Managers say Gen Zers aren't getting work done and lack basic social skills – and it's driving them crazy

• Some Gen Z managers told Insider they're fed up with their young workers.
• While Gen Z employees struggle to fit in at work, some bosses aren't sure how to lead them.
• A career coach believes personalizing professional growth could inspire Gen Z.

As more young people enter the workforce, some managers aren't convinced they're prepared to succeed.

Gen Zers — roughly those born from mid-1990s to early 2010s — are increasingly graduating college and high school and taking on their first jobs. Frustrated bosses blasted the young professionals as lazy on the job in a report from The Wall Street Journal, and a millennial manager accused them of being too emotional at work.

In a public callout, Insider asked managers to share their experiences overseeing Gen Z workers. More than 20 people, ranging from millennials to baby boomers, sent emails describing their experiences managing Gen Z.

Two people said they didn't feel young workers were lazy, while the rest criticized the generation's work ethic. Insider verified employment of the supervisors cited in this story.

One manager said some Gen Zers struggle to focus on work

Jeff Elkins, the director of security for a Florida casino, accused his Gen Z hires of frequently searching for "gray areas" on issues that he believed were "very black and white."

He said his industry is highly regulated with strict controls, and his young employees have called their standard operating procedures "antiquated." These employees have also called their standards conduct "outdated" and that they "feel they don't apply to them," Elkins said.

Amber Forrest a 28-year-old pizza shop manager, told Insider that many of her Gen Z employees spend work hours eating free food, pocketing tips, and hanging out with their friends.

"It's a hit or miss," she said. Of her young hires, she said, "I would say 70% don't work out because they lack motivation and initiative. It's irritating because most of the time I end up doing all the work despite my efforts of delegating."

The whole ordeal is "beyond frustrating," said Forrest — a young Millennial who recalled when it was her generation being labeled as lazy.

"How the tides have changed is jarring," she said.

Sean Cusack, a 41-year-old director of a biotech startup, defended Gen Z's work style and said he's found some ways that they work best. For example, he said, "summarizing data in a trackable, digital format" has helped younger employees excel more than the face-to-face meetings Gen X and older tend to prefer.

Younger employees can sometimes shut down, but it isn't due to laziness, he said.

"Personally, I would say what I notice about Gen Z is a tendency to turn inwards out of fear of being wrong," Cusack wrote.

Managers must understand what drives Gen Z at work

Experts have said that recent graduates who spent most of their time in school taking online classes and working remote internships lack soft skills. This means they may struggle to write emails or find professional settings challenging.

Managers could help them develop these skills, and talk to their younger employees about what motivates them at work, experts said.

India-based career coach Abhijit Bhattacharya told Insider that many Gen Z employees are looking for more meaningful work over higher pay.

"They are more likely to trade off salary for better quality of work although salary is an important factor," Bhattacharya said. "However, most organizations do not have high-quality roles in entry-level positions, which is a major cause [of] why they feel disengaged."

Bhattacharya, who has 15 years of experience as a career coach, believes that Gen Z prioritizes "personalized career development in their journeys."

In January, C-level human resources executive Gianna Driver said that company leaders will need to cultivate a "culture of psychological safety" with work-life balance and diverse hiring if they want to keep Gen Z workers engaged.

"A lot of Gen Zers feel more drawn by the mission of a company and what their goal is, as opposed to things like salary," Michael Yan, a founder of the job-search platform Simplify, previously told Insider in November.

Young workers are using TikTok and taking courses to succeed at work

Some Gen Zers say they're also struggling with confusion and feeling left out at work. Nearly half of Gen Z and millennial respondents to a LinkedIn survey from June said they didn't understand the jargon used around the office.

To combat this confusion, some Gen Zers are turning to TikTok for answers on how to talk to their bosses and to learn what to wear to work. According to The Wall Street Journal, others are taking courses on office etiquette.