Managers complain: Gen Z lacks "soft skills," has "unrealistic" workplace expectations
By ethanh // 2024-03-18
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A new Harris Poll has found that most managers, around 82 percent, are having trouble with the "soft skills" of their new Generation Z hires. Most of the managers in the 1,200 knowledge workers pool that the Harris Poll surveyed say more guidance, time, and training is needed to help Gen Z function as expected in the workplace. Soft skills, by the way, include things like how to receive blunt feedback, or how to strike up a conversation with a senior manager if a lower-level employee runs into one in the office kitchen. Gen Z, having grown up in the modern era, lacks what generations from the past possessed in terms of in-office cohesion. Not only that, but many Gen Z employees have "unrealistic" workplace expectations, the poll further found. Three in four managers say it is harder to train new hires in soft skills than in the actual technical skills required as part of their official job duties. In the past, and especially pre-"pandemic," the most important soft skills were things like being "assertive," "driven," or "authoritative." Today, that has shifted more towards things like emotional awareness and the ability to connect with others. "We've refocused as a society on being open and caring for one another," says Jessie Wisdom, PhD, co-founder and head of people science at software firm Humu. "Of course, that's showing up in the workplace." (Related: In August 2022, millennial deaths spiked 36 percent, likely due to Wuhan coronavirus [COVID-19] "vaccines" and "boosters.")

Soft skills are changing

To be fair, soft skills are relative in the sense that every workplace environment is different, not to mention the fact that every person is different. Some employees are more talkative than others, while others are more gregarious and able to "kiss up" to management in accordance with expectations. On the other hand, societal norms have shifted to the point that there barely even are societal norms anymore. Social cohesion is arguably at an all-time low across the United States as multiculturalism and "diversity" shift the landscape away from community and straight towards an everyone-for-himself model of grabbing whatever one can in a dog-eat-dog society that is in a race to the bottom. A 2022 LinkedIn report found that three in five, or around 61 percent, of workers agree that soft skills are just as important as hard skills in the workplace. Ever since the "pandemic," according to Linda Jingfang Cai, VP of talent development at LinkedIn, "everyone has gotten used to blending work and life in a new way." "We ask each other how they're doing, how their family's doing – that's the expectation now," Cai said, adding that these newfound types of soft skills are "the currency of the future workplace." Many Gen Z employees themselves agree that their soft skills are lacking. Nearly four in five, or around 78 percent of, Gen Z employees responded to a Harris Poll by stating that they feel as though the more ambient, abstract workplace soft skills cannot be taught, but can only be gained through observation and experience. Another factor that is radically changing the modern workplace environment is artificial intelligence (AI), which threatens to take over many workplace roles, leaving humans without a job. More than half, around 55 percent, of Gen Z employees told the Harris Poll that their lack of interpersonal training makes them feel afraid of asking "dumb questions." Around 59 percent said they do not even know who to turn to try to get help with their soft skills. What do you think: Is the age of American dominance over world affairs coming to an end? Learn more at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: Yahoo.com NaturalNews.com
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