Why Companies Are Firing Gen Z Workers

Why Companies Are Firing Gen Z Workers

The Hiring Crisis Facing Businesses Across Industries

It’s 9:17 am and Brad, a recent college graduate, is not just late for the 9 o’clock meeting – he’s late for work. His dress code screams anything but ‘business professional.’ Instead of a sharp button-up and slacks, he’s strutting into the office in a Supreme t-shirt and ripped jeans, with muddy sneakers from last weekend’s hiking trip.

In the meeting, Brad’s long-winded explanations drag on and on, forcing everyone to cut him off before the room falls asleep. His technical skills are non-existent – he has a master’s degree, but when it comes to Excel, he’s more lost than ever. He can swipe through TikTok all day, but can’t even find the “reply all” function in Outlook. Faced with real problems, Brad fumbles, unable to problem-solve without a YouTube tutorial.

The real kicker? Brad is so casual it hurts. He strolls through the office like it’s a coffee shop, high-fiving coworkers and calling the boss “dude.” Brad is the average Gen Z graduate, and like many Gen Z graduates, Brad will be out of a job within his first few months.

Supervisors across industries are facing a hiring crisis when it comes to recent college graduates. A recent survey of almost 1,000 business leaders in the business, technology and science sectors revealed that 1 in 6 companies are now hesitant to hire a recent college graduate. While 94% of companies reported hiring recent grads, only 25% said those hires were a success. The rest were either unsatisfactory or a total disaster. Three-quarters of companies stated they were outright dissatisfied with their Gen Z hires, and three-fifths reported firing their Gen Z hire within a year.

This has left a bad taste in the mouth of business leaders across industries. The biggest complaint? College graduates are unprofessional and poorly prepared to work, often overwhelmed by the challenges of the workplace. Has Gen Z been coddled to the point they are no longer hireable?

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The Professionalism Gap: Why Gen Z Struggles in the Workplace

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average hiring success rate is right around 43% – meaning 43 out of every 100 hires will actually work out long-term for the company. But for Gen Z, the situation is even more worrying. 6 out of 10 companies surveyed reported having to fire a Gen Z worker, putting their hiring success rate significantly lower than the average.

So what’s the root of this generational problem? Let’s dive into the key issues behind Gen Z’s apparent lack of hireability:

Lack of Workplace Etiquette

A whopping 9 out of 10 companies surveyed reported that Gen Z desperately needed further etiquette training. Across the board, the prognosis is clear: Gen Z does not know how to operate in a professional environment.

Good workplace etiquette is key for productivity and harmony. It’s about understanding how to navigate professional relationships – knowing when to use formal titles, being aware of sexual harassment policies, and practicing proper communication, both on the phone and online.

Gen Z tends to treat the workplace like a Discord chat room, with memes, emojis, and casual language that simply doesn’t fly in a professional setting. Imagine losing your job because you responded to an important email with a Handsome Squidward GIF.

Dressing the part is just as important. Most workplaces go for business casual – a more relaxed version of formal attire. But Gen Z often shows up in graphic tees and dirty sneakers, failing to understand that the workplace is not their college campus.

Low Motivation and Initiative

Other issues included a serious lack of motivation or initiative, with half of all companies surveyed stating that their Gen Z employees needed close supervision and showed little drive to take charge.

This might be due to the culture shock Gen Z experiences moving from a perpetually online life to a professional workplace. It could also be that Gen Z is the most vocal about how exploitative industries can be. While their online existence may have dulled their preparation for a professional setting, it’s also increased their awareness of the many pitfalls of modern industry.

Gen Z questions things like why cover letters are still a thing, why salary information isn’t displayed on job listings, and why wages overall have not kept pace with the cost of living or the value of industry since the 1970s. Hiring managers may find Gen Z more motivated if the American Dream wasn’t officially unreachable for most of them.

Communication and Feedback Struggles

39% of surveyed companies stated that Gen Z employees lacked good communication skills, which is ironic for a generation that spends hours screaming into headsets on Call of Duty. When most online lobbies devolve into shouting blame games, with a healthy sprinkling of racism and homophobia, it’s easy to see why Gen Z communication skills might be lacking.

This ties in with the 38% of companies who reported that Gen Z was overly sensitive and struggled with professional feedback. The online world has turned every disagreement into a zero-sum ego battle, and now Gen Z treats feedback like a boss just nerfed their favorite weapon.

Lack of Problem-Solving and Technical Skills

A staggering 34% of new hires showed bad problem-solving skills, which is odd because video games are supposed to make you better at that. But it turns out real-world problems aren’t like following a quest marker in Skyrim, especially when you can’t communicate properly.

Even more troubling is the 30% of employers who say Gen Z lacks basic technical skills, struggling with Excel, Word, and other programs that are as old as their parents. This decline in ability is blamed on access to mobile devices and cloud-based editors like Google Docs, which means Gen Z doesn’t know how to navigate menus or engage in simple formatting tasks.

Ironically, despite being the first digitally native generation, Gen Z is also showing a dramatic decline in typing skills – thanks to an over-reliance on mobile phones and auto-correct features.

The Systemic Failure to Prepare Gen Z for the Workforce

It’s not entirely Gen Z’s fault, though. Colleges and high schools are increasingly failing to prepare students for the challenges of the modern workplace. Previous generations had mandatory typing and basic computer classes, giving them a solid foundation. But today, many schools have cut these programs, assuming Gen Z’s familiarity with tech means they don’t need formal instruction.

While Gen Z might be digital natives, much of their knowledge is informal and self-taught – leaving them high and dry when it comes to professional settings. Recently, California made it mandatory for public students to undergo typing classes, much like their parents had to in order to graduate.

Gen Z is also suffering from a critical social skills problem, likely fueled by their online lifestyle where direct human-to-human interaction is rarer than ever before. This is growing into what is increasingly being called a ‘dating crisis,’ as Gen Z fails to make meaningful romantic connections.

A Center for Disease Control survey showed that teenagers are more risk-averse than ever before, with less rates of smoking, drug use, drinking, physical fighting, and even sex – showing a downward trajectory in all categories since 1990. But the bad side is that teenagers today are attending fewer in-person gatherings such as house parties than ever before. A whopping 59% of Gen Z males report not having approached a potential partner in person for the last year.

The trend is clear: Gen Z is less social than ever despite spending most of their lives on social media. And this is making them worse at everything that a professional workplace requires of them.

The Uncertain Future of Gen Z in the Workforce

Despite playing more video games than ever before – something that’s proven to improve problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills – Gen Z is actually struggling with these skills in a real-life setting. Skill sets suited for video games are proving to be a poor fit for most professional jobs, though there are industries where Gen Z thrives, reflecting their unique upbringing.

The question on every hiring manager’s mind is – what do we do now? As the world becomes ever more digital, this hiring crisis is only set to grow. While typing and computer familiarization classes in schools is a good start, it doesn’t solve the fundamental problem with Gen Z’s lack of social skills, problem-solving abilities, and low personal initiative.

The future of industry is extremely uncertain, and this should worry everyone. As Gen Z continues to enter the workforce, businesses will have to adapt and find new ways to support, train, and retain this generation of workers. It’s a challenge that will shape the future of the economy and the workplace as we know it.

So what’s the solution? Colleges and high schools need to step up and provide more comprehensive preparation for the professional world. Mandatory classes on workplace etiquette, communication skills, and basic technical proficiency could go a long way in bridging the gap.

Employers, too, will need to get creative. Mentorship programs, soft skills training, and a greater emphasis on emotional intelligence could help Gen Z workers thrive. And as for the broader societal issues underlying Gen Z’s struggles – well, that’s a challenge for policymakers and thought leaders to tackle.