Zoho co-founder and Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu on Monday shared why he believes age-based labels such as Gen Z do not always reflect people’s priorities and values. In a post on X, Vembu said he has met employees from different age groups and found that responsibility, financial discipline and family commitments matter more than generational stereotypes.

Sharing examples from his workplace, Vembu said some of the strongest values he has witnessed are among young employees who place family responsibilities ahead of personal comforts.

“I come across a large number of people of various age groups, and I don’t find categorizing generations based on age all that meaningful,” Vembu wrote.

What Vembu said

Vembu recalled a conversation with a 19-year-old employee who told him that her main goal was to earn enough money to help her parents repay loans and support her younger siblings.

According to Vembu, the employee spends carefully to maximise her savings. He said she buys inexpensive clothes and even repairs her broken footwear instead of replacing it because she wants to save every rupee for her family.

“A 19-year-old employee told me last week that she works hard to earn money so that her parents can repay their loans and support her younger siblings. That is her foremost priority in life,” Vembu wrote.

He added, “She buys only low cost clothes, she mends her broken footwear and so on because she wants to save every rupee.”

Vembu said he was deeply impressed by her sense of responsibility and even told her that he would visit her parents personally.

“I told her I would visit her parents and tell them how proud they should be of their daughter,” he wrote.

What did Vembu say about young employees and spending?

Vembu also shared the experiences of two Zoho employees, both around 25 years old, who recently got married.

According to him, both employees chose to keep their weddings simple after following his advice not to spend unnecessarily on ceremonies.

“Recently two marriages happened among our employees (ages around 25) and both told me they took my advice to keep the wedding simple and not spend too much money,” he wrote.

Drawing from these experiences, Vembu said values such as financial discipline, simplicity and family responsibility are not limited to any one generation.

“These attitudes are timeless. I find them equally in Gen-Z,” he said.

Disclaimer: The content in this article is based on a viral social media discussion and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The financial figures and strategies mentioned are personal to the user and have not been independently verified.