Gen Z may need to work a bit harder overcome some of the biases business leaders have about them.
According to a new report released by Intelligent.com, 4 in 10 workplace heads are believe recent college grads are unprepared for the workforce due to their poor communication skills and work ethic.
The platform surveyed 1,243 business leaders to learn about their experience with recent college graduates (classes 2020-2023), and found that the younger class has significant gaps to fill when it comes to possessing the leadership skills their bosses desire. Some leaders even blame the younger generation’s sense of entitlement (51%) and technological skills (43%) as contributing factors.
But it’s not their fault.
“Actually, nobody is prepared for the workplace of 2023,” says Professor of Strategic Communication at Ithaca College and Principal of Gayeski Analytics Diane Gayeski, Ph.D. in the report.
“It’s changed dramatically because the digital transformation and hybrid workforce trends that began a decade ago accelerated during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and both methods and attitudes towards work are now vastly different.”
He continued: “Recent college grads don’t communicate in the way that their 50 year old executives do, but they are effective in collaborating and getting things done using their own tools of social media, texting, and applications like Slack and Google Docs. The people who think that Gen-Z is “soft” and doesn’t have a good work ethic should consider the groups that are leaving the workforce in droves – nurses, restaurant workers, and teachers who are mostly mid-career but who are just burned out. Women who were primed to enter the executive ranks bailed out by the thousands during the last few years, having had a taste of what work might be like if they didn’t have to put up with harassment and incivility at work, and how their lives might be improved by having more time for their families and personal pursuits.”