Gen Z workers have developed a bad reputation fairly quickly. Managers and colleagues alike complain that they just don’t work hard enough. One survey actually found that six in 10 companies that hired recent college graduates had also fired at least one of them in the same year.
Gen Zers have been pushing back against these beliefs, arguing that they’re unfair and stereotypical, which has sparked some debate about how accurate they actually are. A store manager felt like she had to deal with Gen Z employees with a poor work ethic who weren’t worth keeping on her staff, but some people who heard her side of the story thought she might have been the one at fault.
The store manager refused to hire any more Gen Z workers after the ones she already had quit for a seemingly petty reason.
She made a handwritten hiring ad and taped it to the glass door of her closed store, perhaps going overly analog in an effort to attract her ideal employee. A photo of the message was shared on Reddit’s “r/antiwork” subreddit.
While seeking new employees, the manager shared that she had a specific preference and did not hold back on ripping into her former workers. “I apologize for us closing AGAIN,” she wrote. “My two new cashiers quit because I said their boyfriends couldn’t stand here for their entire shift.”
The employees were both Gen Z, which is where she believes the problem comes from. “Don’t hire Gen Zs,” she continued. “They don’t know what work actually means.” Instead, she will be hiring “baby boomers only” moving forward.
The hiring sign was met with criticism, with many people pointing out that baby boomers were most likely enjoying their retirement.
Going from the youngest generation in the workforce to the oldest is a pretty big leap, and people were confused. One Reddit user commented, “They are also in their late 50s and 60′. The youngest boomer is 58. No way any of them will work at this place.”
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Another said, “Hilarious that they also think a boomer would work for minimum wage.” A third added, “They love to say that being a cashier isn’t ‘a real job’ and it should be done by teenagers, then get all [expletive] when teenagers act like teenagers.”
Some felt like baby boomers were just as likely not to comply with rules as Gen Z workers would be. “Someone has never worked with baby boomers in retail, have they? They are just as prone to complain about management and avoid work as any Gen Z,” one user wrote.
Others believed that the problem was not the generational difference, but low pay and poor management were to blame.
An additional commenter who was an employer themselves argued that they had seen all generations, including Gen Z, perform satisfactory work. The key, they said, is to “treat them as an equal.”
Many people believe that Gen Z workers aren’t as productive in the workforce as other generations. A Gallup poll found that Gen Z and young millennial employees became 8% less engaged at work from 2020 to 2025. Many cited issues like no chance to learn and feeling like their employers were ambivalent as common explanations for why they did not feel the need to work to their full potential.
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Interestingly, the same poll found that workers are less engaged across generations by 5%. So many people like to blame all of the problems at work on Gen Z, but it seems like they aren’t the only ones struggling with productivity.
There might be some truth to the accusations about Gen Z, though. A Resume Genius survey found that 45% of all hiring managers felt like Gen Zers were the hardest to work with. Somewhat surprisingly, 45% of Gen Z hiring managers agreed their own generation caused the most problems.
Some of the allegations about Gen Z employees could be exaggerations, especially when there are people who are difficult to work with and manage in every generation. This store manager blaming Gen Z as a whole for her staffing problems when only two caused issues is a bit much. And, really, how many boomers actually want to work in a store?
Megan Quinn is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
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