[AMG Power]

As companies across industries assess the performance of their youngest hires, many are noticing a troubling trend. Gen Z employees, often fresh out of college, are being let go at a faster rate than their older counterparts. A new study sheds light on why this might be happening. It offers insights into the challenges faced by both employers and young workers.

Struggles With Workplace Adaptation

One of the primary reasons cited in the study is that many Gen Z employees struggle to adjust to traditional workplace dynamics. Huy Nguyen, Chief Education, and Career Development Adviser at Intelligent.com says These young professionals “may have theoretical knowledge from their college education but often lack the practical, real-world experience needed to excel in the workforce” . The shift from a structured educational environment to a more fluid and often autonomous work setting can be jarring for this generation.

Lack of Professionalism and Soft Skills

Another issue highlighted is the perceived lack of professionalism among Gen Z hires. According to the study, a significant portion of employers—around 46% have the answer. They believe that these employees fall short in key areas like communication and workplace etiquette. The demands for effective interpersonal skills. Which are critical in collaborative environments, appear to be a stumbling block for many younger workers.

Short Attention Spans and High Expectations

Growing up in the digital age has shaped how Gen Z interacts with the world. Which may be contributing to their difficulties in the workplace. Employers report that this generation is often seen as having shorter attention spans and higher expectations for work-life balance and mental health support. This has led some older managers to label them as “high maintenance.”

Generational Mismatch

While the study does highlight areas where Gen Z employees may struggle, not all experts agree that the problem lies solely with them. Jessica Kriegel, Chief Strategy Officer of Workforce at Culture Partners, suggests that these issues may be symptomatic of broader generational misunderstandings.

Source:
https://www.newsweek.com/companies-a...loyees-1958104
https://www.inc.com/sydney-sladovnik...gen-z/90984937
https://nypost.com/2024/09/24/busine...n-z-employees/

[Axe77]

There is increasing chatter around this theme for some reason. I’m not one to peddle Insta shorts as credible viewpoints but it was just too much coincidence that I had happened to see this a few days ago (Firstpost) so sharing “as is”.

For what it’s worth, a few good comments also bring some balance into both sides to the narrative, with interestingly some older generations also calling out the toxic work cultures that their generations (and those before them) have normalised and which are rightly being called into question.

Do I agree with ‘some’ of the narrative around Gen Z criticism - (partially) yes. But do I also feel that there is a need for the pendulum to centre a bit around workplace cultures - also yes.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBNWQ...c1cW1oMGl0aDB6

[Rajeevraj]

I think more than anything else, the point on 'broader generational misunderstandings' is the reason for this and it cannot be all because of 'issues with Gen Z'. In pretty must most corporates, the decision makers and leaders will be from earlier generations and the generational bias will come into play which end up making the subsequent generations the bad guys. Company cultures are also influenced and centered around the leadership views and expectations. Most corporates are becoming larger and larger and over a period of time the 'culture in microcosms of the company' overrides the larger outwardly projected culture of the company.

Regarding the specific points mentioned, I have been in the industry for 20+ years working in companies that places importance on wellness, work life balance etc.. I know I will struggle to adapt to more companies with a more rigid culture. The larger question is whether the people are willing to put an effort and whether the so called 'older managers' are giving enough time and also are they willing to change their views to some extent at least.

Communication, Workplace etiquette and inter personal skills are something that are built over time. Poor communication, lack of work etiquette are not new things, have been there for ever. Most people evolve over time. Although here, the almost total immersion into the digital world (not only by Gen Z, but by all generations) is definitely a stumbling block. The generations before Gen Z at least had a phase where the digital world had not fully taken over. Not sure if there is even a solution to it. We will all continue to get further immersed into our digital worlds.

[DicKy]

Guess the same were said when us millenials were new to the workforce.

More than generational gaps (which is a perennial issue), I feel that people got a taste for WFH lifestyle, especially those who just started their career during the lockdown. Suddenly fixed work timings (present in office), dealing with office politics, commuting all became too much too handle for those who were not used to it.

[VW2010]

Is it gen Z or Covid batch Gen Z? Also most Gen Z are well-to-do, easy to get a job, faster to jump companies, and hardly care about spending time to take that reward.

Today companies are ready to poach anyone and everyone and ready to pay a 30-40% hike every year.

To me, it is a combination of working from home, options to take a job anywhere across India, and the truth that demand is outrunning supply means even a basic 6 months training in a company lands someone a job with at least a 30% hike.

The covid batch is the worst of the lot that lacks both soft skills and tech skills and are struggling to learn in a work environment. We are witnessing this as the latest batch is far sharper and can learn faster vs the covid batches that are taking at least 6 more months to reach the same level of competency.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Guess the same were said when us millenials were new to the workforce.

Nailed it! Every generation will say the same things about the next and will have a rose-tinted view of older generations. Music, Clothes, Morals, Mom's cooking, and Work Ethic!

Originally Posted by AMG Power

These young professionals “may have theoretical knowledge from their college education but often lack the practical,...

Employers report that this generation is often seen as having shorter attention spans and higher expectations for work-life balance...

I know for sure both labels could easily apply to me when I started my career 23 years ago! Back then the blame for attention span was on 'video games'. And my grandfather probably thought I was not a professional because I have never worn a tie to work!

Did any of us drop into the workforce as a full-fledged professional? I was lucky to have managers who patiently taught me. Once, even a very senior manager on the client side took the time to explain a task and a better way to do my job to me. Not condescendingly, not irritably (which he could easily have justified, since he was paying my company for my time!), but like a mentor.

Bigger IT companies had in-house HR and training departments, most of which have been jettisoned or outsourced because of costs these days.

So if there is no training function, little mentorship, no dedicated HR, and a bunch of middle-managers who have had precious little training themselves, how will a fresher develop into a professional? (We all know that the colleges don't do a great job of that.)

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by am1m

Nailed it! Every generation will say the same things about the next and will have a rose-tinted view of older generations. Music, Clothes, Morals, Mom's cooking, and Work Ethic!

Reminds me of the meme going around for generation gap in a tablet written around 2000 BC, source still unknown.

"Our Earth is degenerate in these later days; there are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; every man wants to write a book and the end of the world is evidently approaching."

[greenhorn]

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...graduates.html (IT Industry and Employability of Technical Graduates)

This has been a decade+ old thread on team bhp itself

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by am1m

Bigger IT companies had in-house HR and training departments, most of which have been jettisoned or outsourced because of costs these days.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

This has been a decade+ old thread on team bhp itself

Suggest we do not make this a IT specific problem. This is much bigger.

In my MBA alum group, there are plenty of fresh MBA grads from 2022 and 2023 batches who have been let off and are looking for opportunities. Many of these are from Fortune 500 MNCs across various industries and the jobs being across multiple functional areas.

There might be something bigger happening out here with regards to the expectations of the Gen Z employees specifically that's not relevant to past generations.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Suggest we do not make this a IT specific problem.

Oh, that was not my intention, but I know only about the IT industry so posted about that. I don't feel comfortable posting about the situation in other industries that I have no clue about.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

This is much bigger. In my MBA alum group, there are plenty of fresh MBA grads from 2022 and 2023 batches who have been let off

There might be something bigger happening out here with regards to the expectations of the Gen Z employees specifically that's not relevant to past generations.

Could it just be the first signs of an economic correction, downturn? Some industry cycle? Funding crunch?

Does a whole generation even exhibit the same characteristics? As someone correctly pointed out on another job-related thread, especially in India, there is a huge difference between the members of GenZ who are from cities and small towns.

Point I'm trying to make is can there ever be a generalization based on the characteristics (good or bad) of an entire generation, for any point in time?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

There might be something bigger happening out here with regards to the expectations of the Gen Z employees specifically that's not relevant to past generations.

I agree, this is not the usual generation gap. Gen Z were unfortunate to grow up with social media unlike the previous generations, and lost the social skills that earlier generations enjoyed.

There is a short on this from Jonathan Haidt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD_hvTAhGm0

Longer version...

https://youtu.be/tcr0yg7Mvg8

[AMG Power]

The quoted articles in the OP are not India specific nor confined to the IT industry and refer to an increasing global trend.

While there may have always been issues arising from generational differences, no single generation has had to face the ignominy of being uniformly unemployable at a GLOBAL level.

In fact, part of the reasons for India’s supremacy in IT has been the reasonable competence of earlier generations. Of course, cost arbitrage did play a part, but just cost wouldn’t have got India anywhere.

[am1m]

“What really distinguishes this generation from those before it is that it's the first generation in American history to live so well and complain so bitterly about it.”

The Boring Twenties, Washington Post, 1993

“They have trouble making decisions. They would rather hike in the Himalayas than climb a corporate ladder. They have few heroes, no anthems, no style to call their own. They crave entertainment, but their attention span is as short as one zap of a TV dial.”

Proceeding with Caution, Time, 2001

“Cinemas and motor cars were blamed for a flagging interest among young people in present-day politics by ex-Provost JK Rutherford… [He] said he had been told by people in different political parties that it was almost impossible to get an audience for political meetings. There were, of course, many distractions such as the cinema…”

Young People and Politics, Kirkintilloch Herald, 1938

Source: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article...t-young-adults

[14000rpm]

Just got back from a workshop with a customer in Germany where this was a topic that took a 30 min meeting extension.

I am in the IT Services business and my answer to scaling operation was to ramp-up hiring of freshers and training them in India. to which the Customer went-

Customer - Are you sure you want to hire freshers?
me - yes. That's the fastest way.
Customer - what about the baggage?
me - what baggage?
Customer - Gen Z bagggage?

<At this stage, I wasn't exactly sure where they were head>

me- Gen Z? Well, yes but different parts of India have different grades of Gen Z issues. We're struggling with the Gen Gap but hopefully we bridge it.
Customer - I hope so. We are struggling with that issue with the German interns we have hired recently. Can't get them to concentrate and work.
me - I can imagine. Let's hope we find a good way to deal with it.
Customer - you better. You are signing up for SLA's. I only care about SLAs. Rest is your headache.
....

...and this 40 yr olds group that we were went on for another 25 mins.

Summary - This is not a India only. Many countries are facing it in different ways with pretty much the same result -> bad work efficiency.

Found this Hilarious Video on the subject.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PfysGN3u..._rghI55RgRnK8n

[Chetan_Rao]

Multiple things are happening:

1. A generation brought up in a connected world. They often have too much information, and too few tools to process them rationally and arrange into coherent thought processes. Feeds into #2.

2. Education systems that still don't sufficiently cater to #1. Critical thinking skills are more important than ever, for young developing minds to be able to process enormous raw info > usable data > actionable intelligence. 2 generations ago, looking up references meant spending time in a library. Sources were self-filtering due to both accessibility and often being asked to look at specific literature. Now it's one search on the internet and you're bombarded with a million hits, often with minimal fact-checking and evidence-based corroboration. The vast majority of them are stuck in rigid education systems designed around one-size-fits-all patterns. Self-learning helps to an extent, but an inability to process information properly can cripple the most earnest of effort-makers.

3. Information overload + lack of critical thinking skills = poor communication skills. Don't mistake it for poor language skills. Kids are fluent in languages more than ever, but their ability to articulate their thought process isn't keeping up. Fluency without articulation just leads to fancy word salads.

4. Hiring managers are still people from at least a generation prior, decision-making leadership often two. A combination of the previous factors mentioned, plus the previous generations having had their own different versions of them, means compatibility is a huge problem, and the inability to communicate at a mutually empathetic level makes it worse. It's like smashing two entirely different universes together and hoping they'll form one homogeneous mass naturally. They won't.

Some factors are unique, some just amplified versions of prior generational ones. A solution can and will be found though, because gen Z might have the highest attrition rates, but nobody's willing to hire older professionals to replace them (cost, flexibility, ageism etc. all get in the way), so it's a high-churn situation of gen Z being replaced with gen Z.