• Growth Tank founder David Willey.
    Growth Tank founder David Willey.
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Youth marketing and recruiting experts shared some surprising insights on Gen Z workers at the NextGen Breakfast Forum this morning at AUSPACK 2019.

By 2025, Generation Z will comprise more than a quarter of the Australian workforce, and Growth Tank founder and a youth marketing expert David Willey shared his insights on how to connect with this important group.

Gen Z members prioritise positive workplace and culture higher than financial benefits, and place a higher importance on job security and fair pay than their millennial counterparts.

To make this group happy and productive, WIlley says, companies will need to be seen to be ethical, offer clear and structured career progression, and offer them personal (in addition to professional) development opportunities that help them grow as an individual.

They also value regular feedback, flexibility and work-life balance, he says. “Understanding that your employee’s life is more important than their work is key.” 

Presenter PWC Australia’s Justin Ling said the company uses more digital channels than ever to recruit and engage with its younger recruits.

He also noted that alternative pathways to employment are growing, and he predicted that school leaver recruitment will overtake graduate recruitment within five years.

Food & Drink Business

McCain Foods has turned over a full 24-hour production run at its Ballarat plant to Foodbank Australia, producing 120,000 meals valued at more than $790,000.

The Australian Beverages Council has committed the non-alcoholic drinks industry to lifting low and no sugar drinks to 70 per cent of water-based beverage sales by 2030, up from 65 per cent in 2024. The target is the centrepiece of the council’s Beverage Choices Roadmap to 2030 (BCR30), launched by CEO Geoff Parker at its annual Drinks Industry Dialogue in Sydney yesterday.

Sunshine Coast distillery Nil Desperandum’s The Double Dunder has received a Double Gold medal and an outstanding 98 points at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.