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October 21, 2024
Why Has Gen Z’s Workforce Entry Been So Rocky?
Many companies have fired Gen Z workers just months after hiring them and are hesitant to hire recent college graduates due to concerns about their work ethic, communication skills, and readiness to tackle the job, according to a new survey.
The poll of nearly 1,000 hiring managers taken in August from Intelligent.com, which reviews college programs, found that among firms that had hired recent graduates, only 25% stated that all recent college graduate hires worked out well. Among the rest, 62% indicated only some were successful while 14% reported that only a few or none of the hires were successful.
The most frequently cited reasons for why these hires didn’t work out were:
- Lack of motivation or initiative, cited by 50%
- Lack of professionalism, cited by 46%
- Poor communication skills, cited by 39%
- Struggles with feedback, cited by 38%
- Inadequate problem-solving abilities, cited by 34%.
About 65% of surveyed hiring managers feel that recent college graduates exhibit a sense of entitlement, while 63% believe they tend to get offended too easily. Six in 10 employers have already let go of recent college graduates this year, while one in seven are inclined to refrain from hiring new graduates next year.
“Many recent college graduates may struggle with entering the workforce for the first time as it can be a huge contrast from what they are used to throughout their education journey,” Intelligent’s chief education and career development adviser, Huy Nguyen, said in the report. “They are often unprepared for a less structured environment, workplace cultural dynamics, and the expectation of autonomous work.”
Nearly 20% of the surveyed hiring managers said new workers often arrive late to work and fail to meet assignment deadlines.
“Although they may have some theoretical knowledge from college, they often lack the practical, real-world experience and soft skills required to succeed in the work environment. These factors, combined with the expectations of seasoned workers, can create challenges for both recent grads and the companies they work for,” said Nguyen.
The Gen Z generation already has a stereotype of being lazy or uncooperative in the workplace, with other recent surveys showing similar findings.
Some experts blame Gen Z’s awkward steps into the workforce on the education system for “not preparing students for real-world work.”
“Education today emphasizes theory over practice. Sure, learning Greek mythology is fascinating, but unless you’re teaching it, how does that prepare you to communicate effectively in a corporate meeting or demonstrate professionalism? It doesn’t,” HR consultant Bryan Driscoll told Newsweek.
However, he still faulted employers for lacking the patience to train workers. Driscoll said, “Instead of teaching new hires what they want from them, employers are simply firing workers for not being prepared. It’s a cyclical issue that reflects systemic failure on multiple levels.”
In a column for HR Digest, writer Ava Martinez said that although Gen Zers may seem to be entitled and easily offended to hiring managers, it “may also be a result of the generation of workers speaking up about their preferences rather than silently struggling like the rest of us have learned to do.”
She believes employers will have to step up training investments with Gen Z set to make up around 30% of the workforce by 2025, but she also pointed out that Gen Z workers “have to learn to take initiative for their work and their careers and show employers why they belong in the workforce.”
Intelligent.com’s Nguyen believes employers have a responsibility to help Gen Z succeed in the workforce. He said in the study, “By understanding the challenges of Gen Z workers, companies can take a more proactive approach by implementing formal employee onboarding programs that clearly outline company culture and expectations. Paring recent grads with mentors in the company can also pay huge dividends as that can provide Gen Z workers with the guidance, feedback, and support for them to succeed.”
Discussion Questions
Are Gen Zers less prepared to enter the workforce than past generations?
What adjustments must firms make in recruiting, onboarding, and developing Gen Z talent?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lisa Goller
B2B Content Strategist
Neil Saunders
Managing Director, GlobalData
David Biernbaum
Founder & President, David Biernbaum & Associates LLC
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I think there is a danger in generalizing. We have quite a few Gen Z employees on our team and all of them are wonderful: they work hard, are team players, and are very smart. I am sure there are other members of Gen Z who make terrible employees. But this variability also applies to other generations.
I tend to agree, Neil.
‘cuz they dye their hair blue? Honestly if this article had even 1/5 of a scintilla of evidence – as opposed to
the blathering ofa survey – I’d bother to come up with reasons..’til then : SSDG (SameS***Stuff, Different Generation)I read the article and couldn’t help thinking – is there a mirror somewhere? Just as a manufacturing plant would scrutinize its production line when yield rates drop, employers need to examine their hiring and onboarding processes when 75% of recent graduate hires aren’t meeting expectations. If a factory produced defective products at such rates, management wouldn’t blame the raw materials – they’d immediately audit their quality control systems, training procedures, and production methods. The same principle applies to hiring: when 60% of companies are firing recent graduates within months of hiring them, it signals a systemic failure in how organizations screen, integrate, and develop new talent.
To the point above, the reported issues – lack of professionalism, poor communication skills, and difficulty managing workloads – are fundamentally teachable skills that are not unique to one generation; however, the findings suggest an apathy vs. acknowledgement that these are not immutable character flaws. With the right training programs (both for new employee but also for experienced managers) and management systems, outcomes should organically improve. Managers should strive for these outcomes as the perspective of this generation is critical in ensuring products / services are representative.
Also, can we give these kids some grace? They represent recent graduates – not defective products – entering a much different environment than previous educational settings. Think back to your first job and all their knuckleheads and their egregious mistakes. Maybe not a rite of passage but certainly part of the learning journey we have all experienced (to some extent).
With four generational cohorts in the workforce, it makes sense their expectations clash.
While Gen Zs may be viewed as rude or lazy, the truth may be they see the status quo as inefficient or suboptimal. They may genuinely want to fix processes yet lack the authority to do so.
Just as Millennials stormed workplaces, disrupted them and made them far better with critical thinking and a tech-driven mindset, Gen Zs will leave a legacy that advances how we work.
After college, Millennials and Gen Z never faced the problem Boomers did when jobs were so scarce that young people would accept any paying job they could find, and would do whatever it takes not to lose it.
Competition for any first job was immense. Employers interviewed as many as a hundred or more applicants before deciding on just one. Point is, the value of any first job was super-high.
As Millennials and Gen Z enter the job market, there are more jobs than people to fill them. As a result, the employee has more value than the job in today’s world. As a result, employees tend to take their jobs for granted.
Moreover, many of Gen Z’s first jobs began at home during the pandemic, and now that employers expect them to return to the office, they don’t perceive it as the norm.
Maybe it’s not Gen Z.
The hiring process at many companies has become more and more impersonal. A survey looking at Gen Z’s hiring experience might uncover some poor, impersonal hiring practices that put the wrong candidates in the wrong roles to tick the “position filled” box. A higher level of remote work reduces in person interaction before hiring. Tech can be a great tool to filter candidates, but organizations should weight and encourage interviews with hiring managers and team input. Maybe it’s the current hiring process that needs a closer look.
With the disruption of education and connection on every level in every part of all of our lives, it is to be expected that there are disconnects in the status quo. Communication methods have changed. Work environments have changed. What have companies done on the training and management skills side to support that change? Yes there will always be performance problems in every generation. Skilled managers, strong training programs, protocols and support for new employees can cover those hurdles and build a solid future.
I agree Allison, there is some responsibility for organizations to adjust their onboarding to address expectations and put supports in place to help ensure success.
Just as colleges are swamped with applicants compared to 20 years ago — as technology makes it easier to apply to dozens of colleges — so the same technology has made job applications much easier. What used to be done with a cover letter and resume (on actual paper) can now be accomplished on any number of apps.
This means that employers are screening huge numbers of applications, often using AI tools and without the hands-on processes of the past. It’s a fact of life — but the hiring outcomes (and job “fit”) may be more random and suboptimal than in the past. This is not a criticism of Gen Z job applicants, but of the companies who have not adapted to today’s reality.
One more issue: Among the downsides of the “work from home” phenomenon (even post-pandemic) is the inability of new hires to work in an office setting alongside mentors. It’s important to model behavior and work habits for new hires, and this is not unique to Gen Z hires.
GenZ is just as unprepared to enter the workforce as previous generations were. The issue here are the practices of hiring, onboarding, training, and mentorship. Firms need to do a better job there. After all, if you can’t figure out how to employ a generation how in the hell are you ever going to sell (you know, the retailer/customer relationship) to that same generation?
A lot to unpack here. First, I believe many of these new entries into the workforce have been told their entire lives how wonderful and smart they are. So then you walk into your first day on the job and you have been trained to think you are wonderful (and maybe you are!) but you still need to prove yourself…crash goes egos around the country. Second, we are living in the “participation trophy” age, where there are no winners and losers, everybody is special, and when everyone is special, no one is special (a tip of my hat to Pixar’s “The Incredibles” for that last bit). That is not how business works, I think many people understand that, this generation does not seem to. Third, Covid. I think enough has been written there. Finally, (and this list could be longer) one must wonder just what learning is happening in our Universities and Colleges. The dumbing down of the curricula, along with fairly obvious grade inflation, contributes to all of the symptoms mentioned here. Personally I would LOVE to see college students taking Greek Mythology…it is better that than a survey course in intersectional struggles, or whatever passes for a class now.
Lest I come off as a complete curmudgeon, there is some hope here. For 8+ years I have mentored rising High School Seniors from a college preparatory school here locally. These kids are smart and driven. While I have seen lower social skills (which I attribute to the covid years) recently, I believe they are not insurmountable in nature. Good luck to this group, the country needs them!
I hold a positive outlook for Gen Z assimilating in the workplace and being successful over the long-haul. They hold different perspectives and will contribute differently than the previous generation.
One thing they own, for better or worse, is an estimated 70% endured Covid in High School. During this disruption they were forced to learn remotely, with few connections and social interactions, while teachers altered classes, and curriculum changed. While they made it through this period, hopefully potential employers, good leaders, and mentors in the workforce will recognize this and support them accordingly.