Survey Shows 79% Of Gen Z Workers Have Their Parents Talk To Their Bosses Instead Of Doing It Themselves
Are the stereotypes about Gen Z actually stereotypes?
Alena Shekhovtsova from capturenow | Canva Pro Every generation has its stereotypes, but most of them are untrue or at least exaggerated. Or are they? That's the question arising from a new survey about how Gen Zers are managing the working world.
Coming on the heels of several studies and anecdotal reports from millennial and Gen X managers about how difficult many Gen Zers really are in the workplace, it paints a pretty sobering picture of not just that stereotype, but another: That Gen Z is entirely too involved with and dependent upon their parents.
A survey found that 79% of Gen Zers have had their parents talk to their boss for them.
The survey, conducted by website Resume Templates, polled 831 U.S. Gen Zers with full-time jobs to see what kind of trends emerged with regard to how they manage their work and careers.
It's important to note that without more information about the demographics of the polling subjects, it's hard to know how accurate these findings are. The survey may have just polled a particularly coddled cohort of Gen Zers. Nevertheless, the numbers are startling even with that grain of salt.
Resume Templates found that 79% of Gen Zers have had their parents talk to their boss or manager for them, and nearly half, 45%, said it happens all the time. What are these workers having mom and dad call up the boss about? Basically, everything: workplace conflicts, getting time off, or asking for a raise were the three most common, while promotions and workload ranked highly as well.
Gen Zers' parents help them with job searching, too, including talking to hiring managers.
The parental interventions don't stop with just the boss once they've landed the job; it all starts much earlier. Gen Zers' parents are deeply involved with the job search process, starting with their resumes, which one in three said were written by their parents.
Ninety percent have leaned on mom and dad to help them search for a job, too, for the usual stuff like networking and reaching out to connections for job leads. But huge proportions also have had their parents actually search for job postings for them or attend a hiring event with them.
In fact, half have had their parents call a hiring manager about a job they were interested in, and 77%, more than three-quarters, have had their parents accompany them on an actual job interview, including in-person ones.
The survey's findings are in line with what professionals say they see with Gen Z employees.
The survey certainly gives a dismal view of Gen Z in terms of their preparedness for the real world, or, that is, what seems like a total lack thereof. But its extremity aside, it is in line with what many other professionals, especially Gen X and millennial managers, say about their Gen Z colleagues.
Business experts like Alison Green, writer of the long-running career guidance blog "Ask A Manager" and Slate's resident job advice columnist, recently shared a round-up of letters she's received from managers citing the usual Gen Z workplace problems: unrealistic expectations, struggling to handle critique and guidance, and needing extraordinary handholding to get their work done.
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No wonder then that a 2024 study found 1 in 5 managers have considered quitting because of the demands of managing Gen Z workers, or that several surveys have found that many employers actively avoid hiring them, worsening the already terrible employment headwinds the age group faces.
It's important to note, though, that given how young most of Gen Z still is, this isn't really a Gen Z problem: It's at least partly a parenting one. Much like how universities are having to make curricula teaching Gen Z how to do basic life tasks, their reliance on parental hand-holding to even apply for a job likely stems from the well-documented trend in which parents of Gen Z'ers are so hands-on in raising them that they end up robbing them of opportunities to learn self-sufficiency.
As Resume Templates' Chief Career Strategist, Julia Toothacre put it, “early-career professionals need to develop the confidence and skills to navigate workplace conversations independently." Guidance and support are one thing; doing the work for them is another.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
