Relationships are hard. They require vulnerability and a high tolerance for the friction associated with navigating what you want while mediating the needs of someone else. But for Gen Z, those early romantic trials—and the social calluses they build—are increasingly absent.
Only about 56% of Gen Z enter adulthood having engaged in a romantic relationship, compared to 75% of members of older generations, according to a survey conducted by the Survey Center on American Life.
Without those tough conversations and negotiations, Gen Z is showing up to their first day of work unprepared to face the challenges of the office, according to Tessa West, a professor of psychology at New York University whose research focuses on communication between employees and bosses.
“What seemed like an obvious norm before, how to talk to the boss, what time you need to show up,” she told Fortune, “this younger generation doesn’t have ground rules for.”
It’s not just dating. Gen Z is socializing less. They’re drinking less, attending fewer parties, and engaging in fewer face-to-face interactions than any generation before them. The COVID pandemic and the social media era have ushered in something more stark than what author Robert Putnam depicted in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Much of Gen Z has lost the tools necessary for developing the social acumen needed to navigate the complexities and friction present in the modern office.
