By Joseph J. Bucci ——Bio and Archives--October 7, 2024
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A new survey of nearly 1000 Business leaders from across the country indicated that the so-called “Generation Z” workers who recently graduated from college are a challenge to work with, and difficult to manage (Intelligent.com, 2024).
The results of the survey indicated that 75% of the leaders polled said that many of these workers had to be fired (Bardolf, 2024). In a follow-up article to this survey (Zilber, 2024), the author wrote that companies are firing these “Gen Z” workers – people born between 1996 and 2010 – because of concerns about their work ethic, communication skills and readiness to do the job (Zilber, 2024).
This survey ironically was conducted by an online education magazine called Intelligent.com. It’s ironic because magazines and online tools such as Intelligent.com promote different college opportunities, and provide content to help students obtain – what they say on their website – are paths to the jobs of tomorrow. So a source dedicated to helping students find success through college and beyond is reporting that this generation of students are difficult to work with, and that one in six managers are hesitant to hire them (Intelligent.com, 2024). How encouraging is that… or is it meant to be a reality check?
My focus here is not the lack of job preparation of those in Gen Z. I know how they work, because I work with them every day. Hopefully the ones that we are outfitting for the workplace are doing exceptionally well, as we apply our own work experiences in preparing them for their future.
My focus here is on the great opportunity presented by the loss of a job or other types of failure. If observed for what it is, this is a great opportunity for a redemptive liturgy of sorts. Failure and loss based on our own poor decisions or a lack of effort can either frustrate us and causes to be angry with God, or draw us into a place of quiet contemplation before the Throne of the Most High. It all depends on who we think we are; and what we actually believe about failure, and........