“Generation Z’s challenge in communication”

🌟 Generation Z (born 1997–2010) constantly hears from their supervisors that they don’t know how to behave in the workplace. Jodie Foster, the Oscar‑winning actress, has said this generation doesn’t use proper grammar and arrives late to work. Likewise, Alex Mahon, the head of a major British TV network, has said the youngest generation entering the workforce lacks the skills to debate, disagree, or work alongside people with different viewpoints. Yet this youngest workforce does not completely deny its own shortcomings.

🌟 New data collected exclusively by Fortune shows that young workers are fully aware of where they make mistakes. Sixty‑five percent of Gen Z employees admit they don’t know what to talk about with their colleagues. In addition, Gen Z participants who do not have a spouse, pet, or child say they struggle to connect with coworkers who are in different life stages.

🌟 So even though Gen Z employees know that bonding with senior colleagues can elevate their career game, they still hold back and leave the responsibility for initiating social conversations to older generations: three‑quarters of newly hired young workers say they only engage in conversation with senior colleagues if the seniors initiate it first.

🌟 Small talk may seem like something everyone knows how to do, but it is one of the basic soft skills Gen Z has not learned. Employers now have to make up for this lost time. For example, Deloitte offers additional training programs for newly hired young employees who lack confidence in basic tasks such as presenting or speaking in meetings.

🌟 Meanwhile, companies with work‑from‑home policies are asking younger employees to come into the office. For example, Cisco in the UK and Ireland has no mandatory in‑office requirement — except for Gen Z, who must be present at least three days a week.

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