In March, the Wall Street Journal ran an article called “A New Lost Generation: Why Gen Z Is Unprepared for the Workplace.”
“The newest workplace generation—Gen Z—is unlike anything we’ve seen,” psychology professor Tessa West wrote.
“Through a combination of having fewer real-world relationship experiences, spending their education years in remote environments, and learning to communicate largely through asynchronous methods, these 20-somethings have missed opportunities to develop the skills needed to navigate the complex world of work,” she said.
Forbes noticed the same thing.
“Every few decades, a new generation walks into work and gets blamed for breaking it,” wrote Ann Kowal Smith, CEO of a workplace consulting firm. “This time, the world really did change. The kids are different, and so is the workplace they’ve inherited. Both have been rewired, dramatically and structurally.”
Gen-Z college grads are less likely to have held a summer job, more likely to do remote work, and more likely to rely on AI than any other generation, she observed.
The result? They struggle with lack of motivation or initiative, lack of professionalism, and poor organizational and communication skills, a survey of business leaders said.
“Every generation that comes into the workforce has had a learning curve,” said Erica Roth, director of talent acquisition for the engineering and construction company Interstates. Still, “we can tell there’s a difference in what motivates Gen Z and what they’re looking for from an employer.”
The Gospel Coalition asked Roth how Gen Z is different, how she helps them adjust, and what tips she has for both Gen Z workers and their colleagues.
Every generation of workers has a stereotype—the boomers are ambitious workaholics, Gen X are independent cynics, the entitled millennials are too eager to lead. Now we’ve got Gen Z, and their reputation is that they’re unprepared and unmotivated. Do you see that?
We do see generational differences at work. In the boomer days, you still had a lot of single-income families, so the whole work-life balance was different. Employees worked a lot because they were the sole supporter of their family, and because they often had a spouse managing the home.
We started to see that changing with Gen X and the millennials. Their families are often dual-income, so employees want flexibility to take their kids to sports at 3:30 in the afternoon. But then after the kids are in bed at night, they’re logging back in to work. So they’re still putting in crazy hours.
Gen Z doesn’t usually have kids yet. But they also generally don’t want to work beyond 40 or 50 hours a week. They want work-life balance—and they’re looking for their employer to give it to them. They don’t want to have to figure out how to carve that out for themselves.
We even see this difference on their résumé. Fewer of them are working jobs in high school. A lot of this is due to the rising affluence of parents, who are paying for things that kids used to pay for. And some of those things—like sports—take up so much time that kids aren’t able to also have a job.
When they come to us, they already have boundaries around how they’re willing to spend their time.
Does that cause friction with older generations who are willing to work more?
Sometimes it does. Our leaders have noticed a difference when they are offering overtime. Historically, it hasn’t been hard to get people to do it—they were excited for the chance to earn more. But Gen Z is turning it down.
We’ve been handling it by staffing swing shifts—so if we need you to work Saturday, we’ll offer Monday off instead.
We’re also doing more coaching with leaders on how to walk alongside early-career professionals.
What is something you’re teaching them?
Organizations like ours have historically relied on informal learning, like younger workers watching older ones or learning through trial and error. But Gen Z is seeking more intentional coaching. They want a career path laid out for them; they want feedback; they want explicit coaching.
When they come to us, they already have boundaries around how they’re willing to spend their time.
These are good desires—because every generation that comes into the workforce has a learning curve. In the older days, a young worker would grab some tools or climb into a farm vehicle and figure it out. But now we manage risk differently. We need to teach and mentor a little more formally.
Our older leaders recognize this need, but when they get busy it’s hard to keep walking people through all the steps. So we’re trying to create an environment where early-career employees feel comfortable both trying something by themselves and asking for clarity.
I bet they’re asking ChatGPT if they have a question.
They are! And that’s not a bad thing. Gen Z is effective at getting answers through digital platforms. That makes them comfortable with online collaboration and asynchronous communication, which we are doing more and more.
And because they’re used to asking Siri questions, it isn’t hard for Gen Z to ask real people questions—at least when they feel they aren’t going to look dumb or bother anyone. They’re eager to learn, which is true of almost all early talent. I love seeing that hunger, that tenacity, that desire to make an impact.
The challenging part is getting them to pick up the phone, especially if it’s a high-stakes interaction or delivering tough feedback. But phone or face-to-face communication is so much better, because you can read the other person’s reactions. Even on the phone, you can hear if someone is smiling or speaking through gritted teeth.
Gen Z is often anxious in unexpected meetings or direct conflict situations. We’re teaching them how they can structure those conversations—especially how to resolve conflict constructively, because you can’t burn a bridge and then either avoid that coworker or assume it’s going to go away.
We want them to walk through disagreement into a restored relationship.
I love that—it feels like a miniature version of creation-fall-redemption-restoration in a work relationship.
Yes! I don’t work for a Christian employer, but I do think about this theologically.
With conflict, we always tell ourselves stories about what happened. I think this is where sin comes in. We assign motivations to someone else—Why did they do that? They think I’m dumb. They think they’re better than me. They think I can’t do this.
Then we go into fight-or-flight mode. We either challenge and argue with someone—maybe we even use bad behavior. Or we avoid it by smiling and nodding and trying to get away.
I talk with employees about believing the best about each other (1 Cor. 13:7). Maybe that other person was having a bad day and accidentally said something a little sassy. Maybe they didn’t know that’s the tone that came out. Maybe they’re under a lot of pressure so their replies are a little shorter.
Then we can use curiosity, or you could call it loving others. Let’s ask questions: “What’s going on?” “Where did this come from?” “Can you help me understand this?”
This is especially important when so much communication is done digitally and asynchronously. There’s lots of room to read a snarky tone into a text—but also lots of opportunity for a gracious reading too.
Do you have other advice for Gen Zers just starting their first job?
Ask for clarity if something doesn’t make sense. You could say, “What does success look like on this project?” or “What do you think the final outcome looks like?” or “You gave me a project to work on, and you said to have this done in two weeks. Do you want any updates on that during the two weeks? Or should I just bring you the final project?”
I love seeing that hunger, that tenacity, that desire to make an impact.
Also, be a fly on the wall. Watch how other people are writing emails. Watch how they are in meetings. If something seems weird, ask your leader. Use it as a learning opportunity.
Request feedback regularly. It’s OK to say, “Hey, this is my first time doing this project. What feedback do you have for me?”
Don’t feel like you have to wait until your company does their regular performance evaluations. You could be asking for feedback every month if you wanted to—or if you have regular calls with your leader, you could say, “Hey, what can I do better?”
And finally, build relationships, even if it’s uncomfortable at first. If your colleagues invite you to dinner, go. Have small conversations in the hallway, before and after meetings, or when you’re coming in or packing up at night. Making friends at work will make you better at your job, help you to enjoy work more, and enable you to better love and serve your colleagues.
What about those colleagues? Do you have tips for older people working with newer Gen Z hires?
Make sure your expectations are clear, both for the work and for communication, feedback, and teamwork. All employees—but especially early-career employees—gain confidence so much faster with clear expectations.
You could say something like, “Hey, come join this meeting. You’re going to see how we operate.” Then explain why you’re meeting, who will be there, who the decision makers are, and what you expect out of your new colleagues. That takes a lot of the anxiety away.
You can also be clear about communication. For example, I let employees send me messages at any time on Microsoft Teams. I might not be able to respond right away, but you can always ask me questions. Some of my other colleagues don’t want to receive messages while they’re red [or busy], but would rather you wait until they’re green [available]. That’s fine—it’s just an example of a preference to let your new team members know about.
We also try to create a culture of feedback, where we are always sharing ways to improve. For Gen Z, this can feel like they’re getting an F on something. So we have to be really clear that feedback is a gift.
Finally, enjoy them! I’m always excited for new generations to join our company, because they come with different perspectives on how the work can change and hopefully get even better. So I’m excited for Gen Z to be joining us.
