A survey sheds light on how far some bosses go to avoid hiring recent graduates.
Which applicants are we specifically talking about? A survey by the website intelligent.com among around 800 executives from U.S. companies addressed questions concerning graduates from recent years. All of these belong to the so-called Generation Z, as they were born between 1996 and 2012. The bosses and executives are mostly still attributed to the Boomers of the post-war period or Generation X (1965 to 1979).
Preference for experienced employees – even if it costs more
How do the bosses and supervisors behave? About 40 percent indicate that they reject young applicants and prefer to grant privileges or pay higher salaries to older employees instead. Around half of these decision-makers, who are rather averse to Generation Z, for example, rather prefer to offer experienced subordinates alternative models, such as remote work or hybrid working, than to hire entry-level professionals.
Why are the Boomers rejecting applicants from Gen Z? Here, a distinction must be made between two areas:
- the specific applicant in question
- general opinion about entry-level professionals
In the job interview, situations occur repeatedly according to the survey that raise doubts about the suitability of the respective person. These include:
- 54 percent of the nearly 800 respondents complain that applicants avoid eye contact. One in five has even experienced that applicants did not want to turn on their camera during online calls.
- 53 percent report excessive salary demands
- 51 percent found the appearance inappropriate at least once (especially clothing)
- About one in five has experienced a parent being brought along to the interview
What could cause this behavior of Gen Z? There may be individual reasons, but in general, Professor of Communication at Ithaca College, Diane M. Gayeski, points to the need to consider the accompanying circumstances during higher education.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected their social and professional development in many ways. Not just at educational institutions, but also outside of them. The pandemic had a significant impact on this subgroup within Gen Z. This aligns with similar findings from another survey by intelligent.com in which a large majority of executives stated that the general criticisms they have of Gen Z are particularly severe in the most recent graduating classes.
What is often criticized? The initial survey provides the following picture: “The youngest graduating classes …
- “do not complete the assigned work.” This is fully or mostly agreed upon by slightly less than 2/3.
- “arrive late to work.” About 60 percent affirm this.
- “do not submit work on time.” About 59 percent confirm this statement as well.
- “do not dress appropriately for the situation.” 57 percent see this trend confirmed even after the job interview
- “are difficult employees and do poor work.” Approximately half agree with these statements.
Are these just opinions or are there facts to back this up? These are just statements from people about other people. Science puts much of this into perspective. Ultimately, many problems can be traced back to differences in perception and handling situations: Gen Z thinks differently and simply lacks experience. Furthermore, the economic situation complicates many things that were taken for granted by earlier generations.
You can read more about this in the articles linked above or in the following, which deals with a survey from the United Kingdom on the same topic: Generation Z is often late, wastes work time, and frequently falls out due to mental issues, surveys show.
