Here comes trouble!
Gen Z, the notoriously opinionated generation born between 1997 and 2012, is flooding the professional workforce and is expected to outpace the number of Baby Boomers by the end of the year.
The problem? Gen Z is known to be “difficult,” and has not proven to be receptive to constructive criticism in the way older generations have been trained.
Some experts think this change in generational dynamics may interrupt workflows, certainly for managers and supervisors.
“I believe bosses will need to listen a little more than we once did and to coach a little more than we once did,” said Dr. Elmore, author of “A New Kind of Diversity.”
FOX Business has more on the story:
Gen Z has a bad reputation for being the most “difficult” generation to work with, and reports say they’re slated to take over the workforce by outpacing the number of baby boomers by the end of the year.
What does that mean for bosses?
A 2023 survey from ResumeBuilder found that 49% of business leaders and managers identified the group as difficult to work with most or all the time and a majority agreed Gen Z — or Zoomers — lack effective communication skills, motivation, effort and even technological skills in some instances.
Seventy-five percent of those surveyed pinpointed the group as “more difficult to work with than other generations.”
Dr. Tim Elmore, author of “A New Kind of Diversity” and CEO of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Growing Leaders, specializes in helping multiple generations develop into productive team members.
“My research reveals Gen Z has been challenging to work with for various reasons. They often bring little work experience following college graduation, with parents encouraging them to focus on academics. Plus, having grown up on screens, they frequently bring lower levels of emotional intelligence than previous youth generations,” he told Fox News Digital.
“The greatest reason for employers, however, can be summarized with two stark contrasts,” he added.
“First, the age of authority is dropping. Consider this: young professionals often enter their careers with a greater insight into social media and how to monetize it. They seem to understand what young consumers want, and they possess deeper intuition on where culture is going. Second, at the same time, the age of maturity is rising. Several university deans have told me, ‘26 is the new 18.’ They are maturing socially and emotionally later than previous generations of young graduates.”
It’s troubling for supervisors, he stressed, because they may receive employees who lack the capacity to handle tough feedback, they may be overconfident or cocky, and they may choose to walk away from conflict.
“I believe bosses will need to listen a little more than we once did and to coach a little more than we once did,” Elmore said.
Some speculate their unusual introduction to the work world with hybrid or fully remote internships and jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic could partially be to blame.