Millennial manager bemoans Gen Z job applicants who can't use computers or read clocks: 'So many struggled'

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  • A representation of a younger female employee shrugging and looking frustrated while sitting at a laptop
  • Younger applicants struggling using computers and reading clocks.

    So I am a millennial. I have been in management for 3 years come August. I was with the company 4 years prior to my promotion to ops manager.
  • These past 6 weeks I have been interviewing and screening applicants to hire within the shop. And typically most of our employees have been between their 30s and 60s.
  • many of these applicants struggled to log into the computer using keyboard and mouse and also reading the clock on the wall to monitor their start time and end time.
  • It just really caught be by surprise, considering how much they have been raised with electronics their whole lives. Is anyone noticing these same struggles with the new 16-19 year olds entering the workforce as either part time or full time?
  • It's like certain instructions or simple requests don't compute with them and they don't know how to ask the question for clarification or they just stare in confusion.
  • A representation of the upper right quadrant of a black and white analog clock
  • 604stt Millennials grew up with PCs. The younger generation are growing up with apps.
  • Read something how they don't know how to organize folders because they never learned it with windows PCs.
  • tireddesperation Inability to do simple math is what surprised me more. We have a very simple math test we give all applicants. It is super super basic.
  • We've had so many applicants that just can't do it. These are highschool graduates.
  • raisputin They use phones and tablets more than computers, and digital clocks more than computers I would think
  • VegasBH For a couple of years, I actually had folks taking a test on Microsoft Office and the Google suite as a way to gauge Technical proficiency. I think listing the test
  • in the job announcement helped us both filter applicants, and for folks to self select out. I've always been a believer that investing in a rigorous interview process is super helpful. It's way too hard to get rid of somebody once they've started in my organization.
  • Ljubljana_Laudanum I feel like the bigger problem is that younger generations aren't used to spending time figuring stuff out anymore. I'm late Gen Y and even I notice it in myself sometimes.
  • AdamJ311 Some of the kids at my work are the same. They've been brought up on tablets to the extent that they simply don't know how to use a PC.
  • ElectroNetty Now is the start of the idiocracy where people use technology without knowing what any of it means.
  • Google et al have simplified "apps" so much because it is more profitable to get the user to the payment screen.

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