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Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

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Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#21

Post by xwdv »

This is the way it should be. Older generations that have been exposed to technology longer should be more savvy about its use and its perils.

The only reason younger generations in the past (millennials) had more skill with high technology than old folks is because the old folks didn’t grow up around tech or computers. This was a fluke. The bar for being considered tech savvy was much lower. Building a simple web page would make you seem like the Wizard of Oz. Nowadays it’s just cute.

But someday millennials will be very old, and after a lifetime of using computers they should still be more tech-savvy than some young kids that know nothing except tapping a screen; the result of a lifetime of exposure to ever changing tech.

There is a possibility though that we have made tech so easy to use and abstract to the user, that new generations might always see it more as “magic” than for what it really is, meaning millennials may be the only generation that on average possesses greater understanding for how technology works and how to fix things; vestiges from their early experiences with the analog era.

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#22

Post by btbuildem »

My intuitive takeaway here is that people who grew up with all this incredible technology, do not appreciate the power it bestowed upon us (because "that's just how things are"). Secondary, using all this tech growing up deprived people of learning certain things, the tech made it too easy, now even a middling effort is too much. Lastly, and this one is timeless: they're too cool to care.

GPT summary of the article:

- Gen Zers are not as comfortable with new technology as older generations would typically presume

- 1 in 5 18-29 year olds in the study felt judged when experiencing technical issues, compared to 1 in 25 for those aged 40+

- 25% of 18-29 year olds would avoid participating in a meeting if they thought their tech tools might cause disruption, compared to 6% for those aged 40+

- Organizations should ramp up their technical training programs for their youngest workers

- Gen Zers may be accustomed to digital environments, but this doesn't always carry over to professional tools

- U.K. workers rate digital skills as the most crucial for the current and future workplace, but 27% do not feel confident in their digital capabilities

- Future workers lack awareness of the importance of digital skills

- The U.K. is facing a digital skills crisis and must educate parents and children on the importance of digital skills

- Gamification is a critical learning and development facilitator

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#23

Post by nixpulvis »

atticuz wrote: post #12

Gen Z are savvy with iPhones and other touch devices. They type incredibly fast on their phones but probably slower than millennials on computer keyboards. While we grew up with using laptops and PCs from a young age, they've been using smart phones and tablets.

Interesting, I wonder how many high school students are writing term papers on the iPhone keyboard?

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#24

Post by dogleash »

This is a evergreen meme:

Step 1: People old enough that it's deliberate effort for them to learn new things, can't be arsed to learn something new

Step 2: Older people notice the younger people still in the "absorb as much about the world as possible" phase of their life are more skilled with the new thing

Step 3: Older people assume the younger group is uniquely skilled with the thing

Step 4: some time passes

Step 5: *surprised pikachu face* they're not

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#25

Post by wingely »

mattnewton wrote: post #2

I swear I read the same article about my generation when I entered the workforce, about how millennials were expected to be magic tech wizards by growing with the internet through osmosis

What is it that motivates older generations to diss younger generations? I’m a Millennial, and people love to shit on us, today still, but especially in the 2000s and early 2010s.

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#26

Post by peoplefromibiza »

> One in 5 of the 18-to-29-year-olds polled in the report

Couldn't part of the problem be that "how to work" is itself a skill that needs to be learned and at such young age nowadays no much work experience has been accumulated yet?

For people who graduated I believe the first real job is at > 24-25 years.

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#27

Post by gexla »

eatonphil wrote: post #4

> One in 5 of the 18-to-29-year-olds polled in the report, which surveyed 10,000 office workers in 10 markets including the U.S. and U.K., said they felt judged when experiencing technical issues, compared to only one in 25 for those aged 40 years and over. Further, 25% of the former age group would actively avoid participating in a meeting if they thought their tech tools might cause disruption, whereas it was just…

This was similar to my take. Is the issue that they aren't as tech savvy? Or is the issue that they are more likely to feel ashamed? Maybe older workers feel more comfortable in their roles?

I have come across a mountain of references talking about "digital natives" in the past, but I don't recall any of them talking about the fact that "tech" and "digital" is usually about the UI first. Nobody is going to feel comfortable on a UI they haven't experienced. The more non-standard a UI feels, the more there will be an uncomfortable learning curve. And of course, no comfort with the UI will help you with background fundamentals, such as troubleshooting your internet connection.

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#28

Post by sadmin »

benj111 wrote: post #3

Is half the problem that gen Y grew up with email as a communications platform and had actual computers with actual mice and actual software installed on said computers. Gen z may be plugged into their phone, but a phone is a far cry from the tech that is actually used on the office. And Tik Tok isn't like an Excel spreadsheet. Further, prior generations had to write letters etc which transfers across to email in a p…

I don't think this is the case at all, my brother and I are at opposite ends of the GenZ age scale and we both had full-on computer labs in school, winxp/7 for myself and win8/10 for him. We didn't go to posh, expensive schools either.

I think this comment parallels the same attitude that older generations take about tech issues in the linked article, where they don't feel shame for having 'poor' computer skills since they didn't grow up with it.

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#29

Post by peoplefromibiza »

mattnewton wrote: post #2

I swear I read the same article about my generation when I entered the workforce, about how millennials were expected to be magic tech wizards by growing with the internet through osmosis

> I swear I read the same article about my generation when I entered the workforce

me too.

But when I got in the tik tok of the time was called IRC and really cool people used Bitchx and double booted Linux and BeOS

Re: Gen Z workers are not tech-savvy in the workplace – and it’s a growing problem

#30

Post by tlogan »

nkrisc wrote: post #8

I have only my personal experience and perceptions, but I think most people here (likely technically savvy) would agree that, quite simply, most people of any generation are not technically savvy. While I don't "get" TikTok, I understand how it works, on a broad technical level. A 20 year old might understand the social scene of TikTok and "get" it, but my guess is the average 20 year old will have no idea how a webp…

I would say that it is not about being tech savvy it is more about how their brain is wired. Some people just do not do analytical thinking: break down a complex a task into smaller, more manageable parts and make a plan. In other words, they do not think step-by-step.

And majority of computer task require that type of thinking.

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