Posted on 03/12/2026 6:14:19 PM PDT by simpson96
After complaining for years that Gen Z grads are difficult to work with, bosses are no longer all talk, no action: Now they’re rapidly firing young workers who aren’t up to scratch just months after hiring them.
The numbers are stark. According to a survey, six in 10 employers admitted they had already sacked the Gen Z workers they had hired fresh out of college.
Intelligent.com, a platform dedicated to helping young professionals navigate the future of work, surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. business leaders. It found that the class of 2024’s shortcomings are shaping how bosses hire next—and it’s not good news for future grads.(snip)
So where is it going wrong for fresh-faced graduates?
Employers’ gripe with young people today is their lack of motivation or initiative—50% of the leaders surveyed cited that as the reason why things didn’t work out with their new hire.
Bosses also pointed to Gen Z being unprofessional, unorganized, and having poor communication skills as their top reasons for having to sack grads.
Leaders say they have struggled with the latest generation’s tangible challenges, including being late to work and meetings often, not wearing office-appropriate clothing, and using language appropriate for the workspace.
Now, more than half of hiring managers have come to the conclusion that college grads are unprepared for the world of work.
(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
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Why do I get the feeling some of this is not so much “The damn kids won’t work” and it’s actually more “The damn young people refuse to be sheep and minimum wage slaves and are demanding to be treated like human beings”
Maybe because you’re one of them?
L
You are discounting the effect of the COVID years of “dis-education.”
Sorry, as an oldster dealing with Gen Z-ers, that is DEFINITELY not my experience.
They treat coming into work as optional, and quit without telling you they are doing so. Among other things.
Ha ha. I thought the exact same thing.
As a Gen X business owner with some college, the Gen Z workforce is utterly consumed by social media and gaming. There are very few good ones and you know they’ll do well for themselves. The others, depending on government and their parents.
I would blame their parents, if that is really how they think work will be for them.
With the way that things are going, that's not a bad thing. Especially if we will get replaced by AI.
The kids aren’t mission oriented and focused on completing the mission and adapting to and overcoming challenges and setbacks met on the way until they get it done?
In related trends the infusion of AI into everything these days is quite the impetus for employers to not even bother hiring people right out of college. The AI technology could be a lot cheaper, works 24 hours a day, never complains, and needs no benefits.
I would expect law school graduates to be hardest hit. They are basically hired to do the grunt work that AI now can do.
Maybe you are a good little sheep who enjoys goyslop from the trough, but unlike you I won’t lick the boots of some DEI HR black lady
Do high schoolers work anymore? That’s where we learned to develop a work ethic. And if you didn’t have a job in high school, you were a loser.
I frequently comment about my sympathy for Gen Z. Obama said he would “fundamentally transform” the country, and he did. I’m glad I’m not growing up in what Obama created. And I’m glad I wasn’t young during COVID. I think Gen Z has been handed a very bad deal on multiple levels.
Now, having said that, I will also say that I am not surprised that Gen Z is not performing well in the workplace. And I’m not surprised that managers are firing young people. They are damaged and they don’t fit in, and managers of workplaces don’t want to deal with the constant headaches.
But I will point out a further piece of the puzzle. If I were 22-30, or whatever — and it could be you instead of me — if I were different from the others, if I worked hard, if I showed up on time (or early!), if I were diligent, and prepared, pleasant and enthusiastic — in short, if I were starting out, and if I were an absolute Super Star ... I bet my boss would give me a 4% raise when everyone got a 3% raise. After I busted my ass and was 10x better than the Gen Z losers who got fired after 2 months. 1% more for me. Oh boy!
Because the working world has largely changed these days, and it’s a terrible place to be. Workers are not valued, and they know it.
Working hard these days gets you nothing, the management just sees you as a sucker they can suck more work out of before they drop you and hire a new sucker so they don’t have to pay benefits
And maybe you’re a self entitled little punk who’s never done a hard days labor in your entire life.
Or maybe you’re not.
One thing is for sure, though, and that’s you don’t know jack diddly squat about me.
Here’s a clue for GenZ to help them out on the employment front.
Try being 15 minutes early.
L
Labor laws and “immigrants” (living wage) have pretty much deleted work for high schoolers.
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