The article is not half bad at all, and definitely makes some good points. One thing I would like to point out (and the reason why I tend to object to pigeonholing titles of articles such as this one), is that out of the three points made in the article, only one of them is somewhat unique to GenZ:
2. They Are Speaking A Different Language
Another issue that may be contributing to Gen Z’s workplace challenges is communication. While members of this generation are often hailed as digital natives, that doesn’t always translate into strong interpersonal skills in a traditional work environment. Growing up immersed in social media and text-based communication means many young employees may struggle with face-to-face conversations, especially those expected in professional settings.
A 2022 article from Harvard Law School explains that Gen Z workers entered the workforce during the pandemic. This generation began their careers when it was acceptable to send a quick text — something they are very comfortable with — instead of having a team meeting. They missed office facetime at a crucial point in their career development. This potentially created a gap in their learning and left them unprepared for industries where meetings, presentations and in-depth collaboration are the norm.
The problem arises when workplaces expect Gen Z to conform without offering any middle ground. This communication gap can easily lead to misunderstandings, mistakes or even the appearance that these workers are not engaged — when in reality, they are just using different methods to communicate.
The other two points (and I suppose I will let you decide whether to read the article and make this determination yourself rather than quote it all) are entirely being experienced by many, if not most, of the rest of us, in the toxic waste pit that is this timeline’s current corporate work culture.
The last thing I would point out is that over the last seven years, I have absolutely observed more misunderstandings and inadvertent, undesirable, and unfortunate, shenanigans and miscommunications, resulting from the ever-increasing dominance of text-based communication between everyone in a given organization. I would posit that for those of us who are fortunately permitted by our corporate overlords to remain remote, or at the very least hybrid, this is a challenge that we are all dealing with.
Your last paragraph is on point. At some point you have to realize that text doesn’t convey context and people can take what you say wrong. Text has its use but calling is often a lot faster to convey info when it gets more complex than one single point.
Live meetings are very valuable when done right. Flying the team in for regular face to face onsites is hugely valuable. Forcing people to do stupid commutes for some arbitrary amount of days, with no set meeting schedules or other legitimate reasons, is monumentally stupid. Many of us will not take those kinds of jobs again. I’d rather manage a Wendy’s that’s close by.
Perhaps the most defining reason why Gen Z might be finding themselves out of jobs is their rejection of traditional work culture, which emphasizes long hours, constant availability and immersion in one’s job.
Meaning that they don’t have to succumb to antiquated rules and social paradigms.
Kudos to them. I am (a very late) GenX, and I always hated that mentality. I work to live, not viceversa.
Yeah, expected bullshit cuz Forbes, but the psychologist actually knows what they’re talking about about.
Doesn’t outright say it, but the “problems” are all outdated shit boomers insist on keeping around because it’s what they’re used to.
Like, “face to face communication” not only isn’t important now, it hasn’t been for a long fucking time.
Even when you need to talk to someone one on one to figure something out. IM gives you a record of what was discussed to refer to
If I’ve got 20 things going on and someone wants a face to face or even a call, I’m very unlikely to remember the details a day later. IMs or emails, I can go back and get all the discussed info in like 2 minutes.
We’re asking these kids to do shit that was outdated before they were born because the people in charge are at best in their late 60s and still are scared of computers.
They’re just pissed life passed them by and the skills they have are outdated.
Nah. Like most things, “it depends”.
You should read up on non verbal communication. As an older boomer, I am perfectly happy with working from home and a catch up on zoom/teams/slack with my team 99% of the time, and very much against return to office. But sometimes I do need face to face communication with team members I’m concerned about, or with customers.
But sometimes I do need face to face communication with team members I’m concerned about, or with customers.
Yes…
You need that, because that’s what you grew up with.
I’m sure you don’t know how to send a carrier pigeon, but at one point that was very important in business and government.
It’s not Gen Z’s fault that a lot of boomers are unable to retire due to the policies their generation voted for or their own personal irresponsible savings and retirement planning.
The youngest boomers are 60, so any “older boomer” is going to be well past retirement age.
Stop trying to insist every future generation has to compromise with your archaic needs.
You are the one out of place, they are the ones that are literally the future.
I grew up online and there are people I’ve never met in person whom I can work with no problem. I have never had the need to see someone in person for work myself, but the click isn’t there for everyone.
I dislike generational thinking and this argument seems to play on those lines; I have seen some people working better remote and some working better partially in person regardless of their generation or background. Younger people are more fluent in working remotely but not everyone wants that full-time and sometimes it doesn’t work out too well either. Often working in the office is the worst so let’s make/keep remote the default.
My personal opinion is that we should do everything online which can be online and that people who need to work in person should do their best to cater for working online. It helps with climate and can help work/life balance.
Any form of communication gap is a shared gap. Both sides have to cater to make the conversation work. If OP needs face-to-face then that must be taken into account. If you want that conversation to happen you’d better care for their needs as much as they’ll care for yours. OP may have extensive experience in working with people and may have seen this need on their own end and likely on the other end too. Perhaps even only on the other end. On the spectrum of cooperation I’m sure there will be cases where it helps and perhaps even be necessary. I believe it’s a small subset of situations.
By all means, try to stay constructive and learn from others. Whatever they have learned in the past likely applies to our new ways in another form. I would like it if we could keep improving remote.
Mate, let me save you some trouble:
When the vast majority talk of a generation or any type of group, they’re talking about the majority and not every single one of them.
This is it, 100%
On the one hand this is fake news clickbait.
But on the other hand this is why we gotta ban TikTok!!! \s
