Gen-Z Employees Reporting Increased Generational Tensions At Work

For a while now, Gen-Z employees have gotten a bit of a bad rap. Some of them are very well qualified, hard workers. But the vast majority of them have come into the workforce lazy, entitled, and completely void of self-awareness or accountability. For many younger employees, when things get "stressy," they take a "mental health day," or some other ridiculous vacation to which they believe they are entitled.

Sure, everyone deserves time off and work should not be your sole focus of life. However, Gen-Z has taken things a bit too far and have shown in most cases they cannot handle adversity or anything remotely stressful. This has rubbed older generation employees wrong, as most of us were raised in an era that when something goes wrong, you rub some dirt on it and get back to the grind.

The generational divide has now grown so far that Gen-Z employees feel there is tension in the workplace with their older counterparts. They blame older generations for not retiring so they can move up and blame older people for methods they see as outdated. In some cases, they are correct. In most though, it is a whiny temper tantrum because they feel entitled.

Texas workforce expert Scott Curley says the technological divide plays a role, as younger generations grew up with artificial intelligence, social media, and other forms of tech with which older generations are unfamiliar.

"The way younger people think and the way they are conditioned...is quite radically different than the generation right behind them," he says.

Again, no one wants to work 365 days a year with no vacation and have their soul sucked by mega corporations for very little gain. But in many cases. Gen-Z employees have become "overwhelmed" by simple tasks. The work ethic has fallen off a cliff, as has basic accountability.

"They are just not wired like older generations...I am not saying they are weak...they just have a different perspective on life," says Curley. "Sensitivities are very high with the younger people...might be due to political climates, or what have you...I am not sure."

Sensitivity has become a war cry for the Gen-Z crowd. They think the world is fluffy, soft and full of rainbows, not understanding life is absolutely not like that. You will face challenges, adversity, and are entitled to absolutely nothing in this life. But they do not grasp that because they have been raised in a world that preaches softness and sensitivity.

That is not entirely their fault, though, as weird as it sounds. Gen-Z shoulders a lot of the blame but these are all learned behaviors, and not just from the internet or media.

"They got that way of thinking from someone...the older generation has to take some ownership and accountability for why they think, act, and behave that way," Curley says.

He adds the best way to ease the tensions is to get a better understanding of how Gen-Z operates.

That could take a while. But these younger employees are going to lead these companies one day. Better to understand them now, and be able to teach them, than to let them run businesses into the ground because they are "too stressed."