Employers are hesitant to hire Gen Zers—and it shows in the data. A 2024 study by Intelligent.com of about 1,000 business leaders involved in hiring decisions shows 1 in 6 are hesitant to hire Gen Z, and 75% said some or all of the recent college graduates they hired recently were “unsatisfactory.”
That’s led Gen Z to get the badge of being “unemployable” or “unhireable.” Suzy Welch, a business journalist and adjunct professor at the top-ranked New York University Stern School of Business, believes she’s uncovered why hiring this generation feels that way.
Welch developed a class for MBA students about how to find their purpose, she recounted in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. She argued finding purpose lies at the intersection of one’s values, aptitudes, and “economically viable interests.” After observing her Gen Z students, she decided to conduct a study to compare and understand generational values in the workforce.
Welch, along with her co-researchers, found only 2% of Gen Z students had the same values companies want most in new hires. According to the study, what employers value most are achievement, learning, and “an unbridled desire to work.” Instead, Gen Z values “eudemonia,” or self-care and wellbeing; “non-sibi,” or helping others; and “voice,” or authenticity and expression. But they’ve gotten the reputation of being against going to the office or not liking to engage with their more senior counterparts, which isn’t always the case.
“Contrary to stereotypes, Gen Z isn’t anti-office—they’re anti-toxic,” Patrice Williams Lindo, CEO of Career Nomad, told Fortune. “They crave boundaries, structure, mentorship, and social connection, but on their terms.”
Welch came to her conclusion about Gen Z values through the development of Values Bridge, an assessment that helps people define and understand their values. She and a team of data scientists, engineers, researchers, and psychometricians in 2022 developed the assessment that was released this May, and Welch reported 45,000 people so far have taken it (roughtly 7,500 of which were Gen Z). They also surveyed 2,100 experienced hiring managers, asking them to identify what they most desired in new employees.
In response to sharing her data, one chief human-resource officer told her, “The bodies are out there,” referring to the number of Gen Zers seeking employment. “The attitudes are not,” the CHRO told Welch.
“This same executive noted that her company and others, if armed with data, could become more targeted in hiring efforts, racing to find the 2% before competitors do,” Welch said.
This disconnect isn’t boding well for Gen Z. Jennifer Moss, a leadership-development expert, argued in an op-ed published by Fortune on Wednesday that “youngism,” or believing younger workers are unreliable, lazy and disloyal, has outpaced any other type of ageism—and that it’s going to be a bigger problem in the workplace than AI for Gen Z. And that’s why Gen Z prioritizes mental health and flexibility, Moss argues.
“Older coworkers often misread those priorities as lower effort. In reality, the opposite is true,” she wrote. “Large-scale surveys show ambition expressed through multiple income streams and a focus on skills growth. Transamerica reports that 59% of Gen Z have a side hustle.”
Moss cited a joint study by the NYU Stern School of Business and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania showing a robust pattern of negative sentiment toward young adults in the workforce, and positive sentiment toward older adults. And that’s especially bad news for Gen Z, considering they’re also being forced to weather “two of the worst economic crises of the century, rising housing costs, unparalleled student debt, and lower income,” according to the NYU and Wharton study.
Gen Z wants “to be seen, heard, and developed—not micromanaged,” Lindo said. “So if your office culture is dynamic and inclusive? They’ll show up. If the lines are blurred, they’ll make a beeline to the exit door.”
