Why Gen Z Grads Are Being Fired Before the First Promotion
According to the internet, the quietest layoff trend isn’t a mass firing, it’s one generation at a time.
They show up with degrees, resumes crafted in Canva, and the hope that maybe this time the office won't feel like a cage.
They’re smart, quick, and often kind as well, but within weeks, months, if they’re lucky, they’re gone.
It seems like Gen Z is being fired en masse, or let go, whichever makes you feel better about it. Companies are letting go of Gen Z grads at surprising rates, citing unprofessionalism, lateness, and laziness.
But that’s not the whole story as I see it, not even close.
This is a tale about two worlds colliding:
The workplace as it was…and the one that’s being born.
What Companies Are Saying
From anonymous HR forums to viral TikToks and mainstream coverage, employers are claiming that Gen Z ghosts interviews, don’t know how to send emails professionally, they come in late or not at all, and they want raises within three months before they’ve even shown initiative or drive.
On paper, it sounds like entitlement just got completely out of hand, but under the surface, something deeper is at play here.
Gen Z grew up through school shootings and active shooter drills, climate anxiety and pandemic isolation, rising tuition and shrinking salaries, social media absolutely everywhere (Why the Influencer World Is a Fake Paradise (And How It’s Actually Dangerous)), and the realization that “work hard and you’ll succeed” was a big fat lie.
They’re the most digitally fluent generation, yes, but they’re also the most burned out before they’ve even started.
Their idea of professionalism is different where a work-life balance isn’t optional....it’s assumed. Mental health isn’t taboo to Gen Z, it’s central to a lot of their values and plans for the future. Respect also isn’t hierarchical to them, it’s mutual.
Time is currency, and they don’t want to spend it in gray cubicles chasing those gold stars that don’t come.
Is It Really Laziness, or a Different Language?
What looks like laziness might actually be a type of detachment as well. What looks like unprofessionalism might be informality, normalized by a life constantly online and being influenced.
Maybe their entitlement is just knowing your worth in a system that’s shown it won’t return loyalty when push comes to shove.
A Gen Z grad might prefer remote work not because they’re “spoiled,” but because they’ve seen their parents commute for 20 years only to be laid off at the first sign of instability, friends building businesses from bedrooms, and workplaces that talk about “family” and deliver burnout instead.
I’d love to offer my own perspective on this whole take: they’re not lazy, they’re selectively engaged and might just be taking the work smarter, not harder philosophy to the next level.
But Let’s Be Fair, Some of This Is On Them
Of course, not all of the criticism is misplaced and not all their employers are wrong.
Some Gen Z workers do show up late, ghost interviews, and also expect career acceleration without the grind that it normally takes to get there.
It’s not generational slander, it’s lack of experience and understanding of how the world truly works. They missed years of socialization during COVID and had classes on Zoom, jobs on pause, and never learned how to read a room when the room was always pixelated.
We handed them iPads and algorithms and said, “here, learn. This is fine, right?”
We took away home economics, speech class, and etiquette and gave them group chats and burnout memes. Now they’re walking into jobs with no idea of how to craft a professional email, how to schedule a meeting, or how to heard criticism without collapsing in on the weight of their anxiety.
The system failed to onboard them into adulthood, and now we’re all acting surprised they’re fumbling. If they weren’t given the keys is it so shocking they can’t open the door?
What Needs to Change, From Both Sides
Employers need to create structured mentorship, not just onboarding videos (please god, no more of these awful videos, or at least hire better actors), stop mistaking formality for effectiveness, and set clear, compassionate expectations for your workers.
Gen Z grads need to learn the soft skills your degree didn’t teach because there are a lot. You guys need to show up, on time, and with effort. Because you’re brilliant when you try to be, and you shouldn’t rob the world of that.
This isn’t about coddling the younger generation, it’s about understanding that we are mid-transformation. The workplace isn’t dying, it’s molting it’s Boomer skin and trying to grow something new.
It’s no coincidence that Gen Z runs the fastest-growing creator economy, they dominate platforms that monetize authenticity, and they’re building new systems of healing and productivity outside the traditional 9-to-5.
This is a generation that prioritizes the 4 big F’s: freedom, fairness, flexibility, and feedback that doesn’t feel like punishment.
And when they don’t find it, they make something better or quit. Quietly or loudly, doesn’t matter to them.
Should You Hire Gen Z?
Yes, but don’t expect them to assimilate without help.
Expect to meet them halfway. Teach them snd hear them out when they have something to say.
They’re your coworkers now, so treat them as such. Maybe it’s about all of us unlearning a model that never really worked, but Gen Z just says it out loud.
Reads You Might Enjoy:
The Rise of the “Average” Millionaire, And Why It’s Not What It Used to Be
Why We Romanticize Burnout: The Toxic Myth of Glorious Exhaustion
Soul-Sized Work: What Happens When Your Passion Can’t Pay the Bills
When the Future Rewrites the Past: The Quantum Eraser Paradox
Why So Many People Are Moving to Portugal, And What It’s Really Like
The Population Crisis and the Promise of Artificial Wombs: Could Science Save Us from Collapse?
Why Adults Are Switching to Dumbphones to Escape Social Media
When the Internet Lost Its Way: The 18 Minutes That Haunted Cyberspace
The Psychology of Tiny Things: Why We Love Miniatures, Dolls, and Dioramas
