, tablet, smartphone). Ultimately, Gen Z (not to mention Millennial) employees will just not accept an approach to storing building and equipment data in separate spreadsheets and/or photo galleries on each auditor’s phone or computer.

As more employees from the younger generations enter the workforce, employers must be aware of their technology expectations in order to stay competitive in today’s job market – especially considering the labor shortage in both the engineering and contracting industries. On-demand accessibility and cloud storage solutions should all be part of a modern workplace’s toolbox in order for contractors, engineers, and other professionals to stay productive. EMPEQ’s Fast Site Survey is a perfect example of the type of solution that is considered technological table stakes for younger employees. With Fast Site Survey, one click of a smartphone’s camera eliminates all the analog steps that used to be necessary to obtain and centralize the data crucial to building audits. With a single photograph, Fast Site Survey’s artificial intelligence instantly identifies and captures specifications, parts, estimated end of life, and various other critical data points and inputs each into the cloud. Investing in technology solutions like EMPEQ’s Fast Site Survey will pay off significantly over time as businesses strive towards success in today’s ever-changing digital landscape – get your free demo today!