Gen X Woman Turns Down Company's Request To Train The 25-Year-Old They Promoted Over Her
Krakenimages.com | Shutterstock A Gen X woman was adamant that she shouldn't have to train a much younger worker at the company where they both worked after she'd put in time and effort to get that role herself.
In a TikTok video, a content creator named Jennifer Schroeder insisted that, despite her manager's angry reaction after she refused to train a much younger co-worker, she didn't change her mind. Schroeder's decision sparked an interesting conversation about older generations still in the workforce and the competition between them and millennials and Gen Z.
A Gen X woman refused her company's request to train the 25-year-old they promoted over her.
"I watched a 25-year-old get my promotion, and then they asked me to train her. Here's what I said. 'No,'" Schroeder began in her video. "Not sorry, not maybe later, not let me check my schedule. Just no."
Schroeder recalled that her manager was furious and immediately emailed HR, who then sent an email to Schroeder claiming she should be a "team player" and willing to train the younger employee. However, Schroeder admitted that she wasn't going to change her mind and honestly didn't care what happened.
She insisted that they passed her over for a promotion she had rightfully earned. Instead, the company ended up giving the promotion to a grad student with no experience. Then they just expected Schroeder to train her without complaint, even though it's not in her job description at all.
"The audacity is stunning, isn't it? You want me to train my replacement? Pay me. You want my 25 years of knowledge? Pay me consulting rates? Triple my salary. You want me to smile while you're humiliating me? Wrong person. I am not your free training program."
The company didn't give her a reason for not being promoted.
Schroeder claimed that she doesn't work just to do the labor that other people don't want to do. She admitted she wasn't going to hand over all her expertise so the Gen Z hire could earn more than she does.
But the real question remains: If Schroeder has the knowledge to train someone younger for the role, why wasn't she awarded the position? It's likely a case of ageism. “Ageism is really one of the last acceptable 'isms' that society tolerates,” Heather Tinsley-Fix, a senior adviser at AARP, told USA TODAY. “We’re generally speaking of a society that really values youth, not only physically, but in these beliefs that everything good is young.”
In an AARP survey, nearly a quarter of workers over 50 said they felt pushed out of their jobs because of their age, and that's exactly what seemed to be happening to Schroeder.
"They told me I was being unprofessional. I told them I was being appropriately compensated for my expertise, or I wasn't sharing it. And they said I wasn't supporting the team. I said the team didn't support me. When I asked why I didn't get the role, silence!"
Gen Z is moving up in management at work compared to other generations.
According to a study from ADP Research, compared with their share of the total workforce, Gen Z’s share of management has grown even faster, from less than 1 percent of total manager months worked in 2019 to 3 percent in 2023. Not only are Gen Z workers moving into management, but more of them are staying there. Employers promoted Gen Z managers into higher positions 1.8 times as often in 2023 as they did in 2019.
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At the same time, Gen Z adults have been struggling in the workforce as well. The online educational magazine Intelligent.com found that three in four companies are having issues with recent college graduates. An estimated 65% of hiring managers believe recent college graduates are entitled, 63% believe they are offended too easily, and 55% of surveyed hiring managers believe recent graduates lack a work ethic.
It can definitely be frustrating for older generations who have worked extremely hard to climb the corporate ladder to be passed over in favor of younger candidates. At the same time, Gen Z adults are the next generation of workers and should be allowed to help reshape and improve the workplace. But when one person is elevated at the expense of the other without any explanation, it can definitely cause tension.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
