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Six in 10 companies have reportedly fired Gen Z employees due to various reasons such as performance issues, lack of motivation, poor communication skills, and unprofessional behavior (language and attire). Not surprisingly, Gen Z responded by starting a TikTok trend of recording their firing. If employers are trying to send a broader message with these firings, I am sorry to say, Gen Z hasn’t gotten the memo.
And this is definitely not about Gen Z entitlement as some may be quick to label, but about the confluence of unprecedented events that encompassed Gen Z’s coming of age- a devastating global pandemic, extreme political strife, social unrest and global military conflict. I am not saying it’s a Prozac Nation-esque crisis, but there may be a wider problem than policy-makers are willing to admit. Firing may seem like a quick fix, but when only 31% of Gen Z report engagement at work (Gallup poll), when (alarmingly) only about half of Gen Z rate their mental health as “Good” or “Extremely Good” (Deloitte survey), when 47% of Gen Z say they are “coasting by at work” (CNBC survey), we may have a pandemic-scale workforce problem. One that may need addressing with the help of behavioral experts to implement effective strategies for behavioral modifications.

For instance, it may be worthwhile to understand workforce transition challenges faced by the Class of 2024, who faced a disrupted freshman year- a time when typically a lot of the balance of independence, initiative and accountability are learned. Firing “works” only if so-called divergent behavior is a random anomaly, not a broader cultural phenomenon impacting a large swath of your incoming new hires. At some point, employers will need to figure out how to make it work with incoming generations that may be operating on different cultural wavelengths. Should we keep sweeping this “problem” under the rug or can new-hire training protocols adapt to ensure employers are able to meet this cultural rift mid-way, with give and take on both sides of the gap? #GenZ #FiringTrends #newhire #workculture