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Original poster

To find managing gen z a massive headache

624 replies

Managinggenzoclock · 03/11/2022 17:01

I’m a millennial and I manage a team of people. Some of them are gen z. It may be individual personalities but these are the things winding me up.. please excuse this rant. Is it just me? I manage people from late teens to early 60s. The younger group are by far the hardest work.

  • Very interested in career progression and pay (not a bad thing but see below)
  • at the same time not being willing to ever (I’m not talking often) work more hours or support a colleague
  • not willing to recognise that anyone knows more than them, even those with decades more experience
  • resisting hierarchical management structures
  • making lots of mistakes (including repeated over and over) but not have the humility of inexperience/ youth which would make this much less annoying
  • trying to patronisingly ‘educate’ people on contentious issues in inappropriate ways.

I think maybe I’m being too nice.

OP posts:
Calandor · 03/11/2022 22:46

ballroompink · 03/11/2022 22:44

Yes I have to say that the idea of uber competent hard-ass Boomers has not been my workplace experience. My experience of many of them has been bullying bosses, but then also people who hate change, plead 'I'm not good with technology' when processes are digitised, have tantrums about their performance being measured and work incredibly slowly and painfully in what should be a fast-paced environment. Obviously Not All Boomers, but sadly this has been my experience. All the senior managers in my workplace right now are Gen X and they are great. I'm a Xennial and so a lot of stereotypes of Millennials don't resonate with my experiences. I definitely had my lazy and huffy moments in my early 20s as well.

Like I said it's all individual. I work in the media so the boomers very much know what the fuck they're doing. If they didn't they wouldn't be here anymore. Bar the CEOs they've cut their teeth, adapted and know what they're doing.

Otherwise they'd have been cut out like a tumor.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:47

Calandor · 03/11/2022 22:43

@Cuppasoupmonster many also had the massive negative of living in a time when women weren't meant to be equal, being LGBT was illegal and being an unmarried couple was frowned upon, when teen pregnancy meant your babies were taken away, they had no internet...

Yes they have benefited in many ways but they also dealt with horror in many ways too.

God, how do I, a millennial, recognise this and you don't?

Because half of that is made up?!

Homosexuality was legalised in 1967, when boomers were in their teens or at their oldest early 20s.

Teen pregnancy didn’t mean the babies were taken away Confused some of them would’ve been pressurised to have them adopted, but it wasn’t the law and most of them weren’t.

It was easier to live on one wage (imagine the luxury now!) so frankly childcare wasn’t needed in the same way.

I never said it was a picnic but overall it was easier for the average person.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:47

As for no Internet I’m not sure that’s a drawback…

ballroompink · 03/11/2022 22:47

marblemad · 03/11/2022 22:33

I'm gen z mid 20's female and work as a PM in the utility sector, I find the older generations especially the 50+ ladies to be incompetent at their roles and infuriating in their communicative manner. The ladies we have in our office are mostly admin, turn up late, don't do their job properly like sharepoint administration, make derogatory comments such as the fact I am a carer and we had a new Project support join the team early 40's who spoke about how she was part time due to caring for a terminal sibling and an admin turned to us and said 'not another one' and rolled her eyes. They expect everyone to agree with everything they say all the time because they are 'older and therefore wiser' which often isn't true and refuse to take any kind of feedback or support team members without urging them to do so. They have refused to engage with any male team members or younger female or other team members which has made the environment hostile to work in. I even found when getting a promotion to join a new internal team recently that one lady went out of her way to tell people at work that I 'had left and wasn't coming back' and other incorrect information then denied it to my face?

Yep definitely experienced this at work as has my DH. He had an older woman basically refuse to be managed by him as he was younger than her.

CatWorm · 03/11/2022 22:48

YANBU. I gave up my business because I couldn’t manage and train individuals from this generation any longer. I stopped taking on any new staff and had to wind down after disappointment after disappointment. I’m known to be reasonable and patient, but in the end I felt like I was having the piss taken out of me.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:49

Blossomtoes · 03/11/2022 22:30

How many people in their 30s with boomer parents will have substantial inheritances by the time they retire?

Show quote history

When will they retire?

Spectre8 · 03/11/2022 22:49

As a Gen X I have to say I am go glad I was born when I was. Got to live that non tech childhood but coming into uni and work saw the growth in technology. Yes we were left to get on with things as parents worked but I loved it, spent days round the 'block' (lived in a cul de sac) as we called it playing with all the kids for hours on end. That independence was so great.

I do feel in recent yrs possibly triggered by covid that I share some of my Gen Z views about working the hours I am contracted to do but the gen X in me always ensure I go a great job so I've learnt to work smarter and make of tech to ensure I get the same amount of work done quicker.

I had gen z apprentices recently and I found it refreshing to work with them - thy bought fresh ideas and were enthusiastic

Blossomtoes · 03/11/2022 22:50

Your narrative of women not working is made up @Cuppasoupmonster. You keep repeating it it despite being challenged every time.

PinotPony · 03/11/2022 22:50

I recently ended up on a night out with several Gen Z youngsters. One girl was terribly upset because she'd been touched up by a bloke in the toilet. Really distraught and crying.

I found her best friend elsewhere in the bar, explained the situation and told her to take the girl straight home and stay with her.

Did she do that? Was she a good friend? Nope. She burst into tears because her friend's experience was "triggering" for her. So then I had two young women sobbing in front of me...

It all smacks of a need to be the centre of attention all the bloody time.

Calandor · 03/11/2022 22:51

@Cuppasoupmonster so your sexuality being illegal as a teen or young adult and then the aids crisis and family hating you and not accepting was just ok?

No the law didn't take their babies but their parents kicking them out and refusing to help would've meant most would.

Do you hate boomers so much you can't have compassion and see that yes they've benefitted financially but we've all benefited socially? They didn't get the love we have now.

Yes it's hard being fucking skint. Everyone Gen X and below is skint! But I just think some compassion for boomers and what changed in their lifetime is important. Yes they can be slow and annoying, but they also dealt with a lot.

I hope in 40 years when I'm their age Gen D or whatever doesn't think I'm a waste of space.

ColeensBoot · 03/11/2022 22:52

Well as a Xennial I have had 20 years of women older than me just hating me. It's not like I can help being younger than them? Now I work with 20 year olds I just think how awful and narrow minded those women were. Youth doesn't have experience but they can still have good ideas and be good at the job. I can't stand ageism. Either way. Or sexism. Just let people do the work and the results will speak for themselves.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:52

Blossomtoes · 03/11/2022 22:50

Your narrative of women not working is made up @Cuppasoupmonster. You keep repeating it it despite being challenged every time.

Only half of women worked in the 1970s.

Blossomtoes · 03/11/2022 22:53

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:49

When will they retire?

Show quote history

When they’re in their late 60s as things stand now. Not being in possession of a crystal ball, I have no way of knowing what retirement age might be in 30+ years. I do know our kids will have inherited by then.

Blossomtoes · 03/11/2022 22:54

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:52

Only half of women worked in the 1970s.

Show quote history

The 1970s were 50 years ago. A lot of women who didn’t work then have done so subsequently. For decades.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:54

Calandor · 03/11/2022 22:51

@Cuppasoupmonster so your sexuality being illegal as a teen or young adult and then the aids crisis and family hating you and not accepting was just ok?

No the law didn't take their babies but their parents kicking them out and refusing to help would've meant most would.

Do you hate boomers so much you can't have compassion and see that yes they've benefitted financially but we've all benefited socially? They didn't get the love we have now.

Yes it's hard being fucking skint. Everyone Gen X and below is skint! But I just think some compassion for boomers and what changed in their lifetime is important. Yes they can be slow and annoying, but they also dealt with a lot.

I hope in 40 years when I'm their age Gen D or whatever doesn't think I'm a waste of space.

Given it applied to about 3% of people you can’t really use the LGBT thing as a yardstick of life for your ‘average’ person.

I don’t think they’re slow or annoying Hmm they’re only in their 60s/70s, are you confusing them
for older people?

I think you’ve got some wires crossed somewhere…

MangyInseam · 03/11/2022 22:55

Freddosforall · 03/11/2022 17:49

I've tried to work out if they are genuinely more entitled or if I've just got old. The uni students I work with make incredible statements about what they should be entitled to and are genuinely outraged if they don't get it. But here's the thing, often they are accommodated. I think when I was at uni I tried it on just as much (asking for extensions, not wanting to turn up to lectures, spending all my cash) but I also just got told no. Often the students now get told yes, and therefore they think it's their right. It's us that's done this, not them.

Yes, this is always the question, is it just youth.

The main reason I don't think so is that companies and schools are finding they can't work or teach these people the same way they have with other intakes.

But you are right, it is something outside of them that has caused them to be that way. My university simply has no real expectations of students now, it was previously known for being quite high achieving. They are constantly focused on accommodating mental health issues. Deadlines are practically speaking non-existent. Kids object to being called on in class because it makes them anxious. And when they go to work they are the same.

MadelineUsher · 03/11/2022 22:56

People often forget about or are not aware of Generation Jones, the tail-end of the Boomers demographic. It always struck me as odd how long-seeming the Boomers yearspan was compared to following "generations", and how radically different the social mores of the earlier to later-born cohort were.

I also wonder when people claim "Boomers are like this" do they recognise that people like Nick Cave or David Bowie or Iggy Pop, etc, belong to that generation they imagine behaves and thinks and lives in one set way.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:56

Blossomtoes · 03/11/2022 22:54

The 1970s were 50 years ago. A lot of women who didn’t work then have done so subsequently. For decades.

Show quote history

Mmmmm well maybe not that many decades. It only passed 60% in the 90s. A healthy number of boomer aged women have worked fewer than 20 working years if that.

SirCharlesRainier · 03/11/2022 22:56

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:13

Boomers are hard ass - they're strong and they work damn hard. They're also inflexible and insensitive.

Hard ass? Despite the stories they didn’t live through the war. And a lot of the men retired in their 50s… and a lot of the women never worked full time. They would love you to believe that though.

Agreed @Cuppasoupmonster .
All the boomers I worked with were basking in their former glories, which seemed anyway to have resulted from rising to senior positions they weren't skilled for simply by turning up to work for decades and having a face that fits.

Not to mention the unsecure defensiveness that quickly surfaced if any whippersnapper failed to laugh heartily enough at their shit jokes. Resilient? Nah.

Calandor · 03/11/2022 22:57

@Cuppasoupmonster and I think you're being manipulative because you don't want to admit you should have compassion to all.

You're angry and resentful about your lot in life. And you're taking it out on others by refusing to see the pros and cons of every generation.

Hepwo · 03/11/2022 22:57

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:47

As for no Internet I’m not sure that’s a drawback…

There was no internet because boomers invented it! Literally created the entire tech world.

Calandor · 03/11/2022 22:58

@Cuppasoupmonster and 20% of young people now ID as LGBT. It's been steadily growing now people are able to be open.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 22:59

Calandor · 03/11/2022 22:58

@Cuppasoupmonster and 20% of young people now ID as LGBT. It's been steadily growing now people are able to be open.

😆 where on earth did you get that? Even stonewall says 3%.

Gingernaut · 03/11/2022 22:59

Blossomtoes · 03/11/2022 22:50

Your narrative of women not working is made up @Cuppasoupmonster. You keep repeating it it despite being challenged every time.

Well into the sixties, women resigned on engagement or marriage.

My first job was alongside a hoarder who kept every scrap of paper from the start of his career, including resignation letters from his assistants on their engagements.

Standard Civil Service and NHS policy back then

Livelovebehappy · 03/11/2022 23:00

Gen Z are absolutely crap at spelling or grammar. They’ve been taught by teachers who thought it better to focus on content rather than correct their pupils’ spelling mistakes. The job I do involves composing and sending letters to customers, and I despair when I see the really poor grammar and spelling simple words spelt wrong. 99% of which Gen z are guilty of.