3 in 4 managers say Gen Z is the most 'challenging' generation to work with — and 40% of the group flagged a lack of technological skills, effort, and motivation: survey

• About three-quarters of managers find Generation Z employees difficult to work with, according to a new ResumeBuilder.com survey.
• The managers said Gen Zers lack technological skills, effort, and motivation.

Nearly three-quarters, or 74%, of managers and business leaders said Gen Z is the "most challenging generation" to work with, according to a ResumeBuilder.com survey published Wednesday.

About 40% of that group said it's because people in this age group lack technological skills. The same proportion of managers also felt Gen Z employees — those born between 1997 and 2012 — lack motivation and get "easily distracted."

The survey was conducted on April 14 and includes responses from over 1,300 managers and business leaders in the US.

"As a result of COVID-19 and remote education, it's possible that GenZers lack the foundation to be more successful than older generations in entry-level positions," said Stacie Haller, the chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder.com.

So while Gen Zers are skilled in using digital communication tools, they may lack skills for in-person interaction, Adam Garfield, a marketing director at Hairbro, told ResumeBuilder.

In fact, about one in three survey respondents said they prefer to work with Millennials — 44% of this group said they believe this group is the "most productive" and a similar number said they "have the best technological skills," the survey showed.

About 30% of the respondents said prefer to work with Gen X and about 4% said they preferred to work with Baby Boomers.

The tensions between the generations are so bad that some managers who found Gen Z challenging to work with said they fired a Gen Zer promptly after hiring.

About 27% of those surveyed said they fired a Gen Zer in their first month.