Gen Z?

[Lord Manhammer]

One of my colleagues forwarded this article to me today from VOA. The TL;DR is that 40% of employers are balking at hiring Gen Z employees as they don't feel that these young people are prepared for professional life. Some of the reasons include "a recent college graduate brought a parent to the job interview. Twenty-one percent of employers surveyed said they had a candidate refuse to turn their camera on for a virtual interview. Employers also complained that the interviewees struggled to make eye contact, dressed inappropriately and used inappropriate language."

I know some of you ARE Gen Z and others have Get Z kids - do you feel you or your kids are prepared for the demands of contemporary work? Since I teach college I deal with this regularly, and while many are very prepared and gung ho, an increasing number of my kids just aren't ready. What do you think?


https://www.voanews.com/a/forty-per...iring-gen-z-workers-survey-says-/7425325.html

 

[hotblooded]

It’s way overblown. I’m a millennial and interned alongside ~80 Gen Z college students a couple of years ago during my final year of a post-baccalaureate program. I was constantly impressed by their work ethic and intelligence.

 

[soccerdad72]

I think a lot of generalization happens when it comes to discussion of generations.

This topic, as a whole, has blown up on the DIS over the past few years. I don't plan on getting in the middle of a 25 page debate on the topic, but I will say that we have two Gen-Z boys, one of which is in his final semester of college (Mechanical Engineering) and is in the process of interviewing now. He's gotten good feedback on his prior interviews and co-op opportunities, so we're confident that he'll do well in his career.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

It’s way overblown. I’m a millennial and interned alongside ~80 Gen Z college students a couple of years ago during my final year of a post-baccalaureate program. I was constantly impressed by their work ethic and intelligence.

That's great. There are a lot of dedicated kids but I was also wondering how COVID has affected all of this.

I think a lot of generalization happens when it comes to discussion of generations.

This topic, as a whole, has blown up on the DIS over the past few years. I don't plan on getting in the middle of a 25 page debate on the topic, but I will say that we have two Gen-Z boys, one of which is in his final semester of college (Mechanical Engineering) and is in the process of interviewing now. He's gotten good feedback on his prior interviews and co-op opportunities, so we're confident that he'll do well in his career.

I've only been a regular here for a handful of months, good to know. Wasn't trying to start a hot button topic, just thought it was interesting.

 

[Smugpugmug]

It's currently trendy right now to bash Gen Z so that's why these articles are popping up more. It's similar to how Millennials were blamed for literally everything that was wrong with society.

I can't speak for every single Gen Z person in the world but I do notice that when it comes to jobs, a lot of us will 100% ignore postings on Indeed, Linkedin, etc. that don't have the salary posted.

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, I think this stuff gets overblown too. Are there some members of Gen Z who are unprofessional/entitled/not ready to join the workforce? Sure. There were also Millennials, X'ers, boomers who were all the same way. That's about an individual, not the group as a whole.

 

[BrianL]

It's currently trendy right now to bash Gen Z so that's why these articles are popping up more. It's similar to how Millennials were blamed for literally everything that was wrong with society.

Every subsequent generation has been blamed for everything wrong with society by the previous generations. They have all been lazy, stupid, unwilling to work, etc. and yet, work still get's done and younger people become professionals every day.

But don't be fooled. Younger generations do have terrible taste in everything and need to stay off my lawn!

 

[Smugpugmug]

Every subsequent generation has been blamed for everything wrong with society by the previous generations. They have all been lazy, stupid, unwilling to work, etc. and yet, work still get's done and younger people become professionals every day.

But don't be fooled. Younger generations do have terrible taste in everything and need to stay off my lawn!

I think my favorite example I've seen of blaming younger people was this article I saw on Reddit where apparently, Millennials are killing Applebees!

https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-endanger-casual-dining-restaurants-2017-5

I can't wait to find out what young people will be blamed for next!

 

[BrianL]

I think my favorite example I've seen of blaming younger people was this article I saw on Reddit where apparently, Millennials are killing Applebees!

https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-endanger-casual-dining-restaurants-2017-5

I can't wait to find out what young people will be blamed for next!

There's some letter I read about how the new generation is so terrible, etc. and if you read it you would think it was written yesterday, but it was actually from like a hundred years ago, and examples go back further than that.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

I think my favorite example I've seen of blaming younger people was this article I saw on Reddit where apparently, Millennials are killing Applebees!

https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-endanger-casual-dining-restaurants-2017-5

I can't wait to find out what young people will be blamed for next!

Well that's just silly. The impetus for me starting the thread wasn't to bash any Generation or agree with the article. But I have noticed differences with my students now compared to before the pandemic so I wonder if that has had an impact. But it wasn't to throw blame anywhere, just wanted to be clear.

 

[john7994]

We are actively seeking and hiring in this demographic (Technology Field) - specifically graduates. Based on the focus groups I have done at work, onboarding sessions, and other interactions - I haven’t witnessed some of the behaviors being thrown around. I will see say they tend to be harder to retain as employees than other groups - but there a few variables that impact this as well.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Well that's just silly. The impetus for me starting the thread wasn't to bash any Generation or agree with the article. But I have noticed differences with my students now compared to before the pandemic so I wonder if that has had an impact. But it wasn't to throw blame anywhere, just wanted to be clear.

I was just joking around, I know that wasn't your intention.

Also to be clear, yes I am personally killing Applebees. If I want microwaved food, I'll do it at home.

 

[ShelbyWagon]

It's currently trendy right now to bash Gen Z so that's why these articles are popping up more. It's similar to how Millennials were blamed for literally everything that was wrong with society.

I can't speak for every single Gen Z person in the world but I do notice that when it comes to jobs, a lot of us will 100% ignore postings on Indeed, Linkedin, etc. that don't have the salary posted.

"What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?" ~Plato circa 4th century BC

I love the trend of not applying to job postings that don't list a salary range. There's nothing more frustrating than to go through the interview process only to find out the company isn't paying a competitive salary.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I have 5 kids. One graduated college, 2 in high school, one middle schooler and an elementary schooler. One problem is the educational system. Idk what they’re teaching kids, but my older kids that are in high school are both in gifted and talented classes, are really smart, straight A kids and they don’t know basic information that’s usually taught in school. Both thought Anne Frank was an airplane pilot, my 17 year old thought World War One was in the early 1800s, they don’t know basic historical figures like Napoleon and I could go on and on. My college aged kid knows all this stuff so somethings happened in the past few years in the schools. And I’ve been asking their friends and other kids their age (much to the embarrassment of my kids lol) and they don’t know basic stuff either. Not sure what they’re actually teaching these kids but it’s scary. They also seem to be in general, more entitled and less responsible and respectful than previous generations in my opinion. But that’s the fault of the millennials and gen z-ers that raised them.

 

[CdnCarrie]

All my nieces and nephews are Gen Z (or maybe the last year of Millenials) and all have good careers and some have bought homes already.
My own 2 are Gen Z and so far they are good students and reliable workers.

 

[soccerdad72]

I love the trend of not applying to job postings that don't list a salary range. There's nothing more frustrating than to go through the interview process only to find out the company isn't paying a competitive salary.

Trust me, as a hiring manager, it's equally frustrating to sort through dozens of applications that don't fit my salary range. Or worse, getting an applicant post 'negotiable' as their salary requirement, only to go through an interview and find out we're nowhere close in salary.

 

[Nancyg56]

I love Gen Z and honestly do not understand why an employer would balk at hiring them. I know that they tend to have a different approach to some things, but the young people I interact with are focused, direct, and have a solid work ethic.

Frankly, I believe the generation to be on the look out for is Gen Alpha. Those kids are on fire!

ETA: My employer recently hired a 26 YO young man. We are a small office and with one exception the age group is over 50. This young man is tech savvy and most of the women in my office are not. One had to do updates (she is our tech admin) and was in way over her head, yet she refused to ask him if he might be able to help. after that a coworker had some trouble with her laptop and I was notable to help her so I asked him for help. We got him and the other new guy. They not only fixed the problem but they gave us some shortcuts. We now have a few on board to ask the young guys for help, but the old lady who needs it the most still refuses to acknowledge that a 26 YO man could have a few tech tips up his sleeve.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Trust me, as a hiring manager, it's equally frustrating to sort through dozens of applications that don't fit my salary range. Or worse, getting an applicant post 'negotiable' as their salary requirement, only to go through an interview and find out we're nowhere close in salary.

Don't the folks that are applying for these jobs have at least a ballpark idea of what a job pays? A quick google search can often show salary ranges. My wife is on the Millennial/Gen Z border and she won't apply for any job unless it has at least a salary range posted for the reasons stated above.

 

[soccerdad72]

Don't the folks that are applying for these jobs have at least a ballpark idea of what a job pays? A quick google search can often show salary ranges. My wife is on the Millennial/Gen Z border and she won't apply for any job unless it has at least a salary range posted for the reasons stated above.

No clue. Our most recent opening, we posted the exact salary of the position (union job, it was a fixed starting salary) and the applicants were all over the map. We had a PhD apply - it's essentially an admin position.

 

[RedAngie]

I love the trend of not applying to job postings that don't list a salary range. There's nothing more frustrating than to go through the interview process only to find out the company isn't paying a competitive salary.

One of the things I liked about my company (recently retired) is that they posted salary ranges in their job listings even when I joined in 1988.

If you apply for a position where a salary range isn’t listed and at the first interview they balk at discussing it, look elsewhere.