They’re swiping. They’re griping. Their fingers are busy scrolling and eyes are constantly rolling.
They’re Zoomers in the workplace.
And they are the most “annoying” demographic plaguing offices nationwide, per a recent report.
“According to respondents, 29% say Gen Z coworkers are the most annoying to work with,” revealed researchers from LLC.org, Limited Liability Company experts. “Lack of work ethic, complaining and entitlement were the top three annoying traits of Gen Z coworkers.”
Making matters worse, whipper-snappers of the digital era, workers ranging in age from 18 to 27, also rank as the “least productive” folks on the clock as compared to their millennial, Gen X and Baby Boomer colleagues.
“Every generation brings its own set of habits and attitudes to the workplace,” LLC.org expert Sam Taylor said in a statement. “With Gen Z, however, the frustrations seem to stem from their approach to work-life balance, communication style and a perceived sense of entitlement.”
The jab is hardly Z-team’s first black eye.
Youngsters new to the workforce are often taking hits for their avant-garde approaches to the grind.
They’ve found themselves the butt of jokes for bringing their parents along to job interviews for support. They’ve been the subjects of salacious office scuttlebutt for asking to leave work early once all their tasks are done.
Branded as “lazy,” Gen Zers have, too, been getting booted by their bosses at record rates this year, owing to their nonchalant perspectives and lack of real-world experiences on the clock.
But Sam Hart, a corporate-world content creator, insists that her contemporaries, especially those in their early to mid-20s, aren’t slackers. Instead, she says her cohorts are simply more enlightened than their workplace predecessors — making them the misfits of the job market.
“Gen Z has this beautiful thing about them, where they’ve pretty much acknowledged that all of this is made up,” said Hart, a zillennial — someone born smack dab between the late 1990s and early 2000s — to over 800,000 TikTok viewers.
“They don’t necessarily have poor work ethics,” she explained, citing the economic downturns and everyday uncertainties young people face today. “They just know that none of it really matters.”
She then compared the Gen Z mindset to that of the go-getter millennial, 9-to-5ers ages 28 to 42, which is, generally, geared towards going above and beyond their boss’ expectations — despite the burnout they’ll likely endure.
“It is truly, mentally, the wildest place to be,” said Hart.
Erica Burkett, 27, agrees.
The New Yorker previously told The Post, “The argument of us being lazy is extremely misconstrued.” Rather than being called out for their outré outlooks, Burkett says Gen Zs should be respected for pursuing healthy lives beyond their paychecks.
“We’re not tying our whole life down to some corporate job that doesn’t care about whether we live or die,” she said, adding that her peers are “extremely hard workers” who are more “creative” than older generations, overworked workaholics.
“We’re breaking out of that mindset,” said Burkett.
And Taylor seems to get the demographic’s aversion to hustle-culture.
“They’ve grown up seeing older generations burned out and are pushing back against that mentality,” he said. “Gen Z has grown up in a different world, and they’re bringing new values and expectations into the workplace.”
To create harmony between the new-age swing and old-fashioned traditions, Taylor suggests employers facilitate positive discussions between team members — yes, including the annoying ones — to prevent friction and promote understating.
“It’s up to businesses to adapt,” said Taylor. “But it’s also important for employees across all age groups to show patience and try to understand one another.”
