
Turns out Gen Z’s first day on the job training isn’t just about where the printer is and it’s fair to say not everyone’s buying it
Back in our day – by which we mean a very long time ago – all the training we got on the first day in a job was very much of the work variety – how to log onto the computer, where the printer was, and the intricacies of the stationery department.
These days it turns out it’s rather different, amid reports that employers in California are shelling out up to $2,500 for 90-minute workshops to tell Gen Z employees how to make eye contact, shower, and put pants on before heading to the office.
The San Francisco Standard runs the rule on the fascinating/disturbing (delete according to opinion) trend of inappropriate Gen Z behavior as the world continues to adapt back to five day work weeks.
Complaints include newbies treating the office like their childhood bedroom, interviewees taking phone calls during job interviews, and hygiene habits that make janitors cringe.
Employers insist it’s worth it: soft‑skills training boosts productivity, and apparently in 2025, your work‑ethic hinges on someone explaining how to shower and shut up during meetings.
Obviously, the comments are mixed. See if you can guess how old each poster is based on their reaction to this story.
1.
‘We could have used them pre-pandemic. Used to work with a guy (wasn’t gen-z) who never washed his hair. Often he would go into long winded rants (as one does when they do something bad, they know they are bad, but they’ve gone too far to turn back) about how you should never wash your hair as it’s bad for it and it’s all a scam by the shampoo industry to get you to keep buying more.’
wizzard419
2.
‘Society has gotten too nice. We need to get back to shaming people who come to work Monday smelling like Friday.’
brokenmessiah
3.
‘In a December 2024 survey of 1,000 employers by Intelligent.com, 12.5% said a Gen Z candidate had brought Mom or Dad to a job interview. The bosses are fed up.’
‘I have a hard time believing this is real… I did laugh though.’
seiryuu-abi
4.
‘Let’s see, they’ve watched their parents and grandparents work their tales off for low wages, little to no benefits and exist paycheck to paycheck. The jobs they are doing are likely to be done by AI in the near future. They have zero expectations of liveable wages, benefits or retirement so why put out any effort?’
SnapesGrayUnderpants
5.
‘Employers are getting almost exactly what they deserve with Gen Z. ‘Almost’ because despite the current treatment there’s still not been revolution.
‘This is exactly the education they lobbied and legislated. Exactly lack of parental care they viciously enforced. Exactly the upbringing they inflicted on future generations. Exactly the anxiety and misanthropy being pumped into homes and workplaces 24/7 by their hand.
‘This is PRECISELY the Boomers and GenX’s own loyalty and work ethic being replicated word for word, shift for shift in the children and grandchildren of the employees who had to endure this from above. The precise level of loyalty the children and grandchildren now being blamed, saw repeatedly slapped across the face of mom and dad.
‘You get what you pay for; meet over five decades of your bosses cheaping out at every turn and slipping us fake bills half of the time. If you want fries with that they’re in the urinal.’
torpedoguy
6.
‘Sadly, we’re in an era where learning anything you want has never been easier or cheaper. You just have to be willing to put the time in, which is too much for people. It takes maybe 10 minutes of a YouTube video to learn how to change a tire, but people still don’t know how, for example.’
brokenmessiah
7.
‘So much of “Gen Z doesn’t know how to X” is just answerable by “Well, did you actually try talking to them?”.’
Nixeris
8.
‘This is the exact sort of “This New Generation is a bunch of ill-mannered, pampered, poorly-trained kids” slop that has been a staple of grumpy journalism since forever. They said pretty much the exact same things about Millennials, Gen X before them, the boomers, and on and on. Probably going back to cavemen bitching about the latest generation of “so-called mammoth hunters”, or whatever.’
Sirwired
9.
‘In one of my past jobs I worked in the mail room at Fannie Mae. One of my jobs was to restock the coffee machine.
‘Because I did a service job in the break room people regularly demanded that I clean up their messes for them. They would come to the mail room to tell me the break room needed cleaning, or that the microwave was dirty, or the fridge smelled.
‘It’s not just young people, it’s assholes of all ages.
‘You just have to say “Hey, that’s not good. You should clean up after yourself”.
‘I swear people are getting absolutely scared shitless of socially correcting other people these days.’
Nixeris
10.
‘I used to be a college professor and taught Gen z students. They would come for their first advising appt during summer and bring their parents. I didn’t have a ton of chairs in my office, so sometimes people stood, but I remember one appt where the daughter just sat in her mother’s lap the whole time. It was awkward.’
Granite_0681
11.
I don’t know about now, but precovid I was managing a store and I had several women come in to apply for jobs for their adult children. A handful of them wanted to interview FOR them. It’s real. And it’s insane how they didn’t understand how inappropriate it was.
jaderna
12.
It’s not that we’re too nice, it’s that no one wants to deal with the drama and histrionics when you suggest to a person there’s room for improvement. Some people act like any criticism, no matter how mild or constructive, is a dagger to their heart
ohdearitsrichardiii
13.
‘Also about 29 and I have realised that it’s very unlikely that I will be earning enough to buy a house until I’m early to mid 40s, which affects my ability to settle down, and build life goals. It’s kinda put the whole “show up in a nice outfit and work hard,” idea to seem like a waste of time.
‘Now imagine being a teen now knowing the lot in life that you’ve been handed to you. I can fully understand why they couldn’t give less of a shit about their fast food job.’
Madrigall
14.
‘Absolutely insane generalization to make about a group of people who are already taxpaying adults. Millenials used to complain about society making the same kind of unfounded sweeping statements about them, and it looks like the shoe is now on the other foot. What’s the use? A feeling of superiority over a generation that’s even more fucked than the last?’
nikolas124
15.
‘Makes sense. Their parents didn’t teach them shit, so someone has to.
‘By the way, no one is born knowing a lot of professional skills. They need to be learned.’
CA_Orange