Jaded Gen Zers are unhappy at work now that ‘The Great Detachment’ has taken over

The perfect storm of workplace trends like “quiet leave” and “quiet vacation” has brought about a seismic shift in employee engagement and ushered in “The Great Detachment.”

Recent data from Gallup revealed a decline in employee engagement, particularly among millennials and Gen Z workers. Younger millennials and Zoomers reported a 5% drop in engagement, while engagement of older millennials dropped 7%.

Disengagement, says Gallup, is estimated to cost the world $8.8 trillion in productivity.

“We have an overwhelming majority of workers in every single office who are either not engaged or actively disengaged,” American Staffing Association CEO Richard Wahlquist told Business Insider.

Roughly three in 10 employees are not engaged at work, according to one outlet, and Wahlquist estimates that about 17% are “actively disengaged” and “dissatisfied.”

While the plight of workplace engagement has been top of mind for years, the current trend feels “unique” to Leena Rinne, Skillsoft’s global head of training, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, back-to-office policies and an influx of layoffs as reasons for the “Great Detachment.”

“We’ve seen horrible layoff moments on Instagram, and people thought, well, I thought this was my work family, but I got disconnected at some point,” Rinne told the outlet. “There is a crisis of confidence.”

Employees also feel stuck in a job that isn’t fulfilling, with about half of Americans actively looking for a new role, according to Gallup data. While the Great Recession delivered a hot job market, it has since stagnated, leaving workers stuck and disengaged.

Despite the decline in engagement and higher expectations from employers, the cooling economy and labor markets have trapped frustrated employees in their current situation, Ben Wigert, who co-authored the Gallup report and is research director of the company for workplace management practice.

While these frustrated workers may have left under previous market conditions, declining employment and rising inflation significantly increase the risk associated with changing jobs.

Stop leaving quietly.

But such behavior isn’t driven by laziness or a desire to underperform, but rather, mostly Gen Z employees are simply setting boundaries in a way no generation has done before.

“Gen Z is showing up a certain way because they think that’s how the company is showing up for them,” Rinne said.

Applied CEO Khyati Sundaram told BI that employers “have fallen behind” in terms of Gen Z’s priorities, such as mental health, diversity, sustainability and work-life balance.

“I think those are very positive, reasonable things to look for at work because, at the end of the day, everyone wants a great life,” Sundaram said.

But those values ​​are relatively new in the workplace, she explained, which is “creating resentment on both sides.” Younger employees are dismissed as lazy or sleazy, BI reports, but see themselves as setting healthy boundaries. .

“Gen Zs are being stereotyped because they’re expressing it,” Sundaram continued. “It is not new. The expression is new. And the judgment that comes with it.”

The solution, however, is simple: Employees want to feel like they matter.

“People still need that human moment, that human connection,” said Rinne, who called for “intentional” efforts made on behalf of the company to build trust with employees.

“There has to be purpose and thought and budget, frankly, to put behind initiatives that we know will get better results with people.”