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It’s no surprise that Gen Z workers are facing criticism as they enter the job market. Labels such as “unprofessional” and “unprepared” have been applied to this generation far too liberally.
Unlike Millennials, who were once referred to as “undependable” and “entitled”, Gen Z inherited a modern workplace structurally transformed by rapidly changing technology. Intergenerational tensions in the workplace cannot be solely blamed on Gen Z’s failure to adapt, but also on the culture rifts and misalignments of expectations between different generations.
“Candidates entering the modern workforce are pushed into a fundamental shift in mindset away from student professionalism”
Employers face challenges in finding and retaining top talent as they struggle to satisfy the needs of Gen Z workers. The expectation that workers will spend their entire career with one company has largely disappeared. This new generation of workers is entering the workforce with a distinct approach to work, driven by purpose, balance and technology.
Enabled with digital tools such as AI, instead of demonstrating hard work through the hours put in to complete a task, Gen Z workers want to prioritize working smart. They prefer to be recognized for innovations that produce efficiency.
For many industries, hybrid work has become an expectation rather than an added bonus. Ownership over managing their own time has become increasingly important for Gen Z workers. In this regard, remote work and flexible work is key to attracting and retaining top talent.
Transparency and trust in the workplace is also important. Recognizing its importance, regulators are beginning to respond: starting in 2026, employers in Ontario are mandated to share pay ranges in job postings, whether AI is used in the hiring process and provide a response to interviewees within 45 days of the interview. These changes increase pay equity and fairness at work and set compensation expectations early for job seekers.
Candidates entering the modern workforce are pushed into a fundamental shift in mindset away from student professionalism, where expectations are explicit and performance is largely individual. Instead, in the workplace, there is an emphasis on professional accountability, where success depends on trust and contribution towards shared work.
This is often a difficult adjustment for Gen Z workers because expectations are not always clear and mistakes can carry consequences beyond personal learning. At the same time, this challenge is not new. Ambiguity around professional expectations has long been a defining obstacle for individuals entering the workforce, transcending generational boundaries.
For this new generation of job seekers, mentorship has become essential to navigating this professional transition. Organizations bring together of people shaped by distinct norms around communication and hierarchy. A mentor can help candidates learn how their hiring managers think, what they value and how they communicate, both during interviews and in ongoing working relationships. For example, a mentor can play a pivotal role in expanding a mentee’s sense of what roles feel within reach. Many early-career candidates will overlook job postings that list qualifications they do not perfectly match. A mentor can challenge this instinct, encouraging them to apply and guiding them in framing their existing experience into clear, confident narratives that align with the employer’s priorities, often revealing that they are more qualified than they initially believed.
“For this new generation of job seekers, mentorship has become essential to navigating this professional transition”
Mentorship plays a critical role in equipping Gen Z workers for long-term career success and serves as a powerful tool for improving employee retention. Career professionals and mentors can support early-career employees by helping them understand how to effectively channel the innovation and efficiency they bring into the workplace. This includes coaching them on how to thoughtfully communicate new ideas and on reframing work negotiations not as opportunities to win quickly, but as ongoing conversations aimed at achieving the best possible outcome over time. This ultimately builds trust, credibility and influence within the organization.
Taken more broadly, employers adopting a more intentional approach to mentorship represents a meaningful opportunity to align organizational goals with employee development. At the same time, proactively responding to the evolving expectations of Gen Z, particularly around compensation transparency and workplace flexibility, has become essential to attracting and retaining top talent in an increasingly competitive labor market.
Looking ahead, it’s also clear that bridging intergenerational differences is not an abstract challenge, but a skill that can be developed intentionally through mentorship, clear communication and explicit expectation-setting. When leaders and managers invest in these practices, they equip teams to navigate differing values and working styles. These are efforts that ultimately pay dividends in the form of stronger collaboration, trust and a healthier organizational culture.
Peter Zhang, PharmD, MBA is a Senior Business Acceleration Partner at ODAIA and a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. Opinions are my own.
Peter Zhang, PharmD, MBA is a Senior Business Acceleration Partner at ODAIA and a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. Opinions are my own.
