(NewsNation) — One in 6 companies are hesitant to hire recent college graduates, according to a survey of business leaders who said Generation Z workers lack motivation and initiative.
The Intelligence.com survey found that 75% of companies reported some or all of the recent college graduates they hired this year were unsatisfactory. According to respondents, younger workers are unprepared, unprofessional and struggle with feedback.
Jessen James, a self-described thought leader and international speaker, speculated that Gen Z (born between the late 1990s and early 2010s) spends too much time engaged with technology — to the detriment of their interpersonal skills.
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“Technology and awareness has a lot of play in this,” James said. “From a technology perspective, there’s so much screentime nowadays where people are not engaging with human beings … (and) when you put them out into the real world … they struggle to communicate. They can’t articulate themselves. They don’t know how to interact.”
James suggested schools should better prepare students for the workplace.
“We need to show them not just the interaction and skills they need, but also teach them emotional resilience because it’s a tough world out there and it’s called life,” he said.
Gen Z isn’t all to blame. Some experts say the younger generation feels less corporate loyalty after accepting full-time jobs, only to be laid off or have offers rescinded months later, according to the accounting and finance staffing company Alliance Research Group.
Gen Z workers also envision success and professional fulfillment differently than their older counterparts.
While midcareer and senior employees may use tenure to measure commitment, Gen Z is keener on diverse work experiences that align with their values, according to Alliance Research Group.
