Study Shows Gen-Zers Are Not Motivated To Work Hard To Advance

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Suzy Welch, a business professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, writes about the problems that Generation Z  is having finding employment. Gen-Zers were born from 1997 to 2012. Many are finishing college and having trouble finding employment. 

Professor Welch conducted a study about generational values and the way these values connect to what employers are looking for in new hires. Welch was shocked when she discovered that only 2% of Gen-Zers had the values that employers were looking for: “achievement, learning and an unbridled desire to work.”

Welch administered her test to 45,000 people. The test was designed to help people discover what they value. The definition of “values” was “choices about how we want to live and work.”

The primary value that employers were looking for in future employees was achievement. Achievement was defined as wanting accomplishments and success other people can observe. This value came in 11th place for Gen- Zers and 61% of them actually wished they had less achievement in their lives. 

The next value desired by employers  was employees that had a desire for learning, action and stimulation. This value was near the bottom of values that the Gen-Zers considered important.

The next desired value for employers was “workcentrism” which is described as “the desire to work for work’s sake.” This was also low on the values for Gen-Zers. 

Welch shared these findings with employers who said they were not surprised. One employment officer commented “The bodies are out there. The attitudes are not.”

I believe that many of these attitudes in Gen-Z students come from the way they were raised and the way they were taught in school.

For decades, children have been taught that exceptionalism is not to be recognized. In children’s sports, often, every child receives a trophy just for participating. Some “woke” high schools have stopped naming the top academic achievers in graduation ceremonies. 

Many “woke” universities have stopped using standardized tests in determining who they admit in their incoming classes. The “Covid Era” forced many students to attend classes remotely where academic standards were relaxed. 

It is also not uncommon for students to graduate from a university without ever holding down a job where they could learn the importance of work.

All of these factors may have created college graduates who are more concerned about the quality of life their employer can provide them instead of what they can provide to help their employer succeed.

It is a serious concern for the future of our country  that we have a generation of college graduates entering the workforce without the motivation  to impress employers. These young people are not focused on making themselves attractive to employers by showing achievements and they certainly do not have a focus on work.

Many of these young people consider their work as something they do between their next trip and their next session with their therapist.

Unfortunately, these young people will be disappointed when they reach middle age and have not been successful in their careers.