40% of Business Leaders Believe Recent College Grads Aren’t Ready for the Workforce
Many business leaders who believed recent college graduates are not ready felt that graduates from the last three years are less prepared than the earlier ones.
- Regarding the workforce, Gen Z employees have been called several things.
- What do employers and business leaders think about recent graduates? Intelligent conducted a study to find out.
When it comes to work, Gen Z is called several things, including a sensitive and difficult generation to work with, a generation that champions social justice, and a generation that doesn’t want to put up with toxic work cultures. According to a recent study by Intelligent, which surveyed business leaders to understand their experience working with recent college graduates, many employers also consider this generation “woefully unprepared for the workforce.”
The following are a few other key findings from the study.
Work Ethics Are the Primary Reason Employers Think Gen Z Isn’t Ready
According to the study, 40% of business leaders believed recent graduates (classes 2020 to 2023) were unprepared. Among them, 27% believed these graduates are “somewhat unprepared,” while 13% believed they are “very unprepared” for the workforce. On the other hand, 33% felt that the generation is “somewhat prepared,” and 20% believed they are “very prepared.”
Of the business leaders who felt college graduates were unprepared, 70% believed it was a result of their work ethic. The same percentage also thought it was because of their communication skills. Furthermore, 51% of business leaders felt that recent graduates have a sense of entitlement, while 43% indicated a lack of technological skills.
In what ways recent college graduates are unprepared?
Source: Intelligent survey
About 88% of the business leaders who believed recent college graduates are not ready felt that graduates from the last three years are less prepared than earlier graduates. In fact, 94% of business leaders who believe that recent graduates are less ready avoid hiring them at times.
In the past three years, 39% of business leaders who felt recent graduates were not ready even fired one. Of this group, 83% fired more than one, and 5% fired over ten.
See more: Great Expectations: What Employers Need To Do To Attract Gen Z Talent
Majority Believe Culture Is To Blame
So, if recent Gen Z graduates are not ready for the workforce, who or what is to blame? According to 62% of the respondents, culture is to blame, while 50% believed the lack of preparedness is due to parents. While 48% blamed the pandemic, 46% blamed the educators for the graduates being unprepared.
About 88% said it would be ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ helpful if colleges offered office etiquette classes to students.
About 57% of business leaders who felt recent graduates were not ready said they have had a recent graduate ask for an unreasonably high salary. About half of them had a candidate asking $100,000. Of the candidates who asked for more than this salary, two-thirds of the roles had salaries of $70,000 or less.
Experts Believe Nobody Is Prepared
Diane Gayeski, professor of Strategic Communication at Ithaca College and principal of Gayeski Analytics, said that no one is prepared for the workplace of 2023. Gayeski said, “It’s changed dramatically because the digital transformation and hybrid workforce trends that began a decade ago accelerated during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and both methods and attitudes towards work are now vastly different. Recent college grads don’t communicate in the way that their 50-year-old executives do, but they are effective in collaborating and getting things done using their own tools of social media, texting, and applications like Slack and Google Docs.”
She also suggested that companies should understand the values and working styles of the incoming cohort. Leaders should also ask themselves how to create organizations that do good for their employees and perform well. Further, organizations can easily find young and smart professionals who can bring new ideas and perspectives on efficiently accomplishing goals and creating environments that support the growth of employees and the bottom line.
Do you think recent graduates are prepared for the workforce? Why? Share with us on LinkedIn, X, or Facebook. We’d love to hear from you!
Image source: Shutterstock
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