40% of business leaders think recent Gen Z college graduates aren't prepared to enter the workforce, new survey says — and some said they won't even hire them

• 40% of business leaders in a new survey indicated recent Gen Z college grads are unprepared for the workplace. 
• Of that subset, 94% said that they have avoided hiring recent college graduates.
• Many felt "etiquette classes" could help ease their transition into post-college jobs.

Generation Z is entering into the workforce, and while many recent college graduates are likely excited for the new opportunities that await them, a recent survey indicated that the feeling may not be mutual among their older supervisors.

Many business leaders said that recent college graduates are unprepared for the work environment and some won't even hire them, according to a new survey conducted by Intelligent, an online magazine focused on student life.

Intelligent conducted a survey among 1,243 business leaders, asking about their thoughts on working with the graduating classes of 2020 to 2023, all of whom are Gen Z, or those born between 1997 and 2012. The survey indicated that 40% of the business leaders surveyed think recent college graduates are unprepared to enter the workforce.

However, the majority of those surveyed still felt they were at least somewhat prepared.

According to the survey's methodology, a business leader was defined as someone aged 30 to 60 making at least $75,000 in household income and currently working as a C-Level executive, HR manager, director, president, owner/partner, or senior management at a company with more than 10 people.

The poor perception of recent Gen Z graduates on some business leaders may even be impacting their hiring decisions, the survey indicated. Looking at the 40% of business leaders surveyed who said recent graduates are unprepared to enter the workforce (500 of the 1,243 total respondents), a whopping 94% of that subset told Intelligent that they have avoided hiring them: 7% said that they always avoid hiring the Gen Z grads, 27% said they usually avoid hiring them, 40% said they "sometimes" do, and 20% said they "rarely" avoid hiring them.

Some of the negative traits that the business leaders reported among Gen Z workers were poor work ethic, subpar communication skills, and a sense of entitlement, according to Intelligent. 

Of the business leaders who reported feeling Gen Z was unprepared for the workplace, a majority (62%) said that modern culture is at fault, and 48% blamed the COVID-19 pandemic. Some respondents also said that parents and teachers failed to prepare Gen Zers for the workplace, making them hard to work with. 88% of the subset who felt the graduates were unprepared told Intelligent that "etiquette classes" would help.

The survey echoes similar feelings reported by managers in an April survey from Resume Builder. 74% of managers surveyed said Gen Z is more difficult to work with compared to previous generations.

Meanwhile, Gen Z is grappling with fear over their futures. According to a survey by Zip Recruiter, 76% of Gen Z respondents indicated they were worried that ChatGPT could replace them at work.

Diane Gayeski, professor of strategic communication at Ithaca College, told Intelligent that, in 2023, no one is truly prepared for the workplace. She noted rapid changes in technology, the mass resignation of teachers, nurses, and other professionals, and the COVID-19 pandemic as potential contributing factors.

Gayeski said that since Gen Z was still in school during the pandemic, this could have stunted their "people skills." 

Some companies and universities, however, are trying to properly train Gen Z employees, according to The Wall Street Journal. The courses, which cover how to behave in an office, what to wear, and other necessary soft skills, may prove beneficial — they're the "etiquette classes" many of the business leaders surveyed by Intelligent suggested could help.