Does “low engagement” mean “objectively not doing the job you are paying them to do”? Or does it mean “not going ‘above and beyond,’ aka not working unpaid overtime or doing things outside their job description”? Because only one of these warrants letting someone go.

They are likely quitting because you are not putting forth an effort to build trust with people who are different to you(you’re favouring genx within just a few sentences so that is saying loads about where your glaring blind spots are).

Bad management is indeed the leading cause of unemployment https://www.hcamag.com/us/specialization/industrial-relations/why-bad-managers-are-contributing-to-the-great-resignation/322106

https://hbr.org/2022/08/quiet-quitting-is-about-bad-bosses-not-bad-employees

It’s also possible If genz are unhappy, so are genx. You’re just seeing through the lens of a manager.

Genx have just been soul destroyed enough (due to years Of being told bad management is part of working, a concept handed down by the boomers to make genx more pliable) to not have any standards to quit which is problematic because they are more likely to sit through abuse without reporting it causing a missing stair syndrome which anyone else is easily picking up on and not wanting to deal with all the fixing of alone.

So just cuz a genx doesn’t quit doesn’t let you off the hook. You all just found your level. It’s not a good level.

I can tell you why I’m quitting. I’m a millennial. I generally loved the people I work with. I like the work environment. Or I did. We have several old timers quitting right now. The attrition rate is through the roof. Retirement is upon a lot of the old guys and they’re leaving either for better jobs or for ones that are less stressful if they aren’t retiring. The younger ones (millennials and gen z) don’t see the point in sticking around if the older cohort leaves and take their knowledge with them. There’s no one to train us, and worse still, changes to the way that my worksite is managed make staying untenable. We don’t want to be left holding the bag so to speak. Blamed for low productivity after the older guys are all gone and the knowledge gap becomes more apparent. We aren’t really paid well enough, and we don’t see the kind of COLA adjustments we should.

Additionally, there is a shortage of us, we have expenses on tools and so on that add up and the company I work for doesn’t manage slow times and busy times. So I can’t even count on overtime. Sometimes it’s mandatory. Sometimes it’s nowhere to be found.

I have brought up multiple issues with safety and legal responsibility and been told by my manager that they need to think about it - repeatedly. I feel like my concerns aren’t being addressed. I want a good home/work balance. I spend 10 hours or more a day at work, and sometimes that’s 4 days a week sometimes it’s 7.

Worrying and stress are a big part of why I am leaving. I don’t want to be worried or stressed all the time. I don’t want to think about work outside of work.

You sound like a good boss who is engaged in the development of your employees. That’s good. But sometimes it’s just that we often take jobs because we have to, not because we want to. And when something better comes along we feel like we have to take the chance.

The biggest thing I’ve found that make me want to leave a workplace are condescending attitudes and hovering, the absolute best jobs I’ve had had the attitude " you know what you’re doing let me get out of your way, and I know that if you don’t you’ll come and ask me because I’ll explain without becoming irritable"

Have you tired asking them? When you sit down with the employees to discuss performance the conversation should be two way. You tell them what you expect and how they are doing while they tell you what they expect and how you are doing. Maybe what they want is unreasonable but you won’t know that until they tell you.

One thing to keep in mind is that they’re young and have fewer responsibilities than Millennials and Xers and can afford to float between jobs. I’m not saying all GenZers, but there are ones that still get some form of assistance from their parents and thereby have a safety net. As they age and start families, they may be less inclined to do so.

Also, maybe they’re not being paid enough to want to stay and feel they can leverage the experience at your workplace to get a better paying position elsewhere.

Just my thoughts, I’m no expert.

Were they being paid at a similar level to their generally older, more experienced co-workers?

While there certainly could be a wide variety of possibilities, age as a factor has a correlation with so many different things, it’s wise to narrow it down a little bit by eliminating the most obvious possibilities. Financial compensation is an extremely easy first one to consider, as a factor.

How long have they been at your company? A lot of younger people hold zero loyalty to their employer (for better or worse), and combining that with the guidance fo change jobs every two years for maximized income, you’re more likely to see increased turnover regardless of job satisfaction.

I would ask her directly, say that you want to know why you lose gen z workers.

Just remember that they’re still early in their careers, changing jobs is about the only way to get a raise these days.

Exit interviews can be a goldmine. Some people who don’t want to burn bridges might hold back and tell you what they think you want to hear but others will tell you exactly what they think.

Brave of you to assume everyone else is happy, and not just used to putting up with a job because they need the money.

Why are you pandering to a generation that has proven to be lazy and unreliable? Why not focus on better candidates to begin with and target older employees? Seems like Zoomers are getting a disproportionate amount of focus while at the same time are rather sub par when it comes to productivity.

And folks can downvote all they want, but that is just more proof that I am right.

This reminds me of what a relative told us about one of their first days at work. Some HR manager apparently told them that he wishes for everyone present to get into the situation where they’d leave the company at some point. He admitted that he probably shouldn’t say something like that as HR person but they’re all still young and it’s a good thing to broaden their experience and see other companies/company cultures etc.

Furthermore, when seeing memes and other posts about things like the housing market I’m not surprised that lots of people steer away from being loyal to a company and towards making more money (though that doesn’t seem to be the case here based on what I saw from other comments)

Perhaps you got hung up on that whole “Generations”-Thing. Generations cannot be defined by common attributes as easily as it might seem. Perhaps the explanation is less the “generation” but more the age of the people? Younger people are more likely to quit a job because they have less responsibilities that would keep them from doing so if they start to dislike their current job. Gen X/Millenials are now all in prime family-establishing age and thus more likely to prioritize job security over job excitement. Younger people might weigh this differently and switch around to try other companies/other fields.

I’m a millennial but have insight. Think about the 90s. Didn’t even have MapQuest yet. No cell phones.

Okay, now you’re at work, and your sister miscarries her pregnancy. When do you discover this? 6pm? 8pm? Later that week?

Gen Z finds out between customers. Or emails.

In the idle time you used to spend daydreaming about your girlfriend or lackthereof, gen Z is learning about wildfires that will reduce their air quality. They’re googling rent worldwide to figure out if it’s time to seriously consider moving somewhere cheaper and colder.

What am I getting at?

We as a society get ever more connected. We are therefore ever less present from our 9-5. There is so much going on that is relevant to us, and an 8 hour chunk of my day is really asking too much to sacrifice.

If your employees are at a computer, let tell them outright it’s totally okay to watch Netflix or YouTube, or reddit, or lemmy, whatever as long as the work is getting done on time.

If your employees are serving customers, let them take frequent 10 minute breaks to use their phone or be away from humans.

Let them know you understand they have WAY more going on in their lives than your job which barely pays bills. Then, act that way.

But also, gen Z knows that no one gives raises like new bosses. So, don’t expect them to stick around long.