(NewsNation) — According to a recent poll, 74% of managers find it difficult to work with Gen Z employees, and 46% say that firing them is more common than with previous generations.
According to the survey from ResumeBuilder, 20% of Gen Z employees have been fired within the first week of their start date.
New York Post writer Jesse O’Neill has reported on the challenges managers are facing when working with the newest generation of adults, the Gen Z group born in 1997 or later.
When asked about whether Gen Z is different from other generations, O’Neill responded that the formative experiences of growing up with social media and cancel culture have had a significant impact.
“Yes, we actually are,” O’Neill said. “Because we have had very different formative experiences, from growing up with social media where cancel culture kinda ran supreme so we are bringing our politics and opinions to the workplace.”
Additionally, the pandemic has meant that Gen Z has not had the same opportunities to learn about office culture as previous generations.
“We never really learned office etiquette in the way that other generations previously had,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill also noted that the response to young activist employees has been poor, citing examples such as streaming services pulling down controversial content and publishers canceling book deals.
“It’s not surprising to me that a lot of managers are reporting that we are pretty insubordinate and kind of large and in charge despite being the youngest kids of the block,” O’Neill said.
However, there is hope that a backlash against this trend will continue.
While some managers have reported having no problems with Gen Z employees, many have seen a marked difference in how they act in the workplace, with some quitting and others getting fired at unprecedented rates.
O’Neill believes that as Gen Z adults mature and gain more experience in the workplace, things may change for the better.