Bosses are firing Gen Z grads just months after hiring them—here’s what they say needs to change | Fortune
It looks like some bosses have had enough. After years of grumbling about how hard it is to work with Gen Z grads, they’re not just talking anymore—they’re firing these young hires faster than you can say “entry-level.” A recent report reveals that six out of ten employers have already let go of some of the Gen Z workers they hired right out of college. Yikes. It’s not looking good for the class of 2024 or those soon to follow.
Why the sudden mass layoffs? Employers say that these fresh faces lack motivation and initiative—basically, they’re not ready to dive into the deep end of the corporate pool. Half the bosses surveyed cited unprofessionalism and poor communication skills as the main reasons for firing these grads. It doesn’t stop there: Showing up late to meetings, wearing the wrong clothes, and using inappropriate language at work. Those behaviors aren’t winning anyone over, either.
So, what’s the fix? Some companies are questioning whether they should even hire recent grads anymore. One in seven employers is thinking of avoiding college grads completely next year! On the flip side, schools are trying to step up their game. Michigan State University, for instance, is teaching students how to network effectively, while a high school in London is experimenting with a 12-hour school day to toughen up students for adult life.
But here’s the twist—getting hired isn’t just about acing your exams or having the right degree. More than ever, it’s about your attitude. Top career advisors say it’s all about taking the initiative, asking thoughtful questions, and showing that you’re willing to grow. Even heavy hitters like Amazon’s Andy Jassy and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg agree: A positive, can-do attitude is often more valuable than a fancy diploma.
Billionaire Richard Branson has been saying for years that the “school of life” can be just as good as, if not better than, a university degree. And he’s not alone. Some top execs, like Cisco’s David Meads, who dropped out of school at 16, believe that what truly matters is your attitude and aptitude—not the letters after your name………
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How do you think a shift in hiring focus—from qualifications to attitude and initiative—could reshape the business landscape for young professionals entering the workforce?
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How do you think a shift in hiring focus—from qualifications to attitude and initiative—could reshape the business landscape for young professionals entering the workforce?
This could benefit younger professionals going into the workforce to change for the better and up their personal standards because if not they won’t be hired. This shift will enable Gen Z and other young professionals a change desperately needed to be able to work and sustain a job.
A shift in hiring focus from qualifications to attitude and initiative could significantly reshape the business landscape for young professionals because companies value the way people are in the work place and want their workers to have communication skills and know how to differ the way they act at home and with family and friends to professionally. Companies want people to be about to have growth in the work place not to just get upset when you are getting told what to do.
I think that a shift in the attitude of Gen z workers would be the most beneficial thing. Although thats a big and wide statement to propose and would be very hard work, i think that as a collective changing the attitude could change everything in the workplace. As far as taking initiative i believe that while being enabled by technology for our upbringing we were prone to using technology to give us a certain feeling or to do things for us and we developed a sense of laziness that has hindered us from being successful in the workplace.
Shifting hiring focus to attitude and initiative would help young professional to achieve skills like solving problems under pressure. Companies could acquire a more flexible workplace, while schools emphasize practical skills for the future.
some companies are firing Gen z graduates dute to a lack of motivation and professionalism . they’re rethinking hiring them , while universities aim to better prepare students .Nowadays , havung initiative and a positiv attitudes is just as important as having a degree.
Coming from a gen Z, I can say this generation isn’t ready for an actual hard day of work.We are all starving to work smarter not harder and that isnt what companies are looking for.
If the hiring focuses are shifted that would affect most of the generation it wouldn’t allow us to get jobs but on the other hand it would help us evolve and help us change to what their looking for
I personally think that shifting the hiring focus to attitude and initiative will reshape the business landscape for young professionals to where communication and problem-solving skills are worth more than degrees. Because being professional and being a hard worker is more important than having and piece of paper with an achievement on it with none of the skills that are necessary for the workplace. Which will push more of the young people to learn these skills in order to provide for themselves and their family.
it could make teachers on the lower levels manage the kids in a different way and teach the methods how to do good. the parents could also start telling the kids to do sort of chores to increase their skills and make them reliable. but then again later in the future they could also change what they want in the future and this problem will happen all over again
I feel as being a part of the Gen z generation that this, gives us a bad look especially for the later Gen z generation, seeing that they don’t want to hire us already this makes me worried that even if we do our best and have a good education that they would only see that were part of the Gen z and not want to hire us. This would affect us because we won’t be able to get jobs, and we won’t be able to provide for ourselves.
A shift in hiring focus from qualifications to attitude and initiative could significantly reshape the business landscape for young professionals because most business value workers with good communication skills and attitude. It would also teach gen z to learn about problem solving skills and when to use certain language and wear certain clothing when in the workplace. so, they don’t have this problem in the later future
Many hiring managers are recognizing a pattern of improper conduct and attitudes among Gen Z in particular. These behaviors are widely reflecting on hiring rates of Gen Z because of their growing reputations of being unreliable workers. In order to fix this issue disciplinary action needs to be put in place to teach them proper etiquette in the workplace, making them more tolerable to hire as employees.
A shift in hiring focus from qualifications to attitude and initiative could reshape the business landscape for young professionals entering the workforce by making sure that workers are aware of how to act and behave in a work environment. If this done, unethical work practices will diminish from the business landscape and provide employers with exceptional prepared young individuals.
How do you think a shift is hiring focus-from qualifications to attitude and initiative-could reshape the business landscape for young professionals entering the workforce?
This could benefit young professionals that are going into the workforce because they won’t need to bother to much about having a degree but more so having a good attitude and work ethic. However, this change could also be horrible because the young professionals that went to college and acquired a degree. They spent all that time and money for what, if they just have to have a good attitude and work ethic. Although, there might be some negatives involved, this would still be a good idea because it could allow many people to get jobs even if they might not meet the qualifications specifically.
Shift in hiring focus will help gen z know other things besides managing a phone. It will help grow out of their awkward phase and understand what they want to do it and how to do it. It will also help them by growing their personality and make them known to the world.
A shift in hiring people who have a better initiative and attitude rather than their qualification could help out the workplace since there would be more people actually doing their job instead of goofing off but there could be problems with this since some qualifications are needed to perform a job, not just anybody could perform a certain task, so want we really need is people with qualification that also have a good attitude and initiative.
The constant misconduct of Generation Z in the work force around the world is causing employers to look t our generation differently. The misconduct of some of the young adults from Gen Z reflects in a very negative light upon the rest of us. I think it’s important that we all stand up as a generation and work together to solve this problem.
How do you think a shift in hiring focus—from qualifications to attitude and initiative—could reshape the business landscape for young professionals entering the workforce?
As stated in the article many Gen z and young worker’s struggle with professionalism & attitude when entering the workforce/working jobs. Because of the struggle a vast number of young workers pertain towards attitude by focusing more on the mental and social aspect pertaining to a job younger workers will aid in collaborative and communication efforts whilst allowing workers to positively affect the company as a whole.
I think a shift in hiring focus is not the only thing important in fact the attitude and the qualities the person has is also important. I think a class of keeping focus will be helpful and will in fluence their ability to do things. It would make them grow as a person an prepare them for jobs in the future.
I think with a shifted focus, companies will most likely be more productive when hiring only people they know will take work seriously and be diligent. However, many people older and younger may lose opportunities when they aren’t able to rely on qualifications, but their actual work ethic in itself.
I think that Gen Z really needs a a change in attitude, and to step away from technology for a while. Gen Z needs to change how they perceive the world and act with the people around them. Technology and how much Gen Z uses it is also really impacting to how we behave and expect life to be. There a many things that people in Gen Z can change for the better.
Shifting the hiring focus to attitude and initiative could create more inclusive opportunities for young professionals, allowing those without traditional qualifications to thrive. It would emphasize adaptability and learning on the job, encouraging a culture of continuous growth and innovation. This approach could also promote diverse thinking, leading to more dynamic and creative work environments.
Gen Z students are being fired due to lack of professionalism and laziness. This can be because of cellphones doing everything you need it to, and technology can make students lazy.
I believe that gen-z has been given a bad reputation due to the lot of people who either lack necessary skills needed for the workforce or they simply just don’t care enough to implement the things they’ve learned. Instead of not hiring fresh grads, I think companies would benefit by being more selective with their employees, as some new grads would be good fits for these positions.
I can completely see why employers are letting off so many gen-z grads so soon. Even when going to stores and interacting with the young workers there, the lack of motivation and laziness is abundantly clear. They don’t even make an effort to make it seem as if they want to be there. It’s incredibly sad to see because gen-z is also very creative and full of many ideas that with the correct skills and dedication can make a real difference in the world. I do believe that school is what prepares us to go into the real world and, therefore, if we want more productive workers, we should have higher standards in schools!
this can hopefully change future leaders such as myself to better the new working field
They should hire people who would take their job more seriously and have more drive to work hard
This will benefit both the employer and employee. If an employer hires someone with the right attitude and initiative, the employer will have drive to be working and it will not negatively affect the companies work.
The world is surrounded in electronics that even now we’re drowning in our mistakes Generation after ours are even worse. We’ve lost motivation because everyone looks sad to do their job, the office environment has changed so why not evolve with the times every generation before us has been seen as lazy because we have different standards and don’t want to kill ourselves with work.
I think us Gen Z should heavily focus on our performance in working jobs. Some of us fail to realize our work is as important as our life, yes there should be a work and life balance but it comes to a point. They should give 50 and 50 percent into each. Gen z sometimes like to work just because of the money they get, then it don’t even be that much.
Bosses are firing gen z because of their bas work ethic and laziness. I think schools should work to help fix that in gen z students as the matters will only keep getting worse and worse
In today’s generation of employes the work ethic has been lost. Everything has been handed to many and so there is no need to work for it if they will get it anyway. For me it has always been important to work hard because one day when the people who went before you are gone you have to know how to work and make a way. I can see how companies are getting frustrated with having to fire so many, but I think that it is good because it makes Gen Z think and reflect on what they are doing wrong and makes them work harder
These behaviors are widely reflecting on hiring rates of Gen Z because of their growing reputations of being unreliable workers. In order to fix this issue disciplinary action needs to be put in place to teach them proper ways in the workplace, making them more tolerable to hire as employees.
I think in a shift in hiring focus to attitude and initiative in hiring could open more doors for young professionals and give them more opportunities focusing on their willingness to learn and grow rather then just their qualifications.
The tendencies of younger Gen z’s are widely criticized by people who have already been that age and know what it takes to get to a stable point in life at that age. There is a bit of laziness that exists with the younger generation when it comes to putting in a substantial amount of work to get to the endpoint. Younger people must understand that you must put in the work to get the results, not just a little bit of work equals big results.
How do you think a shift in hiring focus—from qualifications to attitude and initiative—could reshape the business landscape for young professionals entering the workforce?
I personally think that shifting the hiring focus to attitude and initiative will reshape the business landscape for young professionals to where communication and problem-solving skills are worth more than degrees. Because being professional and being a hard worker is more important than having and piece of paper with an achievement on it with none of the skills that are necessary for the workplace. Which will push more of the young people to learn these skills in order to provide for themselves and their family.