11 Things Gen Z Usually Thinks Are Unfair That Are Just Part Of Being A Grown-Up
Andrii Iemelianenko | Shutterstock Growing up comes with a lot of freedom, but there are also some harsh realities people often don't realize are normal. Some of the things they think are unfair are actually just part of being a fully grown-up adult.
Because Gen Z doesn’t usually want to be put into a box they often have high expectations around what they want their lives to look like. But even if they can't seem to grasp these seemingly unjust things, it won't stop them from challenging the status quo.
Gen Z sometimes has a hard time understanding that these things are just part of being an adult:
1. Entry-level jobs requiring experience
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Gen Z has a hard time accepting that entry-level jobs often ask for a certain level of experience. They think that requirement is unjustified, and though it's just a normal part of life for older generations, their assessment might not be wrong.
According to professor of management Peter Cappelli, this hiring trend reflects how companies see their employees: not as people, but as a means to an end.
“Everybody wants to hire somebody with three years’ experience, and nobody wants to give them three years’ experience,” he said. “We’re not helping people learn how to get proficient in their jobs, and for sure we’re not helping them develop.”
“If you don’t have entry-level jobs where people are going to be trained, or you expect them to just know what they’re doing when they walk in, then it’s super hard for people who are leaving college to get jobs,” he continued.
2. Having to work jobs they're not passionate about
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Gen Z walks a fine line between being practical and hopeful, which impacts their perspective on what it means to work. In fact, Gen Z places less emphasis on salary than other generation. When asked if they’d rather have a high-paying but boring job versus a more interesting job that paid less, Gen Z’s responses were fairly evenly split.
Gen Z thinks that being expected to commit to a job they don’t feel passionate about is unfair, but really, it’s the reality of being a grown-up. They find working a 9-to-5 job mundane, but need to understand that not everything in life will align with your passions. A major part of adulthood involves doing things you don’t actually want to do.
3. How different their parents’ values are from theirs
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According to psychology professor Dr. Jean Twenge, the generational divide is nothing new, but there’s so much older generations and younger generations can learn from each other.
“There’s a tendency for younger people to say, ‘oh, you know, older people, whatever, we’ve moved on, we don’t need to know their perspective.’ Yeah, you do. Because there’s wisdom in every generation. And it’s better if we try to understand where each is coming from,“ she explained.
Every generation can learn something from each other, even if they have different values or ways of doing things. Gen Z should take a step back and realize that although they're from a different era, speaking with someone older may expand their understanding of their experience.
4. Friendships not lasting forever
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As hard as it is to accept, friendships won't always last. While it's just a normal part of life, Gen Z is finding it hard to come to terms with. For all that they’ve experienced, this generation is still young, which means they’re still learning what it means to be in relationships.
“People are dynamic, not static, and our needs and abilities shift over time,” professor Suzanne Degges-White revealed. “We only have so much ‘social capacity’ to commit to friendships, so it’s totally natural that less close, less rewarding, or more labor-intensive friendships may lose their intensity or value.”
5. Needing to network for professional opportunities
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According to networking expert Jean Evans, being digitally fluent provides Gen Z with some major advantages, but that trait can also make in-person networking feel overwhelming for them. Gen Z can leverage their social media skills and “engage with thought leaders, industry experts, and companies you admire,” along with sharing their “thoughts, insights, and experiences to establish your personal brand and expertise.”
Still, some in-person networking experience is necessary to make connections, and attending workshops and seminars, or joining professional organizations, can help. Gen Z may find it hard to approach strangers, but building those connections will benefit them down the road.
6. Scheduling appointments over the phone
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For all their tech-savviness, Gen Z is seriously phone-avoidant. They think it’s annoying and unfair that they’re expected to pick up the phone in most situations, like making appointments or even talking to their parents. In their ideal world, every human interaction would be whittled down to a quick text, but that’s not reality.
Even though it seems inefficient to them, calling to make appointments is something all adults do. Though their phones have streamlined certain things, sometimes we have to listen to someone else’s voice and use our own.
7. Working 40-hour weeks
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Gen Z makes up more of the workforce than they once did, and their shifting values could have a major impact on the way work gets done. While older generations were used to working 40 hours or more per week, Gen Z won't stand for it.
More than 75% of workers said they could complete their workload in four days instead of five, but most U.S. employers are still hesitant to actually put that change into action. Gen Z prioritizes flexibility more than anything else. Almost one-third of Gen Z workers said they feel most inspired in the early morning or later in the evening, outside of the traditional 9-to-5 workday.
8. Change happening slowly
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As a digitally fluent generation, Gen Z wants fast results in everything they do. They’re the most diverse generation yet, and their political and social ideals reflect how much they want the world to change. They expect those changes to be immediate, but what they can't grasp is that change doesn't happen overnight.
Stanford University research scholar Roberta Katz described a typical Gen Zer as “a self-driver who deeply cares about others, strives for a diverse community, is highly collaborative and social, values flexibility, relevance, authenticity and non-hierarchical leadership.”
She added that they're future-oriented as well, and that because they do thigns differently than other generations, their ideas don't exactly match up. While it's not a bad thing, they may want to break free from their reliance on convenience and immediate gratification.
9. Emotional closure not always being guaranteed
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Ghosting might be more socially acceptable than it once was, but it’s still a painful experience that leaves people searching for answers and wondering what they did wrong. Unfortunately, this is a difficult life lesson many Gen Zers still haven't learned.
Emotional closure isn’t a guarantee, no matter how many times they ask their ex for some form of justification. Once they realize that closure is essentially a myth, they’ll feel more at peace.
As psychologist Dr. Abby Medcalf explained, “This is the secret to understanding and getting closure: It’s about working on yourself, not the other person. It’s about focusing on your own healing and growth as opposed to obsessing about the other person.”
10. Relationships requiring compromise
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It’s not necessarily fair, but compromising in relationships is what real adults do. There’s no such thing as a perfect partner. Making the decision to build a life with someone else means accepting their imperfections, along with your own.
As important as it is to express your needs directly and expect them to be met, the truth is that no one person can meet every single one of our needs. At the end of the day, relationships are about give and take, and there’s bound to be imbalance at some point.
11. Life being unpredictable
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The world is an uncertain place. Nothing is ever predictable, as much as we might wish it were. The truth is, stability isn’t something we can ever depend on. There are so many factors that make up our lives, and all of them are always shifting in one way or another.
As the saying goes, change is the only constant. Gen Z might think the world’s larger instabilities are unfair, but learning to navigate them is part of being a grown-up.
Alexandra Blogier, MFA, is a writer based in Boston, Massachusetts who covers psychology, social issues, relationships, self-help topics, and human interest stories.
