A new study explains why Gen Z struggles in the workforce. Young adults disagree
MIAMI — Across the country, new college graduates are facing a tough job market for an unexpected reason: A recent study found three in four companies are having issues with recent college graduates.
Online educational magazine Intelligent.com found members of Gen Z (people born between the late 1990s and early 2010s) lack motivation, initiative and professionalism. The study also found that they have poor organizational and communication skills, and difficulty working as a team.
CBS News Miami recently visited Florida International University's Student Academic Success Center to look deeper into the study.
We met with Career Specialist Clotilde Picart-Laguer and students Candela Giacchino, Nicolas Jean-Baptiste and Adriana Alvarado Estrada to talk about the study's findings and how they plan to define their careers.
FIU Career Specialist Clotilde Picart-Laguer made sure the students knew what some employers think of their generation, telling them: "Sometimes employers think that your group, your class, your generation does not know how to handle a workforce."
Inside the center, she runs the students through interview scenarios to help them hone their skills and prepare for when they meet with potential employers. But, even if they land their dream role, they may face an uncertain future once they get there.
Intelligent.com found that 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 work ethic.
When asked how they define "work ethic," students had a variety of responses.
"I think work ethic is, it comes from your values and when I mean values, I mean like, values of excellence, values of leadership, values of character, the values that you have in your life and then adding them to your work field," Candela Giacchino told CBS News Miami.
Adriana Alvarado Estrada believes work ethic comes from within.
"For me, work ethic is the expectation that you hold on yourself as to how you deliver your work," she said. "So, work ethic is holding yourself at high, at such a high expectation that you're able to meet the expectation of your employer by first, meeting the one you have for yourself."
But none of the students equate punching a clock with work ethic.
"I don't believe that working long hours or holidays makes you have more work ethic than others -- it's rather the results that you deliver to your employer and learning how to manage your own time," Alvarado Estrada said. "So, if you work, whether it's 20 hours of the week or 40 hours of the week, just make sure that the results you provide and the work that you deliver is the same as if you would have worked 60 hours of the week."
Giacchino agreed.
"I think we shouldn't just be guided by our job and like our work, but we should also be guided on like, ok, what is my life aspect?" she said. "There's people that do work 60 hours and they love what they do, but there's other people that have other aspects."
And Nicolas Jean-Baptiste believes a healthy work ethic is tied to a healthy work environment.
"It motivates you to work better, as your mind is concentrated not purely on that you have to work 60 hours a week, and that's all you do, is you begin to hate your job, but that you're able to deliver your work while having the balance outside," he said.
And while all three students are looking for work-life balance, the employers surveyed by Intelligent.com are looking for more from their young employees. Twenty-one percent of hiring managers surveyed say recent college graduates can't manage the workload, 20% of them said recent graduates are often late to start work and 17% of them are too difficult to manage.
And as their career specialist reminded them, that comes with this perception.
"You just go like, 'I quit,'" Picart-Laguer said. "You know what or 'I'm taking the day. I didn't' sign up for this.' Which people tend to think your generation does."
But Ruth Pacheco, FIU's Executive Director Over Integrated Partnerships and Career Readiness, doesn't see that in the students on campus.
"They're driven, they're full of energy [and] they're looking for opportunity," she said.
Pacheco also told CBS News Miami this generation likes to ask a lot of questions, and that can often be misunderstood.
"I do see that our students and this generation does like to ask a lot of questions, and I think that sometimes that may be seen as some level of entitlement, but that is not something I would call it," she said.
Pacheco cites enthusiasm at campus career fairs as proof employers and employees need to work together to find the right fit.
"I see a student that's more intentional about understanding what are the values that employers have, which is something that we did not see before," she said.
