Showing up late, quitting easily: Newbie asks HR people about their biggest ‘irks’ working with Gen Z

SINGAPORE: A Gen Z newbie in the workforce took to an online forum on Wednesday (Feb 19) to ask seasoned professionals about their “irks” working with colleagues from a younger generation. “I honestly do not want to be that person, but I found myself upsetting my older colleagues (and I only knew this when another colleague told me about it),” the woman wrote.

“I’ve got a question for the HRs here,” she wrote. “What are some of the biggest irks working with Gen Zs? Personally, I don’t see it as a big issue because (1) they never raised these issues in front of me and (2) I was being firm with my boundaries so that I could do the work delegated to me.”

She went on to say, “I was told that a senior colleague was ‘fed up’ with me and ditched her delegated job. We work offsite, so she literally left. And then when she was back in the office, she was complaining loudly about me. I sincerely don’t know what exactly I did wrong except to say no to helping her because I was busy trying to catch up on backlog work.

“I asked my RO about it and he did say that I’m literally doing my job and to ignore the pettiness. But if I have to be shamed for doing my job, then I also don’t see why I should continue in my job (but I don’t want to because this is the job that suits all my interests). Can someone tell me if I’m the problem and if I should be more tactful and appease these colleagues?”

In response to the post, some people reassured the employee, saying that her senior colleague — and not she — was the problem in the situation she wrote about.. “I think that older colleague of yours is trying to take advantage of you being new and need to take more jobs,” said one. “And her complaining is probably her trying to get everyone to take her side and make you suffer. Just do what your RO asks of you in your job scope.”

“It’s got nothing to do with you,” said another. “A fair number of older workers think they’re just there to collect a salary and delegate all their work. Then they get surprised when they’re laid off and whine about ageism instead of acknowledging that they are not adding value and just taking up space.”

Others answered the original poster’s first question and shared their frustrations when working with Gen Z colleagues. “My biggest irk was the abuse of taking MCs and the nonchalant attitude when it comes to taking work seriously,” said one. “Punctuality, work ethics, respecting company’s policies etc…”

Another person listed their complaints:

1. “On their first day of work, they showed up for only three hours, and when asked about their whereabouts, they said they were quitting.”

2. “When they couldn’t handle a situation with someone in charge, they told the person in charge to deal with their mom.”

3. “They called in sick but were seen shopping around the mall with friends—at least don’t shop where you’re supposed to work.”

4. “They encouraged their friends to skip work together.”

However, the commenter reassured the original poster: “For your case, just let her throw a tantrum. If she keeps doing it, in appraisal, state that. It’s not a must for you to help her clean up her job.”

Later on, the writer edited the post to share, “The responses have been overwhelming. It seems like things blew up bigger than needed, and my RO is being pulled in to address my behaviour. So it seems like these colleagues have been claiming that I have been slacking off (when most of the time I’m doing two people’s work and don’t boast about it). Also, as someone who came from the social sector, I would say my interpersonal skills are better than usual. So being tactful is a no-brainer for me (just this lady is making me question my abilities). I guess this isn’t a me problem, but I really appreciate the affirmation!”

See also: Man who worked in tech sales for over 10 years has been jobless for five months