Generation Y will soon be yesterday's news,pushed to the side by their younger brothers and sisters fromGeneration Z.

The Societyof Human Resource Professionals is already putting a magnifyingglass over the latter, whose oldest members are almost reachingdrinking age.

During the group's Talent Management Conference and Expositionin Orlando, Fla., Jeff Hiller, director of learning and developmentat Chicago-based JB TrainingSolutions, described some of the common personality traits ofthose who will soon be entering the job market.

According to Hiller, members of this generation tend to beskeptical and inclined to fact-check assertions. They grew upamidst economic turmoil brought on by the collapse of companiespreviously assumed to be invincible and watched their parents reelfrom foreclosures or other economic problems brought on by thefinancial crisis.

That is a marked contrast to the experience of millennials, wholargely grew up in a prosperous economy and then experienced adownturn in early adulthood.

Generation Z are known as 'globals'

He also explained that Generation Z — also known as “globals” —were on track to be the most educated generation in U.S. history,with an average of 16 years of formal education. But, just likemillennials, they're going to be paying far more for it than theirpredecessors. They'll be paying an average of $34,682 a year forcollege, compared to the already high $23,066 that the averagemillennial spent.

But, in keeping with their skeptical tendencies, there isnevertheless substantial evidence that globals are not sold on thevalue of higher education as much as millennials or Gen X-ers. Amassive international survey conducted in February found that 60%of globals were open to the idea of doing job-based traininginstead of going on to an institution for higher learning.

That's because of the ballooning cost of college as well as asense that anybody with good ideas can make it in the onlineeconomy, with or without a diploma.

“There are a great many young people considering forgoing thetraditional post-secondary education route in favor of less debt,more employer-sponsored training, and more employmentopportunities,” said China Gorman, the interim CEO of SHRM.

Of course, those who do go to college will likely be on thelookout for employers offering opportunities to pay off their debtquickly, either through generous salaries or formal loan repaymentprograms.

Willingness to question everything

And of course, unlike millennials, some of whom can remember apre-Internet world and most of whom did not touch a smartphoneuntil early adulthood, few Generation Z members can fathom anexistence without constant 24/7 connectivity. That's one of thereasons, Hiller reasoned, that they tend to have a hard timeaccepting assertions from parents, teachers and, yes, even bosses.“This provokes a willingness to question everything, because [they]can look it up,” he said.

As a result, Hiller warned the audience, their youngestemployees may not come on the job with the same sense of deferencetowards superiors often expected of newbies. To Generation Z, saidHiller, there “are no more pedestals.”