Some business leaders may consider recent college graduates to be lazy, however, a new survey revealed that other bosses aren’t focused as much on work rate.
Instead, bosses are finding that Gen Z graduates are “uniquely incompetent, political and demanding,” according to answers from a May survey conducted by Intelligent.com, a student-oriented service that helps with pre- and post-college opportunities.
Intelligent.com surveyed 1,628 business leaders on their concerns, if any, about hiring recent college graduates and whether they have more worries about the recent generation of graduates.
The answer seems to point towards more worry than praise; nearly two-thirds of respondents said they have concerns about hiring recent grads, and half said their concerns regarding fresh-out-of-college hires have risen since 2019.
“One in two [business leaders] have become more concerned in the past five years, as Gen Z recent grads have a worse work ethic, are more political and have fewer practical skills,” researchers found.
In addition, 30% of bosses have become more worried about hiring recent graduates since the start of pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the country, with 22% less likely to hire a recent grad who participated in a protest.
Conversely, only six percent of business leaders say they are less worried about hiring recent graduates, and 13% say there has been no change in their level of concern.
And despite their apparent worse work ethics, Gen Z’ers expect higher salaries, which ranked as the most common characteristic that hiring managers think is more true of Gen Z graduates than any other generation before them.
Other popular characteristics bosses gave potential Gen Z employees included being more entitled, lacking mental toughness and having worse social skills.
“There’s always been plenty of debate about hiring new grads due to broad assumptions around lacking soft skills, entitlement and overall job readiness,” Intelligent.com Chief Education and Career Development Advisor Huy Nguyen said. “In recent months, there seems to be a heightened concern about Gen Z becoming far more politically active and vocal with their beliefs in all aspects of their lives, including the workplace.”
“Employers seem to be worried about distractions from their company’s business productivity goals and potential disruptions if they bring in outspoken employees fresh out of the college campus protest cultural environment,” Nguyen added.
The full survey can be found here.