The younger generation of workers seems to be under a lot of pressure to prove their worth and earn their rightful place in the workforce. However, having to go through the leadership of older generations isn’t really making it easier, as ‘fragile’ Gen Z workers aren’t coping well with Gen X management encouraging them to ‘toughen up.’

Recently, a millennial and Sunshine Coast local businesswoman, Rachel Lynch, made a TikTok about it, sharing how on two separate occasions she witnessed Gen Z employees in tears after their Gen X bosses yelled at them for making a mistake. Supporting the younger workers, she said older managers need to learn how to work better with them, as shouting at these kids isn’t going to solve the problem.

Scroll down to find the full story and a conversation with its author, Rachel, who kindly agreed to answer a few questions about it.

Younger workers aren’t coping well under the leadership of older generations

Image credits: thirtynotthriving

This woman made a video saying she saw Gen Z workers crying because of their Gen X bosses

“This has happened two times now. I’ve just witnessed such a crazy display of Gen X not working well with Gen Z. It just is like f****** not working. So I live on the sunny coast and, I don’t know, I’ve had this experience two times now in the last few months. And I don’t know whether it’s a sunny coast thing or if it’s like a generational thing. But hear me out.”

Image credits: Tim Douglas / Pexels (not the actual photo)

“I just went and got this baguette with ham and cheese. My order was taken by a young girl. She was probably like, I don’t know, 16, 17, maybe 18. I don’t know, couldn’t really tell. I could tell she was young. She didn’t seem very confident. So I was just like, you know, ‘Take your time. I’m in no rush. You do you.’ So she puts my order through and fumbled a bit. I think this is probably going to go one of two ways. It’s either going to come out perfect or it’s going to come out completely wrong. 15 minutes pass. Okay, all I ordered was a sandwich. 15 minutes pass and I hear her speaking to some other people at the restaurant just saying like, ‘Oh, wait, what was your order again? I forgot.’ And I was like, okay, she’s definitely forgotten my order. That’s fine. But then she goes inside and she tells her boss that she’s already forgotten the order that she’s taken outside. And then the door closes, like that’s going to help. It’s literally like an old Queenslander building. We can hear everything.”

Image credits: LightFieldStudios / Envato Elements (not the actual photo)

“And then he starts yelling at her saying, ‘You can’t just keep forgetting orders. Like, you can’t do this.’ He’s yelling. She’s panicking, obviously. She starts crying. Oh, my God. Nobody’s technically in the wrong, it’s just that she’s obviously forgotten the order and she’s obviously gotten a little bit frazzled. And then he’s… It’s not like he was being aggressive. He was just obviously quite frustrated. Could he have handled it differently? Absolutely. Would I ever yell at somebody? No. Or at my staff? Absolutely not. But both, you know, are in their right to say something. But then she starts crying and he’s like, ‘It’s okay. It’s okay, it’s okay. Like, you know, whatever, we’ll figure it out.’ And I’m just seeing…”

Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto / Pexels (not the actual photo)

“This happened to me a couple of months ago at another cafe where the young kid was crying and really panicking, really, really panicking,  hyperventilating almost, because she’s f***** up the orders and then the owner, who is definitely Gen X or Boomer, is quite vocal in their outrage, not in an aggressive way like he wanted to step in, but in a way that was loud enough that everybody in the restaurant can hear. So yeah, it’s just like this intense relationship between older managers and business owners and their younger staff. And you’re hiring young staff because you don’t want to pay much which I get that, business is tough.”

Image credits: thirtynotthriving

“But you need to learn how to work with younger people, especially different generations. Gen Z is more soft, they’re more fragile. They want to work more collaboratively, they… just like whatever, and you can’t just f****** yell at them, that’s not… that isn’t going to help them. You shouldn’t yell at anybody, that isn’t going to help anybody. I think when a Gen X yells at a Gen X… I mean, I don’t know maybe back in the workforce when a Gen X yelled at a Gen X, they’d just pull up their socks and just get on with it like, ‘Well, I’ll f*****g show them. I’m gonna work the hardest I’ve ever worked.’

The youngest generation in the workforce right now. I think they’re just like heartbroken, like, ‘This is too much, l don’t know, I just cannot f*****g handle this.’ It’s just a sandwich. But anyway, I got my sandwich. Was it worth the 30-minute wait? Absolutely not. But that says more about the restaurant than the young girl crying. Anyway, I think just people need to learn how to work with each other better and have a great day.”

Image credits: charlesdeluvio / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

“It’s pretty simple. No yelling. No aggression”

As a member of the younger generation and a business co-owner, Rachel knows how it feels to be in both the younger workers and the manager‘s shoes. Experience with developing an online coffee company for outdoorsy people, “Dog and Gun Coffee,” and having to manage people in her day-to-day allows her to talk about generational differences in the workplace from an informed point of view. 

Rachel tells Bored Panda that their team is made of young people. “We know them very personally and check in with them regularly to see how they’re feeling, how home life is going, and if there’s anything they want improved/changed at work. This way, we catch issues before they turn into mistakes.”

But when an error accidentally happens, they try to talk about it and get the staff member’s perspective on it as well as provide their own. Then they bring it all back to what they value as a business. “It’s pretty simple. No yelling. No aggression,” she says. “We also try to find roles that best suit our staff’s natural abilities to set them up to succeed. We’ll move them around until we’ve found what they’re really good at,” adds Rachel. 

On the other hand, if the young workers are treated like she recalled in her video, she says it’s not exactly encouraging Gen Z employees to consider more traditional jobs, as it means they’ll have to work with the older generation, who has no patience for them. 

Image credits: Christin Hume / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

“Focus on a fun culture in the workplace so different generations can see the human in each other”

“It makes sense that a lot of Gen Z’s are turning to less conventional work, one-off gigs, and also online roles because it aligns more with their values, where you can work independently, have more balance, and not get yelled at. It’s reinforcing that work is [horrible],” she says.

To encourage healthier collaboration between older and younger workers, Rachel suggests that older generations take on the responsibility. “Older managers in particular need to be more self-aware and tolerant and also put in the effort to understand Gen Z so they can use their skills and their generation’s abilities to their advantage,” she explains.

As an example, she proposes to stop expecting younger employees who grew up on the internet to be extremely confident with customers. Instead, they could unlock their potential by getting them to do a cafe’s social media and behind-the-scenes content to drive up business and sales. 

“Focus on a fun culture in the workplace so different generations can see the human in each other instead of just the work colleague,” she adds. “We organize regular camping and 4×4 day trips with our team so we can experience the best sides of each other,” mentions Rachel as an idea of how to uplift the work environment. 

Her video received mixed reactions

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