Ah, like preparing spreadsheets on analysis pads before Lotus 1-2-3 was widely used?
Posted on 12/26/2022 6:11:54 PM PST by libh8er
It turns out Gen Zers have a common secret. They’re not as comfortable with new technology as older generations would typically presume.
Sure, they may have grown up with instant access to information and an affinity for digital devices that older generations had to learn. But that has led to a widespread presumption that Gen Zers are therefore innately good with tech. Now, new research is showing that may not be the case at all when it comes to workplace tech. In fact, this presumption from older generations is leading a larger number of young professionals to experience “tech shame,” according to HP’s “Hybrid Work: Are We There Yet?” report, published in late November.
One in 5 of the 18-to-29-year-olds polled in the report, which surveyed 10,000 office workers in 10 markets including the U.S. and U.K., said they felt judged when experiencing technical issues, compared to only one in 25 for those aged 40 years and over. Further, 25% of the former age group would actively avoid participating in a meeting if they thought their tech tools might cause disruption, whereas it was just 6% for the latter cohort.
“We were surprised to find out that young workers are feeling more ‘tech shame’ than their older colleagues, and this could be due to a number of issues,” said Debbie Irish, head of human resources in the U.K. and Ireland at HP. First, in a hybrid work scenario, more seasoned colleagues would likely have higher disposable incomes with which to buy better equipment for their homes, she suggested.
Additionally, those who had started their careers during or since the pandemic were probably low on confidence at work. “Some young professionals are entering the workforce for the first time in fully virtual settings,” said Irish. “They have less face-to-face time in the office than any other generation and have limited access to senior employees, mentors and even their bosses.”
‘Adequate training is needed’ Irish urged organizations to ramp up their technical training programs for their youngest workers. “While young professionals may be more accustomed to digital environments, and certainly social media platforms, this doesn’t always carry over to professional tools,” she said.
Before entering the workforce, young workers might not have experienced virtual meeting platforms or communication channels, such as Slack. “Adequate training is needed for our early talent so they can learn how to utilize collaboration tools effectively,” added Irish.
Ludmila Milla, co-founder and CEO of e-learning provider UJJI, agreed. “The assumption is that because Gen Z and even millennials spend a considerable amount of time on technology that they are technology savvy,” she said. “This is a huge misconception. Sadly, neither watching TikTok videos nor playing Minecraft fulfills the technology brief.”
And when it comes to asking for help, younger generations are perhaps more shy. “As a behavioral scientist, I would expect older employees to hold up their hands and say they don’t know,” added Milla. “But it is much harder for younger employees, as there is a perception — albeit often incorrect — that they are naturally tech adept.”
Related to this insight, Salesforce’s “Future of Work Survey,” released in late November, indicated that U.K. workers rank digital skills as the most crucial for the current and future workplace — but 27% do not feel confident in their digital capabilities. A third complained about a lack of training in this area.
More worrying, so-called “future workers” – 13-to-18-year-old school children — lacked awareness of the importance of digital skills, according to the research. Those surveyed in this group rated these skills as the seventh-most vital capability required for the 2030 workplace.
‘Failing the next generation‘ “The U.K. is facing a digital skills crisis, compromising its status as one of the world’s most important science and technology hubs,” said Zahra Bahrololoumi, Salesforce’s U.K. and Ireland CEO. “We are failing the next generation and must educate parents and children on the importance of digital skills.”
Bahrololoumi said that the public and private sectors must join forces “to democratize access” to all learning and development opportunities. Salesforce is trying to do its part. “For example, 40 million badges have been acquired via Trailhead, our online learning platform, and it opens up access to tech skills to people of all backgrounds and education levels for free,” Bahrololoumi added.
While Trailhead, launched in 2014, offers courses focused on Salesforce technologies, the concept of completing hands-on challenges and earning points and badges to learn should be embraced by others, UJJI’s Milla said.
“Learning and development programs need to recognize that younger employees use technology for pleasure,” she added. “This is one of the main reasons we think gamification is a critical [learning and development] facilitator.”
You have to know and learn the basic underlying skills that the tech was designed to enhance first for it to be effective...and that is what many people are lacking these days.
There seems to be a common denominator to the technologies that are mysterious to the Gen Z crowd. The QWERTY keyboard. Being able to touch type efficiently is a gateway to being able to interact with typical office applications and IT functions. Using only thumbs as with cell phones does not develop the dexterity that touch typing does. This almost a prerequisite for laptop level applications.
Did it really only take 2 generations for people to lose their understanding of tech and treat it as magic?
I guess that makes a certain amount of sense - Most of the people my grandparents age seemed to understand auto mechanics and care really well - less so my parents and by the time my generation came around, nobody really understands personal car repair (like brake replacement, simple component replacement or even something ‘standard’ like changing a tire!)
Well, as somebody who enjoys remote work, I must say it: these people definitely need to be in the office.
I started doing IP in 72. There was no completed protocol at that time. It was a work in progress. Ethernet didn’t exist. We made it all work on bar napkins and felt tipped pens.
I don’t think the current generation could make that all happen now.
No young person that I know with an it degree has a clue about how networks work.
They know apps and that’s about it.
They grew up being spoon fed everything, not surprised
You’re right. My engineering class was the first to learn program as a required course. In 1963. Prior to attending university we also built our own stereos radios and ham gear with HealthKit products. We knew electronics learning to use plug in ape.
“They grew up playing video games. When I was a kid funds were so scarce I barely got a C64 and a tape deck. Had to program my own games.”
I would expect gen Xers, particularly men, to be very good at computing. I was older and got my first computer and terminal in the 70’s, which I had to build and solder myself and even then the parts were barely within my reach.
I find many, but not all, of my boomer age cohorts to be amazingly inept with technology.
Aw, c’mon, man! Surely they know their way around Fortnight, Call of Duty, Super Mario Cart, or somesuch, too?
Button pushers, all the heavy lifting was done earlier. A Shame really.
this is so true about people in positions of authority that don’t have experience in the area they are in charge of. This is why historically the military would pair up a second lieutenant with a Seargent with years of experience.
I feel in the early 2000’s you had to be a lot more tech-savy to know how your computer worked and how to get it to do what you wanted it to do. With the way current OS’s are set up, they try to do everything for the end user and not tell him what’s going on. There may be nerds back in Redmond or Cuptertino (or to be more honest, in Bangalore) who know what’s up; but that does little to help the guy pressing keys in the office.
Agile projects often blow up in managent’s faces. Agile is fine for a stand-alone app but not for ERP projects. I have been on conference calls where exectutives cry on the phone.
Like having to "bless" your System folder on your Mac?
Programming your own games gave you at least the basics (no pun intended) of how computer programs worked. Twenty years ago we did not program our own games but we made mods. Bunches of them. And little tweaks to start menus and custom sounds when certain programs were activated.
Now they just buy them and if it is not available they will not even attempt to make it.
Honestly the myth that kids are so "tech savvy" is just that, a myth. Some kids do indeed know how to use technology but most just dully watch videos.
Ah, like preparing spreadsheets on analysis pads before Lotus 1-2-3 was widely used?
Youth Soccer
-PJ
I’ve noticed this myself. Anywhere I go where staff needs to use a computer to do anything outside of somewhere that specializes in tech, like Micro Center, Gen Z is useless. They’re also scared to do and learn new things, which I suppose was the point.
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