Gen Z really are the hardest to work with—even managers of their own generation say they’re difficult. Instead bosses plan to hire more of their millennial counterparts

16 comments

1. Honestly not surprising. School is just not providing us with the correct skills for the work environment.

   I am an older Gen Z from the UK and here is my 2 cents on what the problems are.

   1. We are hyper unorganised. We are so used to having other people be organised for us (e.g. parents, teachers, ect.) that we are unable to properly organise ourselves. This is most obvious in that fact we are regularly late everywhere but also shows up in the workplace if we are given multiple tasks we are unable to properly prioritise and refuse ones that we are unable to complete within an appropriate timeframe.

   2. We are too used to structure. School is extremely structured from the school day to the curriculum. In my experience workplaces have significantly less structured and this is not only stressful for Gen Z members but also makes it difficult for use to understand the boundaries of our role in the workplace. It feels weird for me that a lot of time I can just make suggestions to change policies or procedures and they can suddenly be implemented immediately or if a procedure doesn’t exist I can just create one. This can be disorientating for Gen Z to be changing environment so much.

   3. We are not problem solvers. What I have noticed a lot about other Gen Z is that we are not good at finding solutions to unexpected problems. We are used to things just working and we are kind of lost when they don’t. School doesn’t really throw unexpected problems at us and due to the ease of looking up solutions online we are lost when a unique problem shows up.

2. no shit, like little petulant robots that don’t understand why they are not making 100k a year and getting promoted annually with little experience

3. When the share of wealth going to labor declines, those growing up as labor look to other places than jobs for security.

4. Gen Z entered the job market under boom times from 2016-2021 when corporations were competing for labor. McDonalds was paying teenages $15/hr in 2021 and starting salaries for major corporations were around $120-$140k. That’s their baseline expectation. They know older Gen Z and younger Millennials who got hired during those times and are making $200k now. But a lot of them have been having trouble getting hired in the past couple of years. Their baseline expectation don’t really reflect the reality that some of them got lucky and that’s not the norm.

5. Everyone else does not apply.

6. There’s GenZ managers already?

7. I mean, they’re also really *young.* I’m Gen X and was pretty lost when I made my first foray into a “real” job (ie. not babysitting, working at the mall, as my mom’s assistant, etc.)

   I’m willing to bet most of them would do just fine with a good mentor. Employers hate training anyone these days (they seem to expect them to be ready to navigate corporate culture straight out of college) but that’s how it worked for Boomers. My dad got a job from his dad, who got it from his uncle, etc. At every juncture the other guys on the job site knew they were related to so-and-so and took them under their wing. (Which, granted, included some hazing that human relations would not endorse nowadays, lol.)

   Give the kids some time, room to grow and assistance and they’ll surprise you. Wasn’t so long ago that they called us “slackers” but it seems like some of my generation forgot about that.

8. I can’t speak to the workplace but as someone who adjuncts at the college level I was floored by gen z’s complete lack of work ethic, personal responsibility, and problem solving skills. I was shocked so I can totally see how that translates into the professional world.

9. My experience so far has been ok, but SUPER sensitive to any feedback. Hey please can you x is met with tears and conversations with HR. First time I was blindsided second time I was like did no one ever bully these kids?

10. IDK, I think every generation says the same about the younger generations. I’ve hired some terrible Gen Z workers and some great ones. They’re young and can be a bit different to manage because they need more encouragement and reassurance. But, if you’re genuine with them, they tend to respond well. It took me a few years to realize this and change my approach to managing others.

11. In my experience everyone in the workplace is incompetent not just me. In fact it seems like the world runs on incompetence

12. Because they’re so fucking entitled.

13. I am a millenial, and have Gen Z employees under my wing for my projects. I can confirm they are borderline incapable.

    I am patient with them, but jesus the future is bleak.

    “I am bad at math” (when the job requires BASIC math) is not a valid excuse. You either use the right tools to help you, or you just learn freaking basic math.

14. It’s tough to hone social skills when you’re glued to the phone or iPad growing up. Tragic social media side effects

15. BIG eyeroll

16. So I’m a young millennial who worked with a lot of Gen Z employees. Shitting on the new generation has been a thing since the dawn of time, but these are my personal observations while doing my best to put away the general “kids these days” bias.

    1.) This generation is anxious as **FUCK**! Like, I genuinely am worried for these kids. Sure, you want to do a good job, and sometimes there’s pressure in any job you do. But I feel like instead of taking the time to solve a problem, many Gen Z folks are quick to go into panic mode. And they don’t take criticism well.

    2.) I’m surprised that they know nothing about the technology they consume, and they really need to fact check more often. I was shocked when Gen Z employees didn’t know how to do a soft reset on a computer using the power button.

    3.) They lack self reflection to the point that it’s concerning. And I don’t mean this in a “hurr durr look at these entitled snowflakes” kind of way. I expect the young generation to make mistakes. They should enjoy their youth and explore the world in their own way. That’s part of the human experience. But I feel like they’re too quick to blame the other party in some insane way instead of wondering if they did something wrong. That lack of self reflection and accountability will destroy them and their relationships with everyone. Learning to take accountability is hard, but it’s necessary if you want to keep those who matter close to you.

    4.) They’ve lost hope and don’t bother with financial literacy. And honestly? I can’t blame them. Because they’ve seen the system fail repeatedly. The promise of hard work being paid off simply doesn’t exist in the American work culture. Many young people realize the hardest workers will be taken the most advantage of. But this also killed any motivation to try and improve any situation.

    I feel like at this rate, Gen Z is going to turn into the very group of people they despise: Boomers. Emotionally immature, unable to look beyond their own perspective, and lacking curiosity. I know they’re under pressure. It’s hard to stay afloat in the world we live in. But speaking as a poor millennial, these are the cards we’ve all been dealt with. We can either wallow in grief, or we can make the most of it.

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