Why Some Employers are Disappointed with Gen Z Hires

https://www.monitask.com/

Fortune's Orianna Rose Royle reports that, "six in 10 employers say they have already sacked some of the Gen Z workers they hired fresh out of college in recent months."  She cites data from a survey of nearly 1,000 business leaders conducted by Intelligent.  Royle offers some more data from the Intelligent study: 

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. Meanwhile, over 20% say they can’t handle the workload.

Now you may or may not have experienced these hiring challenges.  Some have argued that these complaints are overblown, and that they are typical of an older generation of managers that does not understand younger workers' mindsets and habits.  Still, one cannot easily dismiss these concerns expressed by managers.  Their perceptions matter because they will affect hiring practices, as well as the experience of those new hires during their initial months of employment.  

What strikes me, though, is that these hiring managers are not complaining about a lack of business skills such as data analysis, and they aren't pointing out a lack of content knowledge in specific business disciplines.  Instead, they are focused on how young workers conduct themselves.  These managers are focused on the basic blocking and tackling of becoming a professional. Can you show up on time?  Can you communicate clearly?  Can you dress appropriately?  The lesson for those of us in academia is very clear.   We cannot focus only on teaching content knowledge and analytical skills.  We have to prepare students for the day-to-day interactions that will take place in the workforce.  For young workers, the lesson is also very clear: being smart is not nearly enough to succeed in the workplace.  If you are late, disorganized, and/or cannot communicate clearly, no one cares how knowledgeable you are.