Are Gen Z hard to work with or are our workplaces too toxic?

Coming back to the viral post: The author says Gen Z are “rude, difficult to work with, and don’t know how to behave with other colleagues”, adding that it can get “hard to defend a lot of the stuff lol”. I can’t say I was surprised by the choice of words, or the support they received from the millennials on the platform: In multi-generational workplaces it is not unusual to encounter “why are Gen Zs so unprofessional?” conversations, with well-meaning older people routinely going into a reverie about their own youth where everyone stayed past their working hours, followed orders sincerely, and trembled when spoken to. The subtext, of course, being that maybe if Gen Z followed in their footsteps, the world (or at least the office) would be a much more pleasant place.

What if these accusations are true? What if almost every Gen Z employee is rude, disrespectful, and self-centered to a dangerous extent? How will companies thrive with this attitude? How will the older generations (millennials included!) justify their own toxic relationships to work? How will we ever face Narayana Murthy?

If I sound a little caustic, that’s because I probably am. A lot of these conversations can be put under the category of “older people wanting to exploit younger ones the way they were exploited at that age”. Maintaining professional boundaries, asserting one’s rights to a decent workplace, and deciding the path of one’s growth are not diluting professional standards — in fact, these “Gen Z” traits help raise the bar for both employees and employers to attain better communication, coordination, working environments and ultimately, better outputs in the work we all slog away for.

And yes, I too have said “what is up with Gen Z?” on numerous occasions. According to several definitions of these generations, I fall right on the cusp of millennials and Gen Z, making me almost uncomfortably hyper-aware of both perspectives. I have taken serious offence at Gen Z workplace outfits, been appalled by their laid-back approach to breaking news (That’s the best part of our job! How could you go for dinner right then?) and stunned at how they talk in general. At the same time, I have been flummoxed (an old-fashioned word for my older friends) by how millennials just “let things slide” in their day — how did they simply agree to working overtime, spending more time in office than out of it? And now, as we approach yet another year of “Gen Z at the workplace” discourse, how can millennials be okay with partaking in the slander of the next generation?

Well, the last part is easily answered. Some of them are okay with it (see, you can talk about these pressing issues without generalising!) because of how Gen Z-centered our digital spaces are right now. From shopping apps to LinkedIn, everything is trying to appeal to Gen Z, trying to keep up with this generation that literally grew up online. Smarter people than me have written about how “outdated” this makes millennials feel, especially since they were the first generation to come of age online. A lot of these articles end with the bittersweet thought that one day, the era of Gen Z will be over too — naturally, because that’s just how basic progression of time works.

Basically, any discourse on Gen Z has a higher chance of going viral than discourse not involving them. Which is where social media content farmers come in, making us feel like we are stuck in an endless loop of millennials vs Gen Z. And that, in my humble opinion, is not a healthy way of ensuring good working relations, especially when so many factors already come in the way of that elusive prize.

So, what is the solution to the millennials (plus older generations) vs Gen Z battle raging in our workplaces? There is none I can give, except the trite one that we should all have an open mind, try to learn new things from everyone, and be good colleagues before demanding good colleagues. Easier said than done!

arushi.bhaskar@indianexpress.com