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.
