The perception among older members of society that younger members don’t work as hard is probably as old as time. But when such perceptions pervade the labor market, it can mean real—and often undeserved—impacts for younger workers.
Specifically, there is a perception among many hiring managers that members of Generation Z simply don’t work as hard as their older counterparts.
Weaker Work Ethic Among Gen Z?
“The definition of a ‘strong work ethic’ might vary depending on who you ask, especially if they’re from different generations,” writes Amanda Breen in an article for Entrepreneur. “Some business leaders complain that Gen Z employees ‘lack work ethic’ and ‘are difficult to manage’ and go so far as to avoid hiring them, CNBC Make It reported.”
This perception obviously has negative implications for Gen Z job seekers. An employer evaluating two potential candidates for an open position who shares this perception of Zoomers is likely to hire an older worker over a Zoomer, all else being equal, if they believe the younger worker won’t work as hard.
But this bias also has potential negative impacts for employers as well.
Gen Z Bias Harmful to Employers
As with any broad generalization about a group of people, it’s certainly not the case that the lack-of-work-ethic bias against Gen Z is universally accurate. There are, of course, plenty of young workers with very strong work ethics who would be great additions to any company. But if employers dismiss members of this generation out of hand as lacking a strong work ethic, those employers stand to miss out on a valuable source of quality labor.
Whenever there’s a generalized perception of an entire group of people, that perception is bound to be incorrect with respect to many members of that group. By dismissing Gen Z as lacking a strong work ethic, hiring managers are not only hurting the employment prospects of members of this generation; they’re also hurting their own prospects of finding quality workers.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Adivsor.
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