Bosses are firing Gen Z grads just months after hiring them—here’s what they say needs to change

Fortune ^ | 3/10/2026 | Orianna Rosa Royle

[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.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: fired; gaming; genz; labor; socialmedia; victimhoodcult

[cymbeline]

“The damn young people refuse to be sheep and minimum wage slaves and are demanding to be treated like human beings”

If they can find jobs that satisfy them, fine, but otherwise what do they do for money?

[Churchillspirit]

Are you Gen Z ?

[Churchillspirit]

Seems like it!

[yldstrk]

And not once did you mention the benefits you give your workers, so good job I suppose for your top award of most employee turnover
***********
You have to understand, something, my dear mitch, he is not running a company for the purpose of providing jobs to you and your kind, he is running a company to make a profit. He will provide the pay and benefits he can afford and still make a profit and support himself and his family. You too can start a company and do the same.

[ansel12]

When it was slow enough that I could do it myself I came to like digging, it is sort of a zen thing, put on Rush Limbaugh or music and start digging, your hands and legs can move at the steady and constant pace that suits you while your mind runs free, you learn to stay in constant motion even if someone stops to talk to you the hands and legs and shovel keep doing their motions and in a day or two or three the 5 or 6 foot deep trench is dug , hardpan and roots cause problems but you learn that even hardpan can be defeated, and of course anyone can do backfill.

[yldstrk]

I wish I could, but these dam Boomers have nothing else in their lives and won’t die/retire, so I am stuck with them.

Boomers not retiring is a big reason for lots of the issues with jobs and affordability today. Boomers are blocking Gen-X from Senior Management and it cascades down, since Gen-X can’t move up they are stuck in Middle Management blocking the Millennials from those jobs who in turn are blocking the Gen-Z from entry level jobs.

But who cares about families and future generations, it’s all about the Boomers feeling fulfilled and good about themselves.

1000 years from now, that generation will still be cursed.
************
Wow, you are asking for trouble. Once the Boomers, who actually know how to work, are gone, your company will be toast.

[mewzilla]

My bet is that this is the first generation that saw much of it going to college without ever having held an internship, part-time, full-time job, volunteering.

That lack of real world experience is telling.

[Churchillspirit]

Sorry life has been unkind to you. That is some large chip on your shoulder.

[cyclotic]

two of my kids are “gen Z.” Both are independent and well employed, as are my two millenials.

One is a legit rocket engineer. The other is a trucker. He mostly drives flatbeds because they are harder to operate and pay more money. When a former employer declared bankruptcy, his boss called a friend at a different company and said “Hire him, he’s the hardest working kid I’ve ever known.”

He was at my house when the company called. The interview was short. “Ben, when can you start?”

Maybe homeschooling had something to do with it. Maybe teaching our kids that life doesn’t revolve around technology and screens played a part.

OK, the Astronautical Engineer spends a lot of time on a computer but weirdly, he’s not a geek about it.

He’s got a great tweaked out Ford Bronco, camps and hikes a lot, has an enviable gun collection and is getting married soon. Not your typical engineer geek.

[Sirius Lee]

Once the Boomers, who actually know how to work, are gone, your company will be toast.

Gen X knows how to work, and we don't need to endlessly "collaborate" to figure stuff out.

[Jimmy Valentine]

As a “Boomer” and a member of the largest generation ever, competition for jobs was very high and you had to be “value added” to get and keep a good position. As we move on, the competition has slowed down

[newfreep]

Boomers are blocking Gen-X

LOL...

Not only do boomers possess skills, intellect and work ethics missing in Gen-Xers, but they are not consumed with "social justice", social media and the serious psychotic mental disorder of being unable to grasp reality.

[Crusher138]

We currently have a 24 year old employee who is constantly calling in sick or that she will be late. Her life is nothing but drama. She “must” watch her nieces because her sister is having a crisis with her husband. Her mom might have cancer, so she has to take her to the doctor (she doesn’t). Her father was fired and needs the car to look for a new job...he needs her car because her mom needs their car to run errands. While she is “working”, if she finishes a task she will plop down with her phone and wait for someone to notice that she isn’t doing anything.

We recently hired a 62 year old woman who happens to be a retired police sergeant. She is a ball of energy who is always looking for something to keep herself busy. She doesn’t have the computer skills of the younger girl, but she is willing and interested in learning them. She never hesitates to take on any task asked of her and has yet to even show up late.

The generational difference...

[Keyhopper]

Once I made journeyman, in the 80s, if the boss caught you digging someone’s getting fired, “I don’t pay you $20 an hour to dig holes”.

[SisterK]

Work Ethic is a thing of the past

[arrow107]

You seem to be the “Pay me more, and then I will work hard” type, rather then the “Work hard and show them I am worth more” type. Maybe I am wrong…maybe

[ansel12]

I worked on commission, 50% of the job that wasn’t spent on materials and 10% on materials, if work was slow and I could do my own digging between service calls then I enjoyed the break and pocketed the money, later I was an owner and the same still applied, if the time was available it was pleasant work and kept one in shape, plumbers do tons of digging anyway doing research, investigating, and repairs, at least trench digging was usually dry and during the day.

[ansel12]

I think it used to be more common (not universal) for workers to see work as ‘showtime’ a place and time where a man showed who he was, home was where you kicked off your shoes and took off your tie or work shirt, but the factory or the office or construction site was where you were competing in the world, where you thrived and let yourself be known and earned your reputation among your group.

[SisterK]

DoorDash or Instacart?

good guess

I was thinking someone who holds up a sign at the intersection bumming for money
they make a lot of cash in some areas

[Maskot]

That’s the second job..... “being your own boss” via independent contractor status 😝