Employers are firing Gen Z employees within months of hiring them. According to a survey undertaken by Intelligent.com, the reason comes down to initiative – 50% of the 966 companies surveyed said Gen Z lacked motivation.
Working with Gen Z, says the ‘World of Work for Generation Z in 2025’, is difficult. On the flip side, studies show that this generation isn’t so much lacking in initiative as struggling with workplace uncertainty, and in South Africa, this presents an opportunity.
The Deloitte 2026 Global Survey of more than 22,000 Gen Z and millennials across 44 countries revealed that only 25% of Gen Z prefer fast-paced career progression, most enjoy gradual growth or lateral moves as they build expertise and opt for stability over performative ambition.
They are cautious and recognise that leadership comes with wellbeing trade-offs that they’re not entirely comfortable with making.
Words like disengaged, passive and lacking drive have become shorthand for Gen Z in so many performance reviews and leadership conversations that the narrative has gained momentum. So much so that perception is starting to feel like fact.
But the data tells a different story and if South African companies are serious about tapping into a generation that will comprise 40% of the local workforce by 2030, then it’s important to understand the difference between perception and the real issue that’s causing the disconnect between Gen Z and the employer.
The South African Journal of Industrial Psychology examined workplace behaviours across multiple countries and found that what presents as a lack of initiative in Gen Z is more of an unfamiliarity with professional norms.
This generation is only one to three years out of an education environment where expectations were informal, participation was low stakes and staying quiet didn’t have consequences.
When these Gen Zs enter the workplace and don’t move beyond what has been explicitly asked of them, they are uncertain and cautious. They don’t always take the initiative because they are genuinely unsure as to what is allowed and they don’t want to overstep in an environment where the rules haven’t been made clear.
However, when managers provide structured expectations and consistent feedback, Gen Z employees become more engaged and contribute ideas and step outside their comfort zones.
This generation executes against what is communicated with them so if you ask them to go beyond their current role or expectations, they will.
They will even do so with less friction and require less emotional management than previous generations – the Gen Z given constructive feedback and clear direction will take it as a necessary part of the working process and simply adapt their approaches and move on.
Another part of this challenge for many employers, especially older generations with wildly differing ways of working, is how Gen Z draws clear work and life boundaries.
The Deloitte study found that this generation is making deliberate and rational choices about risk inside a world that has given them significant reason to be cautious.
They arrive at a certain time, take proper lunch breaks and leave at the same time every day and place an honest value on the work-life exchange.
For South African organisations, specifically those operating in the technology sector with high levels of burnout and stress, these lines in the sand don’t mean lazy.
The Gen Z employee is paying attention to their wellbeing, and for workplaces that build into this new framework, it means that all employees will benefit from proper onboarding, clear processes and a definitive work-life balance.
There is a return on this investment. When Gen Z are given the right instructions and space to thrive, they are more productive than any other cohort – recent redPanda interns have been working faster and more effectively than any of the previous five years.
It is an opportunity for companies to relook legacy working frameworks that have traditionally worn out generations of employees and instead replace them with something that works for everyone. Gen Z didn’t create a burnout culture; they are just refusing to inherit it.
