Generation diZappointing

[samhexum]

After complaining for the better part of two years that Gen Z grads are difficult to work with, bosses are no longer all talk, no action: Now they’re rapidly firing young workers who aren’t up to scratch just months after hiring them.

According to a report, six in 10 employers say they have already sacked some of the Gen Z workers they hired fresh out of college in recent months.

Intelligent.com, a platform dedicated to helping young professionals navigate the future of work, surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. leaders. It found that the class of 2024’s shortcomings will impact future grads.

After experiencing a raft of problems with young new hires, one in six bosses say they’re hesitant to hire recent college grads again.

Meanwhile, one in seven bosses have admitted that they may avoid hiring them altogether next year.

Three-quarters of the companies surveyed said some or all of their recent graduate hires were unsatisfactory in some way.

Employers’ gripe with young people today is their lack of motivation or initiative—50% of the leaders surveyed cited that as the reason why things didn’t work out with their new hire.

Bosses also pointed to Gen Z being unprofessional, unorganized, and having poor communication skills as their top reasons for having to sack grads.

Leaders say they have struggled with the latest generation’s tangible challenges, including being late to work and meetings often, not wearing office-appropriate clothing, and using language appropriate for the workspace.

 

When asked what would make college grads more hirable, bosses responded: a positive attitude and more initiative.

Intelligent’s chief education and career development advisor, Huy Nguyen, advises Gen Z grads to observe how other workers interact to understand the company culture at any new firm they may join. From there, it’s easier to gauge what’s an appropriate way of engaging with others.

“Take the initiative to ask thoughtful questions, seek feedback, and apply it to show your motivation for personal growth,” Nguyen adds. “Build a reputation for dependability by maintaining a positive attitude, meeting deadlines, and volunteering for projects, even those outside your immediate responsibilities.”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently echoed that an “embarrassing” amount of your success in your twenties depends on your attitude—and the reason why is simple: Managers would rather work with positive people.

Some leaders have even insisted that a can-do attitude at work will advance young workers’ careers more than a college degree.

Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin, has repeatedly urged young people to ditch university in favor of the “school of life.”

 

[CuriousByNature]

On some level I really feel badly for Gen Z as a whole.  As much as I find most of them pretty annoying, it isn't their fault that they were raised with unrealistic expectations about life.  A generation of parents that promoted participation awards, feelings over facts, and letting their child guide their own upbringing, should not be surprised that many Gen Z people have turned out to be entitled, socially anxious, and individualistic creatures.  Perhaps when they have kids they will swing the pendulum back into the realm of reasonableness and moderation.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I have little compassion for them.

It's not all that difficult to get out in the real world and understand how it truly functions.

From there, you adjust your expectations accordingly.  You don't just expect the world to cater to you.  That's sociopathic.

Gen Z is so fucking delicate.  The generation of needing trigger warnings and participation trophies.

[soloyo215]

3 hours ago, samhexum said:

After complaining for the better part of two years that Gen Z grads are difficult to work with, bosses are no longer all talk, no action: Now they’re rapidly firing young workers who aren’t up to scratch just months after hiring them.

According to a report, six in 10 employers say they have already sacked some of the Gen Z workers they hired fresh out of college in recent months.

Intelligent.com, a platform dedicated to helping young professionals navigate the future of work, surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. leaders. It found that the class of 2024’s shortcomings will impact future grads.

After experiencing a raft of problems with young new hires, one in six bosses say they’re hesitant to hire recent college grads again.

Meanwhile, one in seven bosses have admitted that they may avoid hiring them altogether next year.

Three-quarters of the companies surveyed said some or all of their recent graduate hires were unsatisfactory in some way.

Employers’ gripe with young people today is their lack of motivation or initiative—50% of the leaders surveyed cited that as the reason why things didn’t work out with their new hire.

Bosses also pointed to Gen Z being unprofessional, unorganized, and having poor communication skills as their top reasons for having to sack grads.

Leaders say they have struggled with the latest generation’s tangible challenges, including being late to work and meetings often, not wearing office-appropriate clothing, and using language appropriate for the workspace.

 

When asked what would make college grads more hirable, bosses responded: a positive attitude and more initiative.

Intelligent’s chief education and career development advisor, Huy Nguyen, advises Gen Z grads to observe how other workers interact to understand the company culture at any new firm they may join. From there, it’s easier to gauge what’s an appropriate way of engaging with others.

“Take the initiative to ask thoughtful questions, seek feedback, and apply it to show your motivation for personal growth,” Nguyen adds. “Build a reputation for dependability by maintaining a positive attitude, meeting deadlines, and volunteering for projects, even those outside your immediate responsibilities.”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently echoed that an “embarrassing” amount of your success in your twenties depends on your attitude—and the reason why is simple: Managers would rather work with positive people.

Some leaders have even insisted that a can-do attitude at work will advance young workers’ careers more than a college degree.

Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin, has repeatedly urged young people to ditch university in favor of the “school of life.”

What!!! You mean that:

They're not getting participation trophies from their bosses?

They aren't able to "do anything and nobody can't tell them otherwise"?

The grades that they got to avoid lawsuits against the school, and threatening their teachers didn't pay off?

Their feelings can get hurt in the workplace?

Shocking that gentle parenting and "positive reinforcement" in education doesn't seem to be working.

(just in case, I'm being sarcastic)

[+ DrownedBoy]

Sounds right. I've had to fire Gen Z escorts (personal) and employees (as part of a group).

Being on time is the constant problem. One new finance guy never showed up until 1030, even when he had morning meetings. With Gen Z escorts, it's a coin flip if they even answer your text, and they tend to think they can reschedule you whenever they want.

I'm sure a little starvation will improve their attitudes.

[TonyDown]

 

This sounds like another argument to blame young people for what's wrong.  Isn't blaming the youth a bad habit that goes back to antiquity?

Too many managers just don't know how to interview for the right candidate, especially if they fire that many new hires.

Organizations that know what they are doing define various types of goals and then have the team members each define and track their own progress.

If the candidate has proper credentials, the manager should get them on track towards the goals and then know how to guide them towards success.

I would just say "calm down".  There are plenty of talented young people out there.

[Lotus-eater]

Managers and parents have to be willing to lay down the law to these entitled snowflakes who are accustomed to crybullying to get whatever they want.

[pubic_assistance]

8 hours ago, CuriousByNature said:

A generation of parents that promoted participation awards, feelings over facts, and letting their child guide their own upbringing, should not be surprised that many Gen Z people have turned out to be entitled, socially anxious, and individualistic creatures

We tried to do our best to challenge our kids in spite of the schools trying to keep everything "equal". They are now 17 and they are finding most kids their age to be completely annoying with the level of entitlement.  It's little wonder that most of their friends are Indian or Asian. Social groups who still value setting standards and expectations. Too many Americans have gone soft on their kids and left them helpless and hapless.

[CuriousByNature]

2 hours ago, TonyDown said:

 

This sounds like another argument to blame young people for what's wrong.  Isn't blaming the youth a bad habit that goes back to antiquity?

Too many managers just don't know how to interview for the right candidate, especially if they fire that many new hires.

Organizations that know what they are doing define various types of goals and then have the team members each define and track their own progress.

If the candidate has proper credentials, the manager should get them on track towards the goals and then know how to guide them towards success.

I would just say "calm down".  There are plenty of talented young people out there.

Hmmm.  I don't see it that way.  If I was an employer, the last thing I would want to do is re-parent a young adult whose parents raised them to be spoilt, self-consumed, and completely unrealistic about their expectations of the real world.  A manager can help train a person for the position they are working, but things like respecting others, learning to live with failure, and keeping one's head out of one's own ass, are things that need to be taught at home.  

[samhexum]

28 minutes ago, CuriousByNature said:

things like respecting others, learning to live with failure, and keeping one's head out of one's own ass, are things that need to be taught at home.  

Au contrair... RE: taking care of one's ass at home...

My earliest memory is of my dad teaching me how to clean myself in a stall at our pool club.

 

[soloyo215]

9 hours ago, TonyDown said:

 

This sounds like another argument to blame young people for what's wrong.  Isn't blaming the youth a bad habit that goes back to antiquity?

Too many managers just don't know how to interview for the right candidate, especially if they fire that many new hires.

Organizations that know what they are doing define various types of goals and then have the team members each define and track their own progress.

If the candidate has proper credentials, the manager should get them on track towards the goals and then know how to guide them towards success.

I would just say "calm down".  There are plenty of talented young people out there.

Bullshit. It's REALITY. They are useless.

[Guest]

15 hours ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

I have little compassion for them.

It's not all that difficult to get out in the real world and understand how it truly functions.

From there, you adjust your expectations accordingly.  You don't just expect the world to cater to you.  That's sociopathic.

Gen Z is so fucking delicate.  The generation of needing trigger warnings and participation trophies.

I teach high school. I have for 10+ years. And I have seen the shift in attitude happen in realtime. No matter how much I try to tell the students, "The 'real world' requires XYZ of you," I'm often met with apathy or resistance, as if I'm just the curmudgeon who's out of touch. A substantial minority of my kids are nearly illiterate (meaning they read as though they were 5-10 years old despite being 15,16,17 years old. I have colleagues who love to blame the kids background--"They have it so rough at home," but I always say, "Who cares?! I have all the empathy in the world for their circumstances, but in a few years they will STILL be incompetent adults who are helpless and hopeless if they keep getting coddled"), and they think reading is irrelevant because all the information they absorb comes from a screen in short videos, and way too many of them want to be "influencers."

when I read articles like the OP, it gives me a bit of hope, strangely. It makes me think that, if these kids can get SLAMMED with this real consequences when they're still in their early twenties, it might kick them in the right direction.

in the meantime, it has never been EASIER for kids of that generation to set themselves apart from the rest. Have a little initiative, have a decent attitude, have the tiniest bit of professionalism, and have somewhat of a skillset, and you're probably already ahead of the majority of the pack (even if that's just "mediocre" by every other metric, it's still better than the rest, sadly).

[samhexum]

1 hour ago, soloyo215 said:

Bullshit. It's REALITY. They are useless.

But how do you REALLY feel?

25 minutes ago, JD-Angel said:

I teach high school. I have for 10+ years.

 

 

[Guest]

To try to be somewhat fair and balanced... the reasons why these kids have become this way, GenZ, are multifaceted. Parenting (soft and accommodating versus parents who don't parent so much as scream and throw things when their kids do something they dislike--which teaches the kid nothing because the parents are acting like children too), social media giving them constant access to all the info we could have only dreamed of (making them feel smarter than they are because they think they "know things" but unfortunately can't think for themselves), peer influences (I read once that if you put one delinquent into a room of agreeable kids, the delinquency spreads, not the stability), schools that pass kids to the next grade despite not knowing anything or being able to do anything (I have been overruled by schools before. A young lady failed, outright. But her parents said it's because I was racist/sexist to their girl--she was Latino... which is stupid because I'm half-Mexican as well, but whatever.. the school changed the grade to a C- to let her pass. That's so unethical but it happens. I don't work there anymore, obviously), teachers who are politically motivated (I'm not trying to get into any heavy topics, but when you ask a kid what pronouns are, and all they know is the she/her, he/him, they/them aspect of it, and they don't know the overall grammatical function of pronouns, let alone their other parts of speech, I think we have a problem with what teachers are prioritizing in class. And when they've all read "The Hate U Give" but have never even heard of Charles Dickens... yeah, no wonder they're not prepared to participate in broader culture), and lots lots more haha.

but again, the final estimate remains the same: they turn into incompetent adults with no marketable skills and little emotional intelligence or ability to communicate or collaborate.

but like I and a couple others said, maybe the bitch-slap of real life in the face and in their bank accounts will provide the necessary impetus.

[samhexum]

2 minutes ago, JD-Angel said:

I read once that if you put one delinquent into a room of agreeable kids, the delinquency spreads, not the stability

Possibly because the "bad boy" (or girl) is seen as the cool kid many of the others secretly want to be.

[Guest]

Exactly!

 

[+ ApexNomad]

57 minutes ago, samhexum said:

Possibly because the "bad boy" (or girl) is seen as the cool kid many of the others secretly want to be.

Very true. It’s much harder to stand alone in your courage than to go along with the crowd.

[+ Pensant]

As far as providers go, however, I love my Z team. Yes, they’re sometimes a bit late, but on the whole I really enjoy them and their perspectives. We only have one Z employee in our early-stage company, but she’s a gem and well-liked and respected. Yes, I know this is a small sample size.

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, ApexNomad said:

Very true. It’s much harder to stand alone in your courage than to go along with the crowd.

I think there is a stubbornness that has to go along with standing in your own courage. You have to be able to say, "other people will think that I'm dead wrong in my estimations, other people will think that I am weird and misguided, and maybe even I will second-guess myself, but I'm still going to stick to my guns."

It's a good quality. One that I think that I possess intermittently 😂

I also think it's why, like I said earlier, it's never been easier to stand out in a positive way. So, many people, regardless of generation although I do think it is more potent with GenZ (exacerbated my social media and the comparisons that it invites), are settling for the easiest of comforts (hedonism), allowing the true achievers to rise like cream.

[+ sync]

Children know what they are taught/see/hear.  If/when we have more positive adult role models, we will have a more stable, productive population of young people.

[CuriousByNature]

10 hours ago, CuriousByNature said:

Hmmm.  I don't see it that way.  If I was an employer, the last thing I would want to do is re-parent a young adult whose parents raised them to be spoilt, self-consumed, and completely unrealistic about their expectations of the real world.  A manager can help train a person for the position they are working, but things like respecting others, learning to live with failure, and keeping one's head out of one's own ass, are things that need to be taught at home.  

A further issue that I've encountered is that Gen Z people seem to lack respect for authority compared to previous generations.  This makes it much harder to have any positive influence in their lives because they tend to disregard opinions and guidance that challenge them.  If there is any chance they may be triggered or offended by an employers constructive criticism, then the employer's efforts will likely be for nothing.  It's quite pathetic.

[+ ApexNomad]

2 hours ago, JD-Angel said:

I think there is a stubbornness that has to go along with standing in your own courage. You have to be able to say, "other people will think that I'm dead wrong in my estimations, other people will think that I am weird and misguided, and maybe even I will second-guess myself, but I'm still going to stick to my guns."

It's a good quality. One that I think that I possess intermittently 😂

I also think it's why, like I said earlier, it's never been easier to stand out in a positive way. So, many people, regardless of generation although I do think it is more potent with GenZ (exacerbated my social media and the comparisons that it invites), are settling for the easiest of comforts (hedonism), allowing the true achievers to rise like cream.

Being able to truly listen to someone is also important—it shows openness and empathy, which are rare qualities these days. I think people often follow the group because it’s easier than standing alone. It takes real courage to resist that pull and think for yourself, especially when it means risking criticism or isolation.

[+ DrownedBoy]

9 hours ago, JD-Angel said:

A substantial minority of my kids are nearly illiterate (meaning they read as though they were 5-10 years old despite being 15,16,17 years old.

Tell me about it. I've had to supervise Gen Z workers who don't have basic knowledge. Like how to Google something if you don't know, or what year the Civil War started. And NONE of them read; they just half-listen to streaming shows and podcasts, and don't absorb it.

General discipline is the problem. When I had my first job out of college, and was 5 minutes late one morning, the boss told me if I did it again, I wouldn't be coming in again. I can't imagine a manager in my firm doing that today. Likewise, you have to treat them with kid gloves. This morning, some juniors made the same deployment error they've made 6 weeks in a row. I'd be gone if I had done that 20 years ago; now you can only "constructively aid" those lazy bastards into doing their jobs.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, DrownedBoy said:

Tell me about it. I've had to supervise Gen Z workers who don't have basic knowledge. Like how to Google something if you don't know, or what year the Civil War started. And NONE of them read; they just half-listen to streaming shows and podcasts, and don't absorb it.

General discipline is the problem. When I had my first job out of college, and was 5 minutes late one morning, the boss told me if I did it again, I wouldn't be coming in again. I can't imagine a manager in my firm doing that today. Likewise, you have to treat them with kid gloves. This morning, some juniors made the same deployment error they've made 6 weeks in a row. I'd be gone if I had done that 20 years ago; now you can only "constructively aid" those lazy bastards into doing their jobs.

 

I always tell my students, when they ask how to do something like make a copy of a document or change formatting to be in MLA, "Pretend it's a TikTok challenge, then I'm sure you'll figure it out."

They're glued to their devices, averaging 8-11 hours of screen time a day, the last time I checked the stats. And yet they can't figure out how to find the formatting button to double space a document. In 2-3 years, they'll be "legal adults." 😳

[Guest]

1 hour ago, DrownedBoy said:

Tell me about it. I've had to supervise Gen Z workers who don't have basic knowledge. Like how to Google something if you don't know, or what year the Civil War started. And NONE of them read; they just half-listen to streaming shows and podcasts, and don't absorb it.

General discipline is the problem. When I had my first job out of college, and was 5 minutes late one morning, the boss told me if I did it again, I wouldn't be coming in again. I can't imagine a manager in my firm doing that today. Likewise, you have to treat them with kid gloves. This morning, some juniors made the same deployment error they've made 6 weeks in a row. I'd be gone if I had done that 20 years ago; now you can only "constructively aid" those lazy bastards into doing their jobs.

 

The school had a GenZ hire a couple years ago. Wanted the kids to call her Nana, instead of Ms. ___. One time in a department meeting, she was playing games on her iPad while we were all discussing some actual serious topics. She was constantly late, sometimes by an hour, if her "prep period" was first thing in the morning (those are still contract hours), skipped all staff meetings (after school hours, but still technically mandatory).

I'm trying not to be too much of a grump, but I think John Maxwell said it best. I heard an audio by him once about how to deal with an unmotivated employee. His response? "You fire them. What's the dilemma here?"