13 Workplace Habits That Get Gen Z Fired
A new crop of young hires is colliding headfirst with the unspoken rules that keep workplaces running.
The latest generation to enter the workforce, often dubbed Gen Z, brings a fresh perspective, digital fluency, and a desire for purpose-driven work. Their arrival is shaking up traditional office dynamics, offering a much-needed breath of fresh air for many organizations. However, this generational shift also comes with a steep learning curve for many young professionals who are transitioning from college life to corporate expectations. This tension point often arises when their established habits clash with the unwritten rules of professional life, creating friction that can sometimes lead to an early exit.
Understanding the gap between what is acceptable in a social media comment thread versus a quarterly review is crucial for career longevity. Many of the pitfalls are not due to a lack of talent or intelligence, but rather a misunderstanding of professional boundaries and communication norms. These missteps, while seemingly minor, can quickly compile and signal to management that the new employee is not quite ready for prime time. It’s less about their spreadsheet skills and more about their soft skills and ability to adapt to workplace structure.
The Overreliance On Slang And Memes
While digital fluency is one of Gen Z’s biggest assets, the casual language of the internet doesn’t always translate well into professional correspondence. Using terms like “bet” or “slay” or copious acronyms in client emails or formal reports can make a person seem flippant or unprofessional. The goal of workplace communication is clarity and formality, not showing off your latest TikTok vocabulary.
This isn’t about stifling personality, but knowing your audience and code-switching your language appropriately for the setting. A joke in the break room is fine, but when the language of a professional document becomes riddled with informalities, it detracts from the serious message. It’s like bringing a boombox to a symphony: it’s loud, noticeable, and doesn’t fit the venue.
Poor Communication Punctuality
Showing up late to meetings, whether in person or virtual, is a professional red flag that signals a lack of respect for others’ schedules. This isn’t high school, where a tardy slip is a minor inconvenience; in the business setting, even a five-minute delay can throw off a tight agenda or cost a company money. Treating deadlines and meeting times as suggestions rather than commitments is a surefire way to lose credibility with your manager and team members quickly.
This habit often stems from a more fluid, always-on digital schedule where time is less rigidly structured than in the corporate world. While the 9-to-5 structure is shifting, being present and ready on time for scheduled collaborations remains paramount. A study published in The International Journal of Research Science and Management (IJRSM) found that punctuality and attendance had a significant impact on organizational performance. The lesson is simple: if the meeting starts at 10:00 AM, your face should be visible and your audio ready at 9:59 AM.
Treating Feedback As A Personal Attack
Receiving constructive criticism is part of the growth process, a necessary step on the ladder of professional development. Some Gen Z employees, however, have a tendency to view any critique of their work as a direct assault on their personal value or effort. This defensiveness creates a chilly barrier, making managers hesitant to offer the guidance needed for improvement, which ultimately harms the employee’s growth.
Managers are looking for coachability, which is the ability to absorb a suggestion, adjust your approach, and try again without getting your feelings hurt. When an employee argues every point or becomes visibly upset, it signals a lack of maturity and an unwillingness to adapt. Managers cite the inability to take negative feedback gracefully as a bad trait for young professionals.
Lack Of Phone Etiquette
In a world dominated by text and DMs, the simple act of answering a phone call or leaving a professional voicemail has become a lost art for some younger workers. Ignoring phone calls from a boss or client, or responding with a mumbled, “Hello?” can give a terrible first impression. The phone is still a vital tool for complex, urgent, or sensitive conversations that require nuance beyond a quick text exchange.
When interacting with clients or senior partners, the way a person conducts themselves on a call speaks volumes about the organization. It’s not just about what is said, but how it’s said—a clear voice, a confident greeting, and the ability to articulate thoughts without constant “ums” and pauses. A University Business report indicated that 51% of entry-level employees struggle with basic professional phone and email etiquette. This small skill is a huge piece of the professional puzzle.
Skipping The Small Talk And Relationship Building
While Gen Z values efficiency, rushing straight into business without preamble can make an employee seem cold or transactional, missing a key element of office life. Building rapport—the casual, non-work chats about weekend plans or family—is the glue that holds teams together and builds trust. Ignoring these water-cooler moments can isolate young workers and make them seem less invested in the team dynamic.
Business is done between people, and people work better with those they like and trust; those relationships are built on small interactions, not just shared project files. This isn’t idle chatter; it’s a vital part of organizational chemistry and learning the inner workings of the business.
Publicly Complaining About Workplace Policies
Taking to social media to air grievances about workload, management, or company policies is a serious breach of professional conduct and one of the fastest routes to the unemployment line. Companies view employees as brand representatives, and any public negativity is seen as a direct threat to the corporate image and morale. No matter how frustrating a policy may be, the appropriate place to discuss it is in a private meeting, not on a public platform for the world to see.
This habit speaks to a misunderstanding of the blurred line between personal and professional lives in the digital age. A personal account is never truly personal when it can be easily linked back to an employer, and the content can be screenshot and shared instantly. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) says employers can terminate an employee for inappropriate social media use related to the company. It’s a fundamental lesson in self-censorship and professional discretion.
Ignoring The Professional Dress Code
Even as offices relax their attire, a baseline of professionalism is still expected, and ignoring the dress code is a sign of defiance or poor judgment. Showing up to a client-facing job in clothing more suited for the beach or a workout is disrespectful to the company and the customer. The clothes a person wears send a silent message about their seriousness and respect for the environment they are in.
This doesn’t mean wearing a three-piece suit, but it does mean understanding the difference between “casual” and “sloppy” and adhering to the company handbook. A manager needs to trust an employee to represent the company well in any situation, and inappropriate attire undermines that trust immediately.
Expecting Instant Career Advancement
Many young professionals come in with a high degree of confidence and a timeline for success that doesn’t align with the reality of professional growth, expecting a promotion within months. They often feel their skills and degrees should immediately translate into a C-suite position or a massive pay bump, skipping the necessary grind. This impatience can manifest as entitlement, leading them to undervalue essential entry-level tasks and appear ungrateful for their position.
Career progression is often a marathon, not a sprint, and requires paying your dues and mastering the fundamentals before taking on greater responsibility. While ambition is great, the constant push for the next big thing without showing consistent mastery of the current role can be exhausting for management. The average time for a first promotion at a major corporation is closer to 12-24 months, not the six months many new grads anticipate.
Lack Of Ownership For Mistakes
When an error happens, the professional response is to own the mistake, apologize, and outline the steps taken to fix it and prevent recurrence. Some Gen Z workers, however, quickly revert to blaming systems, circumstances, or others to deflect responsibility for their actions. This inability to take accountability is deeply corrosive to team morale and leadership trust.
Finger-pointing is a sign of immaturity and insecurity, and it forces a manager to question the employee’s integrity and reliability for future projects. Everyone makes mistakes; what distinguishes a true professional is how they handle the fallout from those errors.
Refusing To Turn On Video In Virtual Meetings
In the age of hybrid work, being visually present during a video conference is equivalent to being physically present in a meeting room. Employees who consistently refuse to turn on their cameras can appear disengaged, multitasking, or simply not taking the meeting seriously, frustrating the host and other participants. While there are occasional technical or privacy exceptions, making it a habit sends a message of detachment.
A blank screen makes it incredibly difficult for the team to gauge reactions, build a connection, and confirm engagement in a discussion. Non-verbal cues are an important layer of communication that a voice-only connection cannot replicate. The manager needs to feel like they are talking to a colleague, not a floating name on a black box.
Excessive Personal Device Use During Work Hours
While Gen Z is adept at seamlessly bouncing between tasks, the constant, visible use of personal phones for social media, texts, or video games during working hours is a massive distraction. It creates the impression that the job is a secondary concern to a vibrant online life. Even if the work gets done, the optics of an employee glued to a personal device signal a lack of dedication and focus to supervisors and colleagues.
This habit is a major stumbling block for many, as the phone is an extension of themselves. However, a workplace demands undivided attention to the task at hand, especially during core hours or meetings. McKinsey suggests that the average Gen Z checks their phone for six or more hours a day, a frequency that is impossible to maintain without significantly impacting concentration. The work should always take priority over the latest feed update.
Dismissing The Experience Of Older Colleagues
A subtle but damaging habit is the tendency to dismiss the methods or expertise of older colleagues as “outdated” simply because they predate modern technology. This arrogance alienates valuable mentors and ignores essential institutional knowledge for success within the organization. Experience in handling difficult clients, political situations, or past failures is a form of wisdom that no algorithm can provide.
The intergenerational exchange is meant to be a two-way street, where digital skills are traded for operational wisdom and business history. By adopting a “we know better” attitude, young workers close themselves off from critical learning opportunities and create resentment. Showing a little humility and deference to the people who built the system is just good business.
Pushing Back On Administrative Tasks
Many entry-level roles involve a degree of administrative work—scheduling, data entry, organizing files—that may seem mundane compared to the strategic work that the employee prefers. Constantly complaining about or openly neglecting these essential yet non-glamorous tasks shows a lack of commitment to the business’s foundational needs. Every job has its unexciting chores, and proving you can handle them demonstrates readiness for bigger responsibilities.
These tasks, while simple, often serve as the building blocks for important systems and projects, and showing disdain for them makes an employee seem entitled. A manager is looking for someone who tackles every task with the same level of care, knowing that attention to detail at the small scale translates to accuracy at the large scale. A manager’s trust is built on consistency and a willingness to do the dirty work without complaint.
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