GENERATION Z’s biggest unprofessional blunders in the workplace have been revealed in a new report, as managers warn that young people aren’t learning the skills needed for jobs while in school.
Almost half of bosses in the UK say they have seen young people with no understanding of “workplace-appropriate behaviour”, a survey by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) found.
This includes young people aged 16 to 24 turning up late for work and even MUMBLING when they speak.
It comes after shocking figures revealed last week that almost one million young people in that age group in the UK are neither working nor studying amid a huge unemployment crisis.
The biggest skill managers warn young people need to improve on is their resilience, with 63% of the 1,100 bosses surveyed by the CMI saying this.
Some 45% of managers said young workers need to improve their professionalism, while 43% said they had seen young people in the workplace not speaking and communicating clearly.
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A further 41% said they thought young people were unable to take feedback well and act on it.
Meanwhile, over a third (36%) said they had worked with young people with poor time management.
Experts say there needs to be more opportunities for young people to get work experience and training to be able to learn these life skills.
Petra Wilton, director of policy at the CMI, said: “Young people are putting their faith in education to prepare them for work, so finding out on day one that employers expect a different set of skills can be a rude awakening.
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“Four in 10 managers who hire young people have experienced a mismatch between what they have learned through education and the practical requirements for the job.
“The answer is not to tell young people they are not ‘work ready’, or to pile more blame on Gen Z.
“These are skills that can be built through work experience, apprenticeships, mentoring and dedicated training opportunities to practise communicating, taking feedback and handling setbacks.
“If we want to tackle youth inactivity and build the next generation of talent, we need to prepare young people for work while also making sure our workplaces and line managers are ready for young people.”