Why Gen Z is getting fired after being hired | The Excerpt

0:04 A recent headline is raising questions about the youngest

0:07 workers in the [music] labor force, Gen Z.

0:10 Some employers say they're hiring Gen Z

0:13 employees only to let them go within months,

0:15 citing [music] gaps in communication, professionalism, and workplace readiness.

0:20 But this kind of criticism isn't exactly new.

0:23 Previous generations faced similar labels when they first entered the workforce.

0:28 even as the nature of work itself was shifting.

0:31 So, what's really going on here?

0:33 Is this a Gen Z problem or a workplace problem?

0:36 Hello and welcome to USA Today's the Excerpt.

0:38 [music] I'm Dana Taylor.

0:40 Here to dig into Gen Z and how they can be successful

0:42 in the labor force in the age of AI is Susie Welch,

0:46 professor at NYU's Stern School of Business.

0:49 So, good to speak with you, Susie.

0:51 Thanks for having me.

0:53 The unemployment rate for recent college grads per the latest data released

0:57 by the Federal Reserve of New York at the end of 2025 is 5.7%.

1:03 That's roughly a point and a half higher than it is for other age cohorts.

1:07 Why do you think that is?

1:09 Well, uh it's fluence of events.

1:11 Um I was with a student who came to my office the other day.

1:14 She's got a degree in computer science.

1:16 She's very good at math and she cannot find

1:19 a job and she was in such a state of despair.

1:21 There's a I just want to put a human face to these numbers.

1:24 And she was a very talented young woman.

1:26 And I said to her, I think you're going to have

1:28 to open your aperture about the jobs that you're looking at.

1:30 She's looking for what the conveyor belt would typically dump her at.

1:33 You know, there's a conveyor belt when you've got a certain degree

1:36 and the conveyor belts went to certain jobs and there's just so

1:38 there's softness in those jobs as employers are reluctant to hire thinking

1:43 that AI might um be able to do these uh entry- level

1:46 jobs and so they are moving more slowly and then they have

1:49 been um a bit burned by their AI by their Gen Z

1:52 hires as we know and so I think that there's a lot

1:56 of there's structural reasons and there's

1:58 very modern reasons about what's going on.

2:00 I want to turn now to Jenz's ability to keep jobs once they've been hired.

2:04 A recent survey by intelligent.com that made headlines says that six

2:08 and 10 employers say they're letting Gen Z hires go within months.

2:13 What does that stat actually tell us and what's missing from it?

2:17 I think that stat tells us the truth.

2:18 What's going on?

2:19 And I have a I have an interesting perspective on it perhaps um which

2:23 is that um I have interesting research that might shed some light on it.

2:27 I teach two classes at NYU.

2:29 One is management, the the classic management class

2:32 that you would have at any business school.

2:33 And then I also teach a class called uh becoming you,

2:36 which is a class that helps students figure

2:37 out what they should do with their life, which my timing on teaching that class

2:40 was quite preient coming out of the pandemic.

2:43 For this class, the premise is that your purpose

2:47 in life lies at the intersection of your values,

2:49 your aptitudes, and your interests.

2:50 So with that as I said I'll say that I end up end up creating a tool

2:54 called the values bridge which um uh discerns

2:57 and rank orders individuals values from 1 to 16.

3:00 It's fully scientifically validated test and in the past year

3:03 about 200,000 people have taken it and so we are able

3:07 to cut this very large data set by generation and I

3:11 um cut the the data to find out what gen's values were.

3:14 Um, and once I had that list,

3:16 I did a second survey interviewing hiring managers,

3:20 um, 25,000 hiring managers over the ages of 40 who manage more than five people.

3:24 And we asked them, what are the values that you're

3:26 looking for in the Gen Z people that you're hiring?

3:29 And I got that list.

3:31 And then I cross referenced that data.

3:33 And what it showed is that only 2% of Gen Z

3:37 has the values that hiring managers want and are looking for.

3:42 So what ends up happening in my um estimations is a staggering number, 2%.

3:46 Staggering.

3:47 And I think when people say, "Oh,

3:48 this has happened in previous generations." The young

3:51 folks come along and the old folks say,

3:54 "That's not the way I was." Yeah, that's true, but not at this magnitude.

3:58 98% um do not have the values that hiring managers are looking for.

4:03 Only 2% do.

4:04 That's crazy uh magnitude.

4:07 And so what's happening is they're getting them in.

4:09 They're seeing if they can change them.

4:10 when they don't change them, they say had enough of this and out they go.

4:14 Um, and I think that's what's what we're seeing.

4:16 So, just to be more specific, Jenz's top three values.

4:19 Number one is uh what we call um in the in the survey udimonia.

4:23 That's self-care.

4:24 It's the Greek word for flourishing.

4:25 When I use the word self-care, usually people's heads explode.

4:27 So, I just use this more neutral name udemonia,

4:30 but it does mean self-care, personal flourishing, recreation, and leisure.

4:34 Their second value is voice, which is authentic self-expression.

4:37 They want to be themselves at all time.

4:39 and uh they want to um be very authentic in the workplace.

4:43 And their number three value is um helping others,

4:45 which is a beautiful and noble value.

4:47 For hiring managers,

4:48 the number one value that they're looking for is achievement, the desire to win.

4:53 The number two value that they're looking

4:54 for is work centrism, the desire to work.

4:57 And the number three value that they're looking for is scope,

5:00 which is theire desire for learning and activity and adventure,

5:04 which would generally I would translate in the workplace as travel.

5:07 So, um, uh, you that's a gigantic mismatch in values.

5:10 And that's what we're seeing play out.

5:12 And because the market is favoring the buyer, uh, the employer right now,

5:18 not the seller, the employee, the buyer is saying, "I'm not liking this.

5:22 I'm returning it to the store and I'm going

5:24 to go look for a model that I like better." So,

5:26 when we look at employers, what they're saying Jenzie workers aren't doing,

5:30 aren't meeting expectations, what are they specifically pointing to?

5:36 What's the gap that Gen Z needs to or maybe this is on employers as well,

5:42 but what's the gap the common gap that you're hearing about?

5:46 The gap is just look at the numbers again.

5:48 The gap is that employers want workers to care about

5:52 winning and working and Jenzie employees care about self-care and individuality.

5:59 So that's the gap and it shows up every day in kind of minor ways

6:02 is like the bosses are at the office early and they stay late and they

6:05 care if they win or lose a client and they uh are worried about competition

6:10 and how money is spent and Gen Z's uh basically saying I don't like those rules.

6:15 Those were your values and I they didn't work out so well for your generation.

6:18 I'm not going to buy them.

6:19 My parents had those values and they got unemployed at age 54.

6:23 One thing I will say is that my area

6:25 of of research involves values expression which is how

6:28 these values play out in the real world and I

6:31 am not a specialist at all in values formation.

6:34 So I don't I I can only report these statistics.

6:37 I can't tell you how Gen Z came to their values

6:39 but I teach Gen Z day in and day out.

6:42 And so I asked them, hey, why is it that achievement, okay,

6:45 the achievement is the value and work centism is

6:48 are is another value that employers want for Gen Z,

6:52 achievement is number 12 as a value and work centrism is number 13.

6:57 All right?

6:57 So they do not value these things that the oldsters

7:00 like myself and and most hiring um managers want.

7:04 And look, I want to say I love Jenz.

7:06 I I I teach them.

7:07 I I know them personally.

7:09 I I uh I there's wonderful wonderful things about them.

7:12 I don't want I'm not part of the hate genz um you know dynamic out there.

7:16 Um but there definitely is a a gap between the ways they want

7:21 to act at work and the ways their managers want them to act.

7:25 Jinzy is a first generation to enter the workforce after the pandemic which was

7:29 of course a major disruption in their education as well as to how we work.

7:35 How much has that shaped things like communication, confidence, or expectations?

7:41 I don't know how much the pandemic had to do with it.

7:42 To tell you the truth, I really don't.

7:44 I mean, the pandemic was a gigantic disruption,

7:46 but so was the bombing of London during World War II, and people got back to it.

7:51 So, I do think that, you know, my area of specialty is um not values formation.

7:56 But I do think that one thing that happened during um the pandemic

8:00 was people got this in the zeitgeist like why would I postpone

8:05 joy thing why would I postpone self-care the world could just blow

8:09 up at any moment and um they also got um accustomed to living

8:14 their lives in front of their computer and not being in the workplace

8:17 and so then uh when work then said well hey we'd like

8:20 you to postpone joy and pleasure and leisure and we'd like you

8:24 to come into the office they were like but I the other way.

8:27 Um, and I don't want to uh I don't want to conform to these uh old uh rules.

8:33 We're hearing a lot about what Gen Z needs to do to improve.

8:37 What are employers getting wrong right now when

8:39 it comes to hiring and supporting young workers?

8:43 Let me just back up for one quick second to your question,

8:45 which is I want to say I don't recommend anybody try to change their values.

8:49 So, I don't think that Jenzi is quote unquote getting it wrong.

8:52 I would never tell somebody go change your values.

8:54 go get the value of achievement.

8:56 Your values are your values.

8:57 And so I think that what they need to do

8:59 is adjust their expectations about where they're going to work.

9:02 So if they keep their values,

9:03 which they should, they are those are their values.

9:06 Nobody should change their values.

9:07 They have to understand there's consequences and they're not going to have

9:09 the kinds of jobs that perhaps their college degrees prepare them for.

9:13 Now, as for what employers should do,

9:15 it depends if employers want to employ the 2% or the 98%.

9:19 So the very good firms want to employ the 2% and as as CEOs

9:24 um I heard from a lot of CEOs after my article

9:26 ran in the Wall Street Journal about this data um and they

9:29 all said well it's a cage match isn't it for the 2%.

9:32 And so companies are going to fight to the um tooth and nail to get that 2%.

9:36 And the other companies I don't know if they're going to conform.

9:40 It's very hard to compete when you've got

9:42 employees who don't care about competition and it's

9:45 very hard to get work done when you have employees who don't want to work.

9:48 And so maybe they'll conform, but I I think as long as it's a buyer market,

9:52 which it is, uh, with unemployment numbers the way they are, I don't know.

9:56 So you mentioned AI, and I want to dig into that a little more

10:00 deeply and look at how it's playing into this equation.

10:03 There's a lot of reporting that for Gen Z,

10:05 including recent graduates, entry-level jobs have been replaced by AI.

10:10 And so there's a fundamental lack of opportunity to learn

10:13 the soft skills that a white collar employee needs.

10:16 Do you think that's true?

10:18 Well, AI is definitely a foot in terms of like being able

10:22 to do everything that entry level or many things that entry level employees did.

10:26 I mean, I had a I have a person from my own team who created an agent

10:29 that did her job and uh a data scientist

10:32 literally created an agent who now does her entire job.

10:35 Luckily, we had other work for her, but um I have a company that I

10:39 um that I run myself and so that's what I'm referring to, not as a professor.

10:43 So I do think this this is uh this is

10:45 a gigantic structural problem that we're going to face into.

10:48 And it's true that when you're in these entry- level jobs,

10:51 you do learn some soft skills.

10:52 You learn collaboration.

10:54 You learn communication.

10:55 And so but it's also the the working remotely.

10:59 I ask my students every semester who wants to work

11:01 in the office 5 days a week, I get two people.

11:04 And then when I get down to four days a week, that's like five people.

11:07 And then finally when I'm sort of like who wants to who wants to be remote?

11:10 Um, it's almost, you know,

11:11 it's it's 80% of the people and if you're not, you know,

11:14 talking to people and going out to lunch and somebody

11:17 comes into the office and they don't look the same.

11:19 They've got kind of a cast of their face.

11:21 You you don't see that and you don't go into their office and say,

11:24 "Hey, is everything okay?

11:25 I noticed you're not yourself." Yeah.

11:26 Hey, I just found out that my dog's sick and you know,

11:28 you just don't develop all of these skills that you need to advance.

11:33 And it's uh and yet uh that's a very hard case to make to Jenz.

11:37 Like when I say to Jenzie, you've got to be there.

11:39 you got to be in the office.

11:40 They just say not anymore.

11:42 You know, there's there's really no reason for it.

11:44 You you dinosaur you.

11:46 Uh and that's their view.

11:48 For companies that are successfully hiring and retaining Gen Z employees,

11:52 what are they doing differently?

11:54 They're hiring the 2%.

11:56 That's what they're doing.

11:57 Those companies, that's JP Morgan, that's Goldman Sachs, that's Bane.

12:01 I mean, they're h they they're looking for the 2%

12:03 and they're hiring them because then they don't have the values disconnect.

12:07 Okay?

12:07 They just don't.

12:09 Um, and so they are right off to the races.

12:12 I I I uh I think that's what's happening.

12:14 So you see the companies that are doing it,

12:16 they're they're it's all in the hiring.

12:18 They know exactly what they're looking for.

12:20 That test that I mentioned, the values bridge,

12:21 I can't tell you how many of these good

12:23 companies are using it as part of the hiring process.

12:25 They are looking and ascertaining.

12:27 I can't decide how people have used the test.

12:29 Anybody can take it.

12:30 But I mean more and more we are seeing uh you know

12:34 these large banks and these large

12:35 companies using it during the interview process.

12:37 So they're they're hiring very carefully for values.

12:41 Susie, for Jenzers who are listening to this conversation right now,

12:45 what's your biggest piece of advice to be successful in today's job market?

12:51 Well, do you mean to get hired or to be successful?

12:54 I mean like successful.

12:56 Well, I mean the thing is that Jenz

12:59 has a different definition of success than we do.

13:02 So um they uh don't have a high uh they

13:05 don't have a high value on on achievement or work centers.

13:09 So their definition of success is closer sex work by balance and you know a life

13:14 where um they have a lot of flexibility and so I think it's just choosing

13:18 the company in the career that allows you to have that there's going to be

13:22 a trade-off in wealth accumulation that's but that many

13:25 of them are willing to make it.

13:26 And so I think understanding your def own definition of success

13:30 which is not your parents definition of success and in some

13:32 cases not the society or cultures um sort of traditional definition

13:36 of success is going to be important and to understand there's trade-offs.

13:38 I think right now Jenzie is very young

13:40 and when we were young we didn't understand trade-offs either.

13:43 uh you know I the very commonly when students take

13:46 the values bridge test they find out that their number

13:48 one value is self-care and their number two value is

13:52 affluence wealth and they say to me professor Welch is

13:55 this a problem and I say it's going to be

13:58 um but you'll have to work that out and figure

14:00 that out on your own and they'll have to make some

14:02 decisions about how they want to live just like we do

14:04 Susie thank you so much for joining me having this conversation

14:07 my pleasure thanks for watching I'm Dana Taylor I'll see you next