Business leaders say Gen Z is unprepared for the workforce as they have poor communication...

[midian182]

A hot potato: Young people are the future, so the saying goes. But it's a sentiment that 4 out of 10 business leaders don't share; they think recent college grads' work ethic and communication skills make them unprepared to enter the workforce.

A survey conducted by Intelligent.com questioned 1,243 business leaders to find out their experience of working with Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) who graduated in 2020 to 2023 college classes.

Just under half of those surveyed (40%) felt that recent college grads were unprepared to join the workforce, the main reasons being poor work ethic and communication skills. They also said that a sense of entitlement and a lack of technological skills contribute to grads' unpreparedness.

Of those leaders who felt the grads are unprepared, 88% say this is truer now compared to college graduates from 3 years ago, and almost all (94%) admitted that they sometimes avoid hiring recent grads.

The majority of leaders believe culture is to blame for the lack of preparedness, though around half say parents, educators, and the pandemic played a part. Could colleges do anything to help their students? 88% of leaders said offering etiquette classes would be very or somewhat helpful.

Some of the leaders' resentment could come from the fact that many have had a grad make an unusually high salary request. Half had a candidate ask for $100,000 despite most of the positions having salaries of $70,000 or less.

Other surveys have shown that managers often find Gen Z more difficult to work with than previous generations and would rather work with millennials. Again, a lack of technological skills, effort, and motivation were put forward as the top reasons for Gen Z's difficulty.

It's worth remembering that 53% of leaders who participated in the recent survey believe that Gen Z is very or somewhat prepared to enter the workforce, while 7% are unsure. With the way work changed to mostly hybrid and remote setups during the pandemic, not to mention the threat of generative AI, some argue that nobody is prepared for the workplace of 2023.

"Elders have always complained about the 'new generation' – but somehow each new cohort has managed to find work and eventually to lead. The two-year gap of Zoom school clearly had a large impact on college students who typically grow dramatically in their "people" skills and confidence by class discussions, clubs, and dorm life. They missed out on a lot of travel opportunities as well as interacting with people outside their own families," said Professor of Strategic Communication at Ithaca College and Principal of Gayeski Analytics Diane Gayeski, Ph.D.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99693-business-leaders-gen-z-unprepared-workforce-they-have.html

 

[VitalyT]

Two years ago, I had a contract to develop some Web UI for a company. We were given some Apple laptops for the job, which were Ok. There was a post-graduate next to me, working on the same project, and he was pretty good at it. One thing that stumbled me once, when he asked me about the computer I had at home - I told him it was an AMD rig, and gave him the spec. He asked me what AMD was. I thought he was taking the piss, but as it turns out, this "IT specialist" never ever heard of the company called AMD. Impossible to comprehend as it was, this was a "bright" representative of the new software developers. I was weeping inside.

 

[p51d007]

I could have told you that. Sometimes we'll get people coming in looking for work. The one's we have the most problem with are the "under 40" crowd. Some will say they are coming in for an interview, we'll set up a time and they no show. We'll call them back and they will say "oh, I changed my mind". Others, will take the job, then not show up. We'll call them back, "Oh, I changed my mind or took another job".
RARELY do we have problems with those over 40.
We just had an under 30 quit a couple weeks ago. Every time I walked into her office, she was texting on her phone. Others in the office said she wasn't doing enough work.
When when she quit to take another job with (as she said) better pay and hours I see her online looking for extra work cleaning houses for extra money.

 

[McMurdeR]

One has to recognise that this is a period of enormous change, and a rather large cultural, political and behavioural divide between older and younger generations, which makes it more difficult to provide the necessary guidence to people entering the workforce for the first time.

The fault may not necessarily lie with newer generations, but also with older encumbants. During and post COVID pandemic I've been struck by the inability and unwillingness of senior colleagues to either accept or embrace inevitable or necessary change. To my mind that's every bit as worrying.

 

[brucek]

Another generational change I'm picking up on - the newest generation comes in with fewer boundaries on personal sharing around non-work topics. Ask at a Monday morning staff meeting how someone's weekend went, and you may end up with some fairly graphic details about how their Saturday night date went.

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

It won’t matter. According to them, climate change will insure our extinction within the next 5 years making the planet uninhabitable.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Gen Y is also known as Gen Y bother. Based on my wife's and other's recruitment experiences with them we are in deep trouble.

 

[arrowflash]

Having worked with a few Gen Z and late millennials (born between 1991 and 1996, aka "zillennials") recent hires over the years, yes I've seen all problems described by the article and other comments, that are pretty much non existent or much less common with hires from older generations.

But the most prevalent and noticeable issue for me is by far the entitlement. Gen Z's and zillennials hired just some weeks ago complaining and/or becoming bitter because they don't have the same perks and privileges of seniors and superiors who have been with the company for many years. Seen many such cases and it's a pain to deal with. Some I actually had to sit down with and explain how the world works.

 

[arrowflash]

Two years ago, I had a contract to develop some Web UI for a company. We were given some Apple laptops for the job, which were Ok. There was a post-graduate next to me, working on the same project, and he was pretty good at it. One thing that stumbled me once, when he asked me about the computer I had at home - I told him it was an AMD rig, and gave him the spec. He asked me what AMD was. I thought he was taking the piss, but as it turns out, this "IT specialist" never ever heard of the company called AMD. Impossible to comprehend as it was, this was a "bright" representative of the new software developers. I was weeping inside.

To be fair I don't think this is a generational thing. It's a developer thing, that's a lot more common than it should be. I've met plenty of software developers from millennial, Gen X and even boomer generations who are at the level of the most basic end users when it comes to hardware, networking, system management and OS troubleshooting.

I've actually even made some money on the side by doing the backup+format+reinstall Windows routine at their home PCs or building gaming rigs or home development rigs for developers in companies I worked at, because they didn't know how or didn't feel confident in doing it themselves.

 

[J95qRP7]

I know I can't wait to work 70 hours a week for an employer who thinks of me just as a number, so I can make them money, to be tossed aside at the earliest inconvenience to them. Can't wait to get in line and lick boots all day and kiss *** all night, just so I can one day be the one getting my boots licked. You know what, now that I've said that, maybe I won't settle for the scraps that my parents were happy getting. I think I might demand a fairer cut of the pie and if businesses don't like it, they can hire someone else until there is no one else and we're it. I might also tell them to be less sexist to my female coworkers, less racist to my coloured coworkers and less bigoted towards my LGBTQ+ coworkers. We just want to make enough money to live and not be seen as cattle to be churned through for the great capitalist machine, where one day, after 50 years of work, I might have enough money and time to enjoy my single life.

 

[GhostLegion]

I know I can't wait to work 70 hours a week for an employer who thinks of me just as a number, so I can make them money, to be tossed aside at the earliest inconvenience to them. Can't wait to get in line and lick boots all day and kiss *** all night, just so I can one day be the one getting my boots licked. You know what, now that I've said that, maybe I won't settle for the scraps that my parents were happy getting. I think I might demand a fairer cut of the pie and if businesses don't like it, they can hire someone else until there is no one else and we're it. I might also tell them to be less sexist to my female coworkers, less racist to my coloured coworkers and less bigoted towards my LGBTQ+ coworkers. We just want to make enough money to live and not be seen as cattle to be churned through for the great capitalist machine, where one day, after 50 years of work, I might have enough money and time to enjoy my single life.

Y'know it's so funny to me reading the comments before you. (Confession: born in '97 but I consider myself closer to a millennial than my younger siblings born in '04 and '05 who are clearly gen z). What employer shows me any loyalty? I get hired and literally before I begin I'm looking to leave for a higher paying position, either within or outside the company. I've worked a retail job where I was essentially pitted against my co-workers (who I got along fine with) about who got to stay in the nicer sections of the store. What kind of competent manager uses such gladiatorial style? Why, the older kind who think it's appropriate and justified. There are plenty of things to poke fun at regarding gen z. Work ethic isn't one of them. You'll find just as many lazy older folk as you will lazy young folk and anyone who tells you otherwise without some objective and statistically significant proof is just biased.

 

[Burty117]

Something not being talked about in the comment sections, Millenials and particularly Gen Z's and onwards, Are mostly unable to buy a home, generations before, a milkman could save up for a few years and have a deposit for a house, today, that's just not the case, even a well paid job doesn't guarantee you can save for a deposit big enough to get a house.

I was born in 1992 and I've worked with my current IT company since 2009 (I joined this very site a week before I started) and I'm paid fairly well.

After rent, bills and food, you'd be shocked at how little money I have left to squirrel away, house prices have increased faster than pay rises let alone what gets stashed away in savings.

So I completely understand why Gen Z and onwards are being called "quiet quitters" or simply just requesting perks that colleagues around them already have. I can only speak from the UK, but the housing crisis is so bad, no wonder younger generations do the bare minimum, because they get the same outcome as putting in maximum effort, no perspective of a home, no pay rises, nothing changes.

 

[3volv3d]

With AI removing the need for humans, 2050 is meant to have half the populous at home.
And still we are throwing up more houses and roads for people who will not get a chance to work.
I see some people in my work have the worst handwriting.
The way people are taught, the changes that have happened in the last 20 years.
Yet government's, capitalism, are outdated with their ideas. They want more people because more tax and more wages. Yet failure to think less fields, green spaces, resources.
I think there is a failure on more levels than just gen z

 

[RandomWAN]

I know I can't wait to work 70 hours a week for an employer who thinks of me just as a number, so I can make them money, to be tossed aside at the earliest inconvenience to them. Can't wait to get in line and lick boots all day and kiss *** all night, just so I can one day be the one getting my boots licked. You know what, now that I've said that, maybe I won't settle for the scraps that my parents were happy getting. I think I might demand a fairer cut of the pie and if businesses don't like it, they can hire someone else until there is no one else and we're it. I might also tell them to be less sexist to my female coworkers, less racist to my coloured coworkers and less bigoted towards my LGBTQ+ coworkers. We just want to make enough money to live and not be seen as cattle to be churned through for the great capitalist machine, where one day, after 50 years of work, I might have enough money and time to enjoy my single life.

Cuba is calling you.

 

[J95qRP7]

Cuba is calling you.

What does that even mean? You must be Gen Z because that was such a lazy answer. Had I got some who was in thier 40s or older to write that comment, they'd have conveyed the information concisely.

 

[saladbarsmash]

One has to recognise that this is a period of enormous change, and a rather large cultural, political and behavioural divide between older and younger generations, which makes it more difficult to provide the necessary guidence to people entering the workforce for the first time.

The fault may not necessarily lie with newer generations, but also with older encumbants. During and post COVID pandemic I've been struck by the inability and unwillingness of senior colleagues to either accept or embrace inevitable or necessary change. To my mind that's every bit as worrying.

100% it's a failure of the parents parenting. I have two children at 11 and 9, and I make sure they work hard around the house, don't buy them crap except for their bday and xmas (which isn't much in both cases), don't let them talk back to me, and much more. I have a high amount of confidence they will go to work with a good work ethic and dedication. The problem is that over generations (since the baby boom post WWII), they have been weaker and weaker as parents and let them have more freedom than their mental development allows for and they have created entitled brats that raise even further entitled brats. Couple that with social media and absent parents, it's not surprising at all that 90% of gen Z will struggle to succeed and the country will feel it's pain because of it.

 

[saladbarsmash]

Having worked with a few Gen Z and late millennials (born between 1991 and 1996, aka "zillennials") recent hires over the years, yes I've seen all problems described by the article and other comments, that are pretty much non existent or much less common with hires from older generations.

But the most prevalent and noticeable issue for me is by far the entitlement. Gen Z's and zillennials hired just some weeks ago complaining and/or becoming bitter because they don't have the same perks and privileges of seniors and superiors who have been with the company for many years. Seen many such cases and it's a pain to deal with. Some I actually had to sit down with and explain how the world works.

That's because their parents didn't, and few people figure out life all by themselves.

 

[saladbarsmash]

What does that even mean? You must be Gen Z because that was such a lazy answer. Had I got some who was in thier 40s or older to write that comment, they'd have conveyed the information concisely.

I am thinking he means instead of complaining of how it is here, you should move to a communist country and see how bad it really can be. Pretty clear if you knew how bad Cuba is. Not a lazy response either, there is a lot of unsaid things in his comment that says a lot.

 

[Hotlynx16]

Something not being talked about in the comment sections, Millenials and particularly Gen Z's and onwards, Are mostly unable to buy a home, generations before, a milkman could save up for a few years and have a deposit for a house, today, that's just not the case, even a well paid job doesn't guarantee you can save for a deposit big enough to get a house.

I was born in 1992 and I've worked with my current IT company since 2009 (I joined this very site a week before I started) and I'm paid fairly well.

After rent, bills and food, you'd be shocked at how little money I have left to squirrel away, house prices have increased faster than pay rises let alone what gets stashed away in savings.

So I completely understand why Gen Z and onwards are being called "quiet quitters" or simply just requesting perks that colleagues around them already have. I can only speak from the UK, but the housing crisis is so bad, no wonder younger generations do the bare minimum, because they get the same outcome as putting in maximum effort, no perspective of a home, no pay rises, nothing changes.

Well that is what the world is headed to,"YOU WILL OWN NOTHING AND BE HAPPY" !WEF! The housing prices went up because all these companies are buying them up for rentals! Sad times we are living in!

 

[Durch]

Income hasn't been raised to accommodate standard inflation for 45 years. The vast majority of Boomers and early Gen X sailed through life in the best economy witnessed for generations with little need for certifications, skill, or requirements for entry while making a liveable wage on top of that. Let's not forget that 1 person could carry the entire household on that wage as well.

Early Millennials entered a labor market the equivalent of a clogged toilet drain, encountered not 1 but 2 recessions, and now once again inflation is sky high. Then they were told to go to college and forced to take multiple "bs" classes to make them well rounded with sky high tuition.

Gen Z comes behind with an even worse situation with a pandemic and now interest rates are through the roof, the average vehicle costs more than 30k new, while a used beater car costs more than a brand new car 20 years ago. Let's not even touch the current housing market with a 10 ft pole.

Greed is what caused the issue and the younger generations are tired of contributing to it without getting a few crumbs for themselves so they can survive. The same generations crying are the same ones who invested their money and now are crying wolf because the younger generations want a fair wage and that is going to eat into their profits/returns.

Just wait until Medicare and SS run out by 2035 because of the wage crisis and wealth inequality and you'll hear it even more then.

 

[kinetix]

One of my younger brothers is a software engineer, like me, but incredibly barely knows (or don't care to know) anything about how the PC or mobile phone he is holding in his hands works. I've always had to take care of the hardware myself. LOL. Maybe cause my first degree to be an electronic technician specialized in digital...

 

[JamesBlond]

Gen Z will destroy the world alone with the psychopaths from the 50's/60's, 2 Generations that really do not like this planet

 

[RandomWAN]

What does that even mean? You must be Gen Z because that was such a lazy answer. Had I got some who was in thier 40s or older to write that comment, they'd have conveyed the information concisely.

There's nothing lazy about it. It's concise. You're whining about one potential situation in the myriad of options you have within a capitalist society (and one you choose for yourself). The entire focus of your post is "capitalism bad, hurrr" and so I suggested you move to Cuba where you can see the end result of fascistic ideologies like communism. If you find capitalism so bad, move somewhere they don't practice it instead of whining about it.

 

[Stiqy]

I know I can't wait to work 70 hours a week for an employer who thinks of me just as a number, so I can make them money, to be tossed aside at the earliest inconvenience to them. Can't wait to get in line and lick boots all day and kiss *** all night, just so I can one day be the one getting my boots licked. You know what, now that I've said that, maybe I won't settle for the scraps that my parents were happy getting. I think I might demand a fairer cut of the pie and if businesses don't like it, they can hire someone else until there is no one else and we're it. I might also tell them to be less sexist to my female coworkers, less racist to my coloured coworkers and less bigoted towards my LGBTQ+ coworkers. We just want to make enough money to live and not be seen as cattle to be churned through for the great capitalist machine, where one day, after 50 years of work, I might have enough money and time to enjoy my single life.

Found the reddit edgelord.

 

[axiomatic13]

The problem is actually in our schools. Kids are being taught the things to ensure that the teacher gets a good report so she can get a raise. They are not being taught critical thinking skills and with the whitewashing of history they are unprepared to enter the workplace. I mean, there are schools in Texas that have banned "To Kill a Mockingbird" because it made some feel uncomfortable. And just because I know I'm going to get attacked. Here is the source of my claim. https://www.khou.com/article/news/e...rary/285-2988d28b-ea89-4263-8ad3-c024e0bcba99