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Gen Z is actually more informed and knowledgeable than I ever gave them credit for
- Thread starter Romulus
- Start date
AeonGaidenRaiden
Member
I really donno how low IQ you have to be when you cant read a non digital clock or name all 12 months of the year. That movie Idiocracy was really a look into our future.
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Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
But they want to be Youtubers right? and work in streaming videogames... right?
They wanted to be Streamers all their lives or that garbage... there is the result.
Although there are worse.
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Winter John
Member
These things are bullshit. The only reason they exist is to give us old folks a false sense of superiority. I guarantee if they had done this in the 70s/80s they'd have found just as many dumbasses.
Happosai
Hold onto your panties
Agreed. I've introduced many into the work of business marketing as a manager and many of my interns started at 18. I simply tell most to put cell phones away during production and have noticed some of the younger gens to have incredible performance and QA metrics. I'm a millenial and I'm sure there were (still are) many Gen Xs which believe they have some superiority or we weren't going to succeed. The world needs mentors, teachers and those willing to uplift younger gens toward a vocation.
Millennial and Gen Z workers are actually highly productive and competent. They have to be because the previous generations mortgaged their future to live in an unsustainable system. A measurable drop in literacy and numeracy is also present in those generations as education standards have dropped as a whole over the past two decades. Those who want to work and get an education are the most skilled workforce in history while an increasing number of their peers are unable to perform basic arithmetic.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
As a Gen Xer whose worked with and seen all the under 30 year olds at my company, its not technical skills. It's attitude and etiquette.
I was going to say the same thing about cellphones (and snapchatting during business meetings when VPs are talking), but you already covered it. The younger crowd also likes to storm in like big shots trying to talk down to bosses or veterans thinking they know more than people working 15 years longer than they have. You got everyone else in important meetings sitting there listening and the young crew are at the back of the room goofing off on their smartphone.
It got so bad with one youngster, the director was asked not to tell her she's fired. The VP wanted to do it herself to make a point in a one on one final meeting she's got an attitude problem. Ive never heard of that ever out of all the people gassed. The immediate manager is always involved with the firing, not someone way up the ladder solely handling it.
You never got this kind of attitude or ADD from when myself or my peers were their age as a 20-something year old at low level jobs. But in recent times, the youngsters have a different attitude.
As for mentoring them to be better, it comes down to how much time and hassle the bosses want to go through to shape them up. At my current company, we dont take that shit. So for anyone with weird attitudes, we just fire them. That's not just for entitled Gen Z's. Anyone with an attitude problem is gassed fast as it's hard to change someone's personality. On the other hand, someone struggling with analysis or job tasks will get training to boost them up.
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Synless
Member
You probably can’t read one can you?
Cyberpunkd
Member
Agreed, however from a point of view of society you care about the system baseline, not the outliers.
It’s great that there are some willing to put in work, but as you mention there is a drop in average literacy and basic math skills, hence this video.
I think the results are obvious given distractions we have today vs. 50 years ago. Perhaps the world made a mistake of pushing too fast too hard, but that is something we will never know, we only have one present time.
Cyberpunkd
Member
And yet so many people are getting into mechanical watchmaking that ever before, leaving their smart watches for something more basic.
Not to mention a quality mechanical watch remains a status symbol for men.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I agree on the math skills.
The young people can do it, but in my experience they need to go back to their desk and figure it out on the laptop or need Excel to do it for them. They arent used to doing math in their heads on the fly.
But the vets in the room can do it (or at least be pretty close ballparking it) without needing a calculator or Excel. We can typically eyeball data on a screen and notice it looks right or not and do all kinds of P/L analysis in our heads or chicken scratching it on a notepad.
For example, if someone needed to calculate profit margin with a price of $9.00 and a costs of $6.50, the real answer is 27.8% on price, googling the answer on the online calculator.
You got $2.50 of profit on $9.00 retail selling price.
I dont expect anyone to get the answer to the decimal. I wouldnt even do that.
But if $2.00 on $9.00 is 22.2% and $3.00 on $9.00 is 33.3%. At some point of time in life, you'd think someone would know these calculations based on memory. Its the same as 2/9 or 3/9 (or 1/3) like doing fractions in grade school.
So the intuitive answer without thinking too hard would be answer of let's say ~25% which is somewhere in the middle. Close enough. Another way is knowing $2.50 on $10 is 25%, so knowing that, a denominator of only $9.00 would mean it's more than 25% by default. So if someone said ~30% that's close too.
Some people would have zero concept of the answer without Excel or a calculator doing it. And not know how to do it by hand. If they tried manually doing the math, they'd probably get anything from 10% to 60% which is out of whack.
I'm going to assume a combo of what you said (distractions in life), plus what I hear about schools..... too much liberal arts and politics stuff jammed in and not enough basic material. Also the fact you cant fail a grade school kid (Ontario is the same) where even the dumbest kid who never shows up can still keep progressing grades until it comes to a halt in high school where they finally realize coasting as a moron in grade school where teachers cant flunk you doesn't work anymore.
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Grildon Tundy
Member
Here's a weird thing I've noticed, and I wonder if it's just my small Gen Z sample size or not:
I work fully remote, and the Gen Z-ers don't say "Hello" or "Good morning" during the first online interaction for the day. Just dive right in like we had been talking minutes prior. Is it because in their heads we're connected 24/7 so no need for greetings?
I work fully remote, and the Gen Z-ers don't say "Hello" or "Good morning" during the first online interaction for the day. Just dive right in like we had been talking minutes prior. Is it because in their heads we're connected 24/7 so no need for greetings?
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I've never noticed that.
But one thing that is definitely a trend is begging to WFH. And this was before covid happened where many of us office workers got ordered to WFH.
The younger someone is, the less family life and responsibilities they have. They are mostly single (or at most have a GF or BF at that point). The vets have families to take care of, babysitting or school drop off tasks with their 3 kids etc..... The vets can still make it to the office, yet the young bucks somehow struggle while asking if they can just work from home and do conference calls if there's a meeting.
Grildon Tundy
Member
I see management asking for people to come into the office and expecting it because they start feeling like they lack control over their subordinates when they're working from home. Assuming there are more Gen X and older managers than Gen Z/Millennials, could it be that that's the reason for the difference in importance placed on coming into the office, rather than age in and of itself?
Also, pretty sure a lot of people with families go to the office to get away from their families lol
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Our office has been hybrid since the early summer. Very loosey goosey requirements, but the company is going to demand more office days. It's coming. Some people might not know, but the CEO told me. And why not? The day he told me, there was literally 8-10 people in the office out of a total pool of about 150 employees. And probably half of those were execs. You could tell he was pissed.
Even with such loose requirements a lot of people arent even showing up once..... except for special days like the time I brought up in a different thread that when we had BBQ day in the summer basically the whole floor showed up. lol
What really shit the fan is our company has struggled this summer (first time I ever saw it this bad) where some departments are fucking up some product launches and strategies. And it's a blame game of who is or isnt doing their part. It got so bad a company wide memo went out to any department involved with this (I was included even though I do finance) stating there's issues.
I guessed the CEO heard about all these hassles and said fuck it. Get your asses back to the office soon and sort it out in person instead of trying to be invisible online.
That's the benefit of WFH. When you got issues, it's easy to hide and hope nobody emails you. You can also play the game of "Ooops, sorry I was busy so I couldnt get back to you".
But when youre at the office, you cant hide. Youre at your desk and got to face your coworkers who come by.
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Not only thing, they only show the stupids in video. If they showed only the correct answer the observer will feel stupid.....
WFH is an efficiency thing. Visibly sitting at a desk and being physically present in meetings is a great way for the less productive to pad out their days. Neither are particularly good for productivity. I've been an advocate of WFH for years. Better results and easier to reduce headcount.
Pegasus Actual
Member
I'm Gen X, I've been working from home since 2008, I never type "good morning", my god, why would I? We're not hanging out by a watercooler, we're not walking in the front door... I suppose when someone does type "good morning" to me I just stare at it for a few seconds and think "get to the fucking point" while they type up their next message at fucking 20WPM.
If I'm doing a Zoom or a Slack call I'll go with "hey" if it's a reasonably small number of people. But typing? Awww hell naw.
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Reminder that drugged out hippies in the 70's were also able to vote.
Every generation has what they view as ignorant youth.
While every generation has their idiots and these clips are selective, with fakes for punch, to make people and the situation look worse. It's strange that this is still a form of entertainment, in the context of comedy changes. This is the same as Talking to Americans from the late 20th.
Who is on first? doesn't hold the same fascination it once had.
Who is on first? doesn't hold the same fascination it once had.
MastaKiiLA
Member
This. It's not Gen Z, it's just stupid people in general. I think the honest trend is that each new generation gets slightly smarter overall, but the difference between any 2 gens is negligible. The truth is that most people are incredibly stupid. If you have an IQ of 100, it still makes you pretty stupid. Yes, the average IQ belongs to people who are not very bright at all.
Grildon Tundy
Member
Lol at 20WPM. And you're absolutely right. When I do see "good morning" it's immediately followed by "[Coworker] is typing..."
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dr_octagon
Banned
If you charged $1 per IM, $10 per email and $100 per meeting, people would quickly stop wasting time.
Vicetrailia
Banned
Well part of it is efficiency.
The other part of it is that people with those same responsibilities often say that either they or their families benefit from the escapism while they are at work
.lostinblue
Banned
I worked on a bunker for a while, it was a security thing, we couldn't have cell phones on us.
It's amazing the jump in memory and ease to do math that I experienced. I could remember the number of processes as if the number was a word, phone numbers were on the top of my head, dates (like when exactly was something that took place weeks ago), and do math like I never did before, specially simple math, addition and subtraction.
After that I kept some of the capacity to do things like that, but not like when I didn't have a phone/calculator on me. It's impressive how much "genius" work our heads can do, but we're consistently lazy not to.
Also let me tell you remembering the number of processes comes real in handy when you're complaining about something. People will think you have a super IQ or are super pissed if you deliver a 10 number/letter ID without blinking an eye. And they usually make an extra effort in appearing to be efficient/solving your issue. So I still memorize those just for kicks.
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jufonuk
not tag worthy
I've had both older and younger people with attitudes in life, not in work... hmmm whatever i'll just get on with it.
But if we can learn from each other in all ears and if we have a debate I’m open to hearing your side of things.
Gen-X here.
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TheInfamousKira
Reseterror Resettler
I mean, who's more the fool? The fool who cannot answer, or the fool who couldn't teach the fool who cannot answer?
dr_octagon
Banned
01011001
Banned
analog style clocks are way faster and easier to read at a glance, so they aren't going anywhere.
I only use analog style clocks whenever I can. on my phone's always on display for example. way faster, way easier and they look nicer too.
digital clock faces are only ever of use when you need a small form factor display, like on the top of your Phone screen or on the task bar on your PC
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dr_octagon
Banned
Being a poor teacher doesn't make you a fool, it just makes you a poor teacher.
You can be the best teacher in the world and still cannot teach someone who doesn't want to be taught.
Even then, a combination of poor familial upbringing and a public education system with non-existent standards for students will only result in more and more ignorant young Americans.
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dr_octagon
Banned
I can name 3 states: Happy, Sad and Sith Lawd.
How many minutes in an hour: Trick question, it's 1 hour and zeo minutes.
How many dimes in a dollar: Trick question, 1 dollar is a paper note so no coins.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Being good at math on fly works wonders in business meetings. You can get a lot of things done fast and move onto the next topic.
When you got people who cant, or need to go back to their desk to do it (holding up any decisions that could had been made there), it slows the whole process down. That's why so many people will say meetings are a waste of time.
If you think about it, many meetings are a waste of time because they arent prepared or know enough fast math to help move the conversation along during that hour long meeting. Nobody likes needing to regroup or sit there waiting for someone to say..... "oh wait, let me find the data or do the calculation on Excel" where they fumble around trying to do it. If someone knows their shit and can do it in their head in an accurate directional nature (doesn't have to be spot on to the decimal place) it makes it productive.
If all the meeting is about is telling everyone some topics and then everyone has to go back to their desk and come back with an answer tomorrow, and then people need time to meet again or go back and forth in emails with the new math, that's what bogs down people's time. There's no point even meeting then. The organizer might as well not do a meeting but just send an email with bullet point topics and everyone just email their answer.
I do finance and most of the time I dont even bring my laptop for reference data. Only in times I know I need to look at complex data sets do I bring it in case someone asks for some detailed data I dont remember. I sit there listening and if I need to chime in or do real time analysis I just look at it, do it in my head and say it. It moves along the meetings so much faster.
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JimmyRustler
Member
Don't have to be a genius to realize that these people had horrible parenting and hence were taught by Instagram and Facebook.
Currently been assigned a trainee in my company. One of the brightest girls I have ever met. Picks up everything I teach her SUPER FAST and is able to grammar-correct English mails from work written by grown ups almost flawlessly. She only just turned 17. Wish I have a daughter this bright one day.
Seeing stupid kids always makes me sad as hell. If there is one thing I have learned in the past year that I've (sort of accidentally) became the trainer of these young people in my department is that they are generally always smart and DESPERATE for guidance. Someone who has time and patience to explain things to them and makes them feel comfortable along the way.
So I say this: It's not the kids fault, it's ours. The grown ups. The idiots who have nothing better to do than fuck around and then have kids who they don't give two shits about.
Kids have to pick stuff up from somewhere. If the parents don't do it, the internet does. And then you have stuff like this.
Just my 2 cents.
Currently been assigned a trainee in my company. One of the brightest girls I have ever met. Picks up everything I teach her SUPER FAST and is able to grammar-correct English mails from work written by grown ups almost flawlessly. She only just turned 17. Wish I have a daughter this bright one day.
Seeing stupid kids always makes me sad as hell. If there is one thing I have learned in the past year that I've (sort of accidentally) became the trainer of these young people in my department is that they are generally always smart and DESPERATE for guidance. Someone who has time and patience to explain things to them and makes them feel comfortable along the way.
So I say this: It's not the kids fault, it's ours. The grown ups. The idiots who have nothing better to do than fuck around and then have kids who they don't give two shits about.
Kids have to pick stuff up from somewhere. If the parents don't do it, the internet does. And then you have stuff like this.
Just my 2 cents.
PonyStation4
Member
ITT boomers cherry pick a small sample size of idiots to generalize and laugh at
Grildon Tundy
Member
Hey, nice, we're Finance brothers!
I worked in an office setting for six years. Been WFH for two-and-a-half. Working in-office I lost ~1 hour each day to the drive, or over 10 full days per year. I spent >$1,000 a year on gas. I sat elbow-to-elbow with my manager at a shared work desk because HR thought taking down cubicle walls would improve collaboration. I overheard coworkers gossip and chat for hours, then complain about how busy they were.
Working from home, I work from my back office, put my head down, and get my work done. I took that ~1 hour per day I'd spent in traffic and upped my running mileage because I have more time in the day The only coworkers who interrupt me during work do so over video call, and they are my boss/team members/stakeholders who I directly support. I'm not forced to listen to gossip and fakery as much anymore. I get to let my dog out during the day. I got promoted and haven't been let go yet (knock on wood).
I hear yout point about in-office being better for the company in total, but in my specific case, I believe I do better work WFH.
I read your take on doing on-the-fly math, and that's an interesting take. I'm the guy who would rather do it in Excel since my laptop is right there, and the number WILL be accurate to the decimal. What happens when my stakeholders do math in their head is they round up in their favor, then use that number in another ballpark assumption and so on. Now they're going around quoting an inaccurate number to make themselves and their departments sound better lol. And if you twist my arm, I'd say part of it is that I'd prefer not to get it wrong trying to do it on the spot
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Kenpachii
Member
PonyStation4
Member
Bragr
Banned
Weird shit? the clock? do you think clocks are weird shit? the hell mayn?
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Funny video but the X, Millennial, and Zoomer generations shouldn’t look down on each other. From a strictly American persoective, unless you grew up in the Great Depression and/or served in World War 2, your generation has nothing inherently more respectable or detestable about it than any other. We’re all just trying to get through life, and people being ignorant is not a generation-specific thing. Thats a human thing.
Punished Miku
Banned
He drinks a lot on weekends.
64bitmodels
Reverse groomer.
Weird it's the opposite for me
Its faster to recognize plain numbers shown to me than have to view a circular clock
.