Gen Z is all geared up to enter the workforce armed with its digital-first approach, but employers look apprehensive about hiring people from this generation. Intelligent.com surveyed 966 business leaders responsible for their company’s hiring decisions, and the inputs revealed the top reasons affecting Gen Z’s hiring prospects.
Let’s explore 12 reasons why employers do not want to hire Gen Z based on the survey results.
Lack of Motivation and Initiative
Gen Z has grown in highly structured environments, with detailed guidelines and instructions readily available for most activities. These environments have shaped their work approach.
They expect explicit directions for most activities instead of independent actions, which doesn’t sit well with most recruiters. In fact, 14% of those surveyed revealed that lack of motivation or initiative was a top reason why only a few or none of their Gen Z hires were successful.
Poor Communication Skills
While Gen Z excels in digital interactions, its communication style doesn’t align with traditional professional communication methods. Gen Z often uses abbreviated text communications and an overly casual social media interaction style, both deemed unfit for conventional business standards. It has drastically affected their ability to write formal emails, hold professional face-to-face communications, engage in formal phone etiquette, etc.
Employers participating in the survey revealed that in 39% of the cases, poor communication skill was the reason behind Gen Z’s failure at work.
Lack of Professionalism
A quick observation of Gen Z’s interpretation of workplace professionalism will reveal a massive disconnect between their and the real-world traditional business expectations.
Since Gen Z grew up in an era of casual digital interactions, they have developed a distinct understanding of professional behavior, which is widely different from established business norms. Their unconventional understanding of professionalism has started affecting their work life. Several employers assigned a staggering 46% weightage to lack of professionalism as a reason behind their Gen Z employee’s failure at work.
Struggles with Feedback
Constructive criticism is fundamental to sustainable growth, but some from Gen Z tend to take it personally. Their sensitivity to feedback is creating obstacles in their professional growth and skill development. When asked employers about the top reasons behind Gen Z’s poor performance, they attributed 38% weightage to their inability to take feedback. Working on this single skill can improve Gen Z’s hiring prospects.
Inadequate Problem-Solving
Gen Z is among the most tech-savvy generations that grew up in environments where most answers were readily available through search engines. This easy accessibility to solutions has significantly impacted their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
Many from this generation struggle in complex situations demanding detailed critical analysis and creative solutions. This challenge is now visible in organizations. In 34% of the cases, inadequate problem-solving abilities caused Gen Z to fail at their jobs.
Feelings of Entitlement
Social media has created unrealistic expectations about career progression and workplace benefits among Gen Z professionals. The constant exposure to overnight success stories and achievements has made them expect quick promotions, competitive starting packages, significant workplace flexibility without corresponding experience, etc.
This sense of entitlement makes it difficult for employers to hire good talent from this generation. In fact, 65% of surveyed hiring managers believe that recent college graduates are entitled, making them difficult to work with.
Easily Offended
While Gen Z deserves praise for their heightened awareness of social justice and personal boundaries, they must learn to differentiate between constructive workplace discourse and perceived personal offense.
Approximately 63% of the surveyed hiring managers believe that Gen Z gets offended too quickly, creating disruptions in the workplace.
Inability to Manage Workload
Irrespective of the profession one chooses, every job demands a specific level of multitasking, adaptability, and task prioritization skills to manage the varying workload levels. Unfortunately, a significant number of Gen Z employees cannot manage their workload, according to 21% of the surveyed hiring managers.
Developing and strengthening this single skill can boost Gen Z’s employment prospects.
Late to Start Work
The influence of remote learning and working experiences has altered Gen Z’s time management and punctuality approach. Some individuals from this generation have developed a more fluid interpretation of start time and scheduling commitments, which often delays various work activities.
20% of hiring managers say that Gen Z employees are usually late to start work, affecting the task completions scheduled for the day. It may appear insignificant to some, but punctuality is a non-negotiable in most organizations.
Unprofessional Dressing
The way people dress tells a lot about their personality. Hence, most companies have strict dress guidelines for their employees. Gen Zs face challenges in this regard as their constant exposure to influencer culture and casual remote work environments have blurred the lines between expressing personal style and maintaining a professional appearance.
19% of hiring managers report that Gen Z employees don’t dress professionally at work, impacting their office culture and environment.
Inappropriate Language Usage
Years of social media interaction and text messaging have developed a distinct communication style that doesn’t fit well in professional settings. Gen Z’s use of casual vocabulary and informal tone in corporate environments is a serious issue, making employers reconsider their hiring decisions.
19% of hiring managers have already taken note of this issue and reported that many Gen Z employees don’t use appropriate language for work, expressing their dissatisfaction.
Difficult to Manage
Gen Z is known for its distinct belief systems and values, which differ widely from previous generations. Their preference for work-life balance, emphasis on maintaining personal boundaries at the workplace, etc., often challenge traditional management approaches. Since Gen Z tends to question established practices and seek clear reasoning behind decisions, some employers may find them difficult to work with.
Nearly 17% of employers say Gen Z is difficult to manage, impacting their hiring prospects.
