Bosses say Gen Zers aren't ready for work. Whose fault is that?
Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI My first internship gave me a simple task: Email a press release to a large list of reporters. I followed the meticulous formatting instructions from a binder, and hit send. Minutes later, a supervisor let me know that I had botched this most basic responsibility. I needed to BCC the list of recipients, something I had neglected to do because in my time in a college classroom, I hadn't learned what BCC meant. It was the kind of rookie mistake I couldn't anticipate and learn only by bumbling through my first office job. For today's young workers, navigating first jobs may become even more complicated. Bosses say Gen Z isn't really workplace ready. Glenn Fogel, CEO of Priceline's parent company Bookings Holdings, has said young workers need more guidance on the norms of the office. Former Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said that young people "don't seem like they want to work." In 2024, a poll of nearly 1,000 business leaders from Intelligent.com found that 75% of companies said some or all of recent grads they hired were "unsatisfactory," and another survey of 800 HR leaders sponsored by Hult International Business School, found that 37% of HR leaders said wou
Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI My first internship gave me a simple task: Email a press release to a large list of reporters. I followed the meticulous formatting instructions from a binder, and hit send. Minutes later, a supervisor let me know that I had botched this most basic responsibility. I needed to BCC the list of recipients, something I had neglected to do because in my time in a college classroom, I hadn't learned what BCC meant. It was the kind of rookie mistake I couldn't anticipate and learn only by bumbling through my first office job. For today's young workers, navigating first jobs may become even more complicated. Bosses say Gen Z isn't really workplace ready. Glenn Fogel, CEO of Priceline's parent company Bookings Holdings, has said young workers need more guidance on the norms of the office. Former Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said that young people "don't seem like they want to work." In 2024, a poll of nearly 1,000 business leaders from Intelligent.com found that 75% of companies said some or all of recent grads they hired were "unsatisfactory," and another survey of 800 HR leaders sponsored by Hult International Business School, found that 37% of HR leaders said wou
