Since entering the workforce, Gen Z have taken an unorthodox approach to the way they work and, whether the other generations like it or not, they have already had a significant impact on the workplace.
This has been evidenced through widespread trends like Quiet Quitting, Lazy Girl Jobs and Bare Minimum Mondays, along with an uptick in employees placing increased value on flexibility when it comes to work.
Overall, the changes Gen Z are pushing for in the workplace are positive ones. They are advocates for having a healthy work-life balance and, while they understand work is an important part of their lives, they are rejecting the “hustle culture” ideals often held by previous generations.
However, it turns out there are some areas where younger workers and their different approaches are falling flat.
Sydney woman Tammie Christofis Ballis, a specialist recruiter and career coach at Realistic Careers, has seen a rise in a concerning trend when it comes to job interviews.
The 37-year-old grew up around the hospitality sector. She previously owned a cafe and her parents run a fish and chip shop.
One thing she has noticed is a rise in young Aussies bringing their parents to job interviews when they are looking for casual or part-time work.
It was a phenomenon Ballis experienced a handful of times when she owned a cafe back in 2011, but she believes it is definitely “getting worse now”, with parents even applying for jobs on their children’s behalf.
“I don’t know if these parents forget what it’s like to apply for a job when you’re that age,” she told news.com.au.
“I think that seems to have happened, they just forgot how they did it and by applying for a job for their kid they think they are helping them.”
She said she has had managers at fast food chains telling her that parents of applicants are turning up to the interviews and are then “not understanding why the kids are not getting the job”.
‘You’re not taking your mum to work’
But it isn’t just in high school children that she is seeing this trend, with Ballis saying she has heard stories of graduates bringing their parents to job interviews.
“I’ve had two graduate nursing recruiters reach out to me as well saying that they’ve had parents turn up to graduate nursing interviews,” she said.
She explained that interviews for nursing graduates are often done in groups and in two instances recruiters have completed the roll call to find there is an extra person in the room, which has turned out to be someone’s mum that has tagged along.
“These would be 20- to 21-year-olds. And I just think, you’re not taking your mum to work, so why would you take them to an interview?” Ballis said.
Gen Zers and their out of the ordinary approaches to work has been a growing point of contention in recent years.
Last year, a young woman went viral after claiming she was branded “entitled” for asking a “very reasonable” question in an interview.
Sarah Trefren sparked a wild debate after she took to TikTok to tearfully claim she was “yelled at” for asking what accommodations there were for people with “time blindness” during a phone interview to apply for a trade school.
“And then the person that I was with interrupted and acted like I was asking something else and then when we were done they actually started yelling at me and saying accommodations for time blindness don’t exist and if you struggle being on time you will never be able to get a job,” Trefren said in the video.
The US woman later revealed the “person” who yelled at her was her mum who was sitting in on the phone call with her.
While time blindness is not a diagnosis in itself, it is a symptom often associated with ADHD and can see people struggle with losing track of time or being unable to accurately gauge how much time has passed.
Young workers ‘don’t want to be uncomfortable’
Ballis runs a TikTok account with over 65,000 followers where she offers tips and tricks for young people starting in the workforce.
She often does live videos where her followers can ask her questions and one common thing she keeps hearing from young people is that they are scared to go to job interviews because they get “interview anxiety”.
Young people these days are very in tune with their mental health and know the importance of mental wellbeing, but Ballis believes it has “gone too far, to the point where they don’t want to be uncomfortable”.
She believes these young workers need to understand that it is normal to feel nervous, especially when you are interviewing for a job.
“You’re not going to go in and feel fully confident and happy that you’re going into an interview. You’re meeting someone new, you’re being judged, you’re vulnerable, right?” the career coach said.
“Of course you’re going to feel nervous. Of course you’re going to feel uncomfortable, but that’s just a part of life. If you don’t feel uncomfortable in a job situation, you’re not going to move forward.”
