Gen Z can’t work alongside people with different views because they ‘haven’t got the skills to disagree’ says British TV boss

I definitely see this as “we can’t get away with the boys club anymore” rather than a problem with Gen Z. Gen Z won’t hide their unhappiness with any of the -isms and will call it out instead of just keeping their head down.

Right, it’s not the lack of skills to disagree. What it is, is the bravery to not tolerate intolerance, and they stand for what they believe the world should be. Making mr grouper proud out here.
- Yeah, I'm proud of the younger generation. I see them standing up against the kinda shit that my generation at the same age just accepted or perpetrated.
I'm a millennial but this reminds me of when I first got into the work force and was stuck in an office full of boomers with me being the youngest. I remember the boss would take turns taking shots at different people during meetings, making insensitive racial jokes about people. I eventually got tired of doing the uncomfortable fake laugh so I just sat there stone faced during his jokes. He halted the entire meeting to a stop to ask me why I wasn't laughing. This is the extent to which office culture must be obeyed and how insecure they get when you don't go along with it. It's so pathetic.
- I’m also a millennial with a similar experience in my first job in 2004 or 2005, except instead of racial jokes, it was jokes about boobs, sexist rumors about another coworker moonlighting as a stripper, unwanted touching, etc, and when I reported it, I was told to “grow up” by my supervisor.
"YoU CaNT sAy AnYtHiNg AnYMoRe"

"How am I supposed to compliment a woman these days?"

It's the same boomers that make those complaints whining about Gen Z
This is exactly it. I've seen this exact thing play out a bunch of times. It's a real threat to them, because so many of these people got to where they are because they know how to work that frat boy culture to their advantage, and now they suddenly have to deal with people who don't find their shit funny. The reality is that they don't actually have any real skills besides the politics of being loud and borish.

The thing is, if you say "black lives matter" they'll quietly run to HR and claim they don't feel comfortable and they don't want politics in the workplace. Then they'll turn right around and go back to talking fondly about their date rape days at Cornell
Fair enough. But if you don't tell someone why you are unhappy with them or the situation they control, then nothing improves for anyone.
- I believe the impetus is on the bigot to figure their shit out. It is exhausting arguing with bigots, and it is not people's job to teach them how not to be a bigot. There is enough information out there now that you should know not to be an intolerant asshole, and if someone chooses instead to be a piece of shit, I'm comfortable with them being ostracized while they sort themselves out. And if they can't, I'm comfortable with them dying old, alone and confused wondering why nobody visits them.
- Not true: boomers will eventually die

I read this as Gen Z doesn’t tolerate the boomer/older Gen X intolerant/racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic bullshit that younger Gen X/Older Millennials had to, and a lot of folks receiving this deserved pushback don’t like it.

¯\(ツ)/¯

Nailed it, except that older Gen X and boomers who weren't part of the intolerant majority ALSO had to put up with all that bullshit.
- Very good point that I should have included. Thanks!
Thus...proving the point? "If a person thinks I can't handle disagreement, I bet it's because they're some kind of asshole nazi or something! It would be wrong of me to tolerate a difference of opinion with them!"

If the only disagreement you can tolerate is irrelevant minutia, then you aren't actually tolerant. "I'm totally tolerant, as long as our opinions don't differ on race, culture, gender, sexual relations, work, religion, or politics" is pretty weak sauce.
- Congrats you described the paradox of tolerance.
  
  Yeah if someone thinks I and people I'm friends with shouldn't exist than I'm not gonna want to work with them. American Republicans are actively trying to remove any legal protections or rights trans (and LGBT in general) people have, and anybody who shares their views is helping them along. Why on god's green earth would I see that as anything less than an existential threat?
- if you hold a view that is intolerant, I will not tolerate you. simple as. we don't have to agree but you can have basic fucking decency (don't be racist)
- Interesting examples for irrelevant minutia. Pretty sure a lot of those things would be very important, particularly race, gender, and sexual orientation.
- I mean those are pretty major things, especially if you're part of one of the affected minorities. If I were trans I wouldn't really want to work with a coworker who insists on misgendering me and makes a fuss out of me using the right bathroom.
  
  If it doesn't come up, it doesn't come up. People can agree to disagree, also. But there are also cases where the disagreement is so fundamental that it makes it pretty hard to respect someone or even want to be in the same room as them.

I hate these generation based things. Some little time ago there was odd stuff about millennials everywhere. Now Gen-Z. In a few years Gen Alpha. Then whatever comes next and so on.

People just like to label people. And generations are just another option.

I'm Gen X. They used to say this stuff about us too. Did you know we're all slackers?
Agreed, but I see plenty of Millennials and Gen-Zers making plenty of criticisms and jokes about Boomers all the time. It's no better when we do it.
- Man, I've started to see it happening between just the Millennials and the Gen-Z. I assume a good chunk of it is for rage bait/views, at least that's what I'm hoping for. It's so much better when we're working together to try to better the future.
- This whole thread is like, "Fuck YOU! We don't have communication problems! It's all you old fuckers!"
  
  Well. Would you look at that.

No, it's more that the boomers/older Gen X treats any sign of even polite disagreement as attacks on their very character. Many of them simply cannot accept that their views are outdated, and any challenges to their view is a disrespectful slight.

It's very telling that many of them still complain about millennials as children ruining everything to this day, when the oldest millennials are in their early 40s, and they are somehow shocked that Gen Z is even more progressive and vocal about their views than us millennials.

It's impressive, you're absolutely everywhere :o
- It's rare for me to have this much free time, you'll probably see a lot less of me here once work starts again.
- But not in my bedroom 🥲
Not to mention some views of older folks are absolutely bigoted. But it's the kids who are wrong, apparently.

Look, I don't care at all what views my coworkers might possess. And that's the problem. Because when one of these fuckwits starts going on a bigoted rant at work, I do NOT want to hear it, and I surely don't give a damn about it. So yeah, no, we can't work alongside fuckwits. If they knew how to shut up, we could.

Alternative headline: boomers* don’t have the skills to know what is or is not an appropriate work conversation to have.

*I’m aware many boomers do have this skill, just matching the ignorant and overly broad style of the original statement.
- "I don't have conversation skills? Surely you are joking, sugar tits!"

Honestly this isn't a gen z thing, it's just a shit article thing. 70% of this piece is just this one fucking guy bitching about the "kids these days"

Ya, my boss is someone who always makes it about generation this and generation that.

It's not about generations, if baby boomers had the technology we have today they'd have done the same stupid shit.

Let me paraphrase: Gen Z refuse to take any bullshit from deluded boomers.

If you want to be friends then why aren't you friendly?
- This could definitely be ~~editorialized~~ edited for length but it's an interesting read.
  
  I've definitely felt exactly what they're talking about. I know many people as described.
This millennial can’t either.

Welp, Gen Z, it's your time in the furnace I guess.

I remember when "Millennials are ruining everything" articles were the fodder for lazy writers, now it's crap like this.

I remember when we killed Applebee's? That was a fun weekend.
- To be fair, Applebee's needed to be ruined.
- We just figured out we can microwave our own food
Now it's cap like this*

We just reposting the same things from 10 years ago with “millennials” replaced by “gen z?”

Shut up you ~~millennial~~ gen z snowflake! You’ll take the recycled content and enjoy it

/s, if it wasn’t obvious….I’m noting that same trend myself.
- Gen Z are ruining the recycled content industry!
Does that mean Gen Z are going to kill the diamond industry again?
Turgenev enters the chat . . .
Same thing as thousands of years ago.
No, there's a radical difference here. Yeah, some of these stories are "young people today" bullshit that will always be true. Gen Z truly got fucked by the pandemic and social media.

Judging by the comments here, there won't be any discussion. Which kinda proves the point.
- Social media is the real world today. Yes, the pandemic put everyone’s life on hold for 3 years and that’s going to screw up people’s formative years, but this article hasn’t done much to separate that out from the gripes every new generation entering the workforce gets.

I read that as "they voice their opinions too much".

Yeah, this sounds like, “Gen Z won’t put up with the same levels of bullshit as their predecessors “

The problem is that the things they “disagree” about are sometimes basic scientific facts, like climate change, or beliefs which strongly affect people’s lives negatively, such as racism, anti-lgbt bigotry, or economic views like “it’s just fine to pay people such low wages they can barely afford to live and will never be able to buy a house”.

And why are these politics an issue in the workplace?

I'm 52 and have worked a wide variety of jobs. Nowhere I have been employed was it acceptable to talk politics, except on the down-low with people you knew well. If there was a political discussion where two people disagreed, they either agreed to disagree, or it was quickly dropped.
- I'm the same age as you, so I've seen the same social and political changes as you have over the last 20 years or so. Some "politics" are just negative moral stances about other people. If your political/moral views make people feel excluded and you make sure we all know your views, whether through explicit political conversation or implicit comments, we are not going to "agree to disagree." We will be telling the shithead to STFU, and if they don't, we will be getting HR involved. We can't and won't tolerate intolerance in the workplace.
  
  In my experience, in the 80s and 90s, intolerance was pretty commonplace, and racial and moral minorities mostly just had to suck it up. What's changed is that liberals have "woken up" to that long-standing intolerance, while conservatives want things to stay the same. Up until about 2016, the majority of these conservatives hid their intolerance. Little did we know that they were just seething inside. Then Trump made it okay to be vocally hateful again, and that seething mass of conservatives exploded into public discourse again.
  
  I don't think Gen Z is incapable of disagreeing with their co-workers in a respectful way. I think they are seeing angry, usually older, conservatives raging about moral issues that they thought were already resolved. Or, they see boomers still denying climate change, which is a real slap in the face for the younger generation who will face the consequences long after those boomers are dead. It is very disconcerting and depressing for Gen Z, and as the father of a couple of Gen Z kids, I'm proud of them for taking a stand.
- Because whether some people are allowed to exist is politics now, and gen z and others aren't going to quietly let bosses/coworkers banally brutalize people anymore without pushback.
  
  The workplace is steeped in politics, like every other part of your life. The discussions dont have to be about politics day in day out, but somethings have to be addressed directly, work or not.
  
  Basically, if youre workplace is fair and decent, then you likely wont hear anyhting about politics. if it's full of bigots/abuse, well, people arent putting up with it anymore.
- I’m not really sure what the person in the article means. It says something about “lockdown-era students can’t hold down a heated discussion”… but why would they be having heated discussions? It also says
  
  Miami University even organized a dinner with senior leaders in order to teach proper mealtime etiquette, such as how to engage in conversation on neutral topics.
  
  which makes it sound like it’s older people who bring up inappropriate political topics in an inflammatory way.
- Because those aren’t politics. These are peoples lives. There’s no such thing as agreeing to disagree about if people get to have basic rights. What’s been labeled as political now is denying people the ability to live as they want, ironically taking away the freedom one side claims to love.
- Like you, I've moved around the US quite a bit have have worked at a variety of companies. But I noticed that the article mentions Miami University, which is in southwestern Ohio. People around here have an odd idea of what constitutes rudeness or what should not be discussed at work.
  
  They are ALL IN on politics.
  
  Visitors to our work's Ohio location (from out of country or out of state) are completely freaked out by it. Locals have no idea that their behavior might be considered rude or inappropriate.
  
  Long story short, I'm not even remotely surprised that a local school is trying to teach people manners.
- Because scientific facts, or social and economic issues (that definitely affect and belong in the workplace) are not “politics” regardless of how much you'd like to label them as such so you can shove them under the rug and forget about them, you retrograde fossilized lich, and because “agreeing to disagree” with assholes who hold harmful opinions only serves to empower them and enable them to keep causing harm.

Or maybe it's because they have zero patience for people who can't understand the idea of basic human rights?

I ain't gonna give any weight to a freaking anecdote from any one, let alone a manager. Show me the proof or sit down.

Personally I’m just not fond of working with geriatric, lead-poisoned nazis but that’s just me.

Let me guess. The "different views" are bigotry, hatred and fascism?

Have you ever watched channel 4? They're the least likely channel to have any of that in the office. It's not GBNews.
I think you just demonstrated the criticism being made.
- How dare I criticize someone for being a terrible person

Some guy says some thing. This is no different from an out of touch boomer saying kids these days don't want to work.

I'm guessing someone got called out for being a right wing shit head and now his poor little feelings are hurt.

So you disagree then?
- They must be gen z
Channel 4 are one of the most progressive channels in the UK and she's married to a man who works in renewable energy. I very much doubt she's particularly right leaning.
- Well, Labour is legitimately sliding right, and it's become somewhat common among the so-called "left" in the UK to make a scapegoat out of trans people - it really wouldn't surprise me that an older, liberal woman in the UK would have some right-wing things to say.

nah never had that issue and I'm pretty fuckin opinionated. As a chef I argue more with old heads than gen z or millennials.

old fuckers think they know everything

Gen Z seem to lack the skillset to know their place. -boomer boss

Interesting way of saying "they won't bend over and spread their arse cheeks".

Meanwhile said CEO is the one that intentionally promotes 'clueless' people (Read overtly offensive) people as leaders and then paints the workers that are coerced to humor them as in the wrong when they don't put up with it.

Have you ever actually watched Channel 4? They're one of the more progressive voices in UK media, I very much doubt that their management are all secretly bigots behind the scenes.

Everyone in this thread is jumping to the conclusion that it's about politics, race, etc.

Meanwhile here's me wishing the office Zoomer would shut up about the way I drink my coffee.

Sounds like you haven't got the skills to disagree.
According to the OP, zoomer will never talk to you again if you disagree "hard enough."

Just say "Has it ever occurred to you that everyone else drinks coffee wrong? I am the world's best coffee drinker. Donald Trump and Elon Musk have both told me so on Twitter. In fact, Vogue magazine has been trying to schedule me doing a drink out for the last three years. I have denied going on the Joe Rogan Experience twice already out of principles. As you may have surmised, the topic would have been about the proper way to drink coffee. In fact, I know I was drinking coffee, correctly may I add, the exact moment of your conception. I know because that's how great at drinking coffee I am. But thank you for your concern."
- Yeah but then you're first on the list when the office needs a scapegoat.
  
  Steve: someone shit in the pinball machine!
  
  Gen Z: I bet that fucking Millenial Nazi did it
  
  Kim, the actual pinball shitter: yep, definitely someone older than us Zoomers

When the "disagreement" is that your nosy Boomer Karen coworkers mis-gender you or disapprove of the way you live your life or think it's NBD that by the time you're their age we're going to be in the "find out" phase of the biggest disaster to hit Earth's biosphere in 65 million years, the problem isn't really with Gen Z.

Considering everyone who saw the headline and didn’t read the article jumped into the comments talking about Boomers being transphobic, racist, or science deniers, I actually am not surprised at all by the article (which is, of course, generalizing an entire generation and therefore erroneous, but not entirely without merit).

It’s not about the topics they’re disagreeing on, it’s about the ability to disagree congenially and effectively, which is an extremely important skill in any workplace.

You aren’t going to change any minds by saying, “You’re wrong. I’m right. I’m done talking to you about this.” You also aren’t going to have your mind changed if you’re wrong, as is very common in a workplace. My solution to a problem isn’t always the right one. Other times it is. I need to know how to disagree and have constructive discussions about topics I disagree with others on to reach the best solutions.

This is one of the reasons diversity is important to businesses. Diversity of thought and constructive disagreement leads to improvement. But if we outright reject those who do not think like we do we all stagnate in our respective bubbles.

Sure this can be applied to good faith dialogue on larger, more important topics as many here seem to be assuming, but it is essential on day-to-day smaller issues that people face in the workplace.

Yeah, I'll just say if I'm working, I just don't wanna hear politics brought up at all. I'd rather focus on work or maybe small talk. I don't wanna end up in a scenario where I expose my political views only to find I've made enemies with the wrong people in a company or group.

HA as much as im amused by the idea of being in the radical politics generation i agree with this, politics dont belong in the workplace & it's better to shut it down & not. also jesus christ politics are polarized sometimes, why the hell would anyone LGBTQ want to befriend somebody who holds the opinion all trans people are pedos?
I do but only with people I've actually made friends with who I'm pretty sure will either agree with me or at least respect my point of view. I'll share mildly political articles in discussion groups for those specific things at work sometimes, but those are places where people have specifically opted in to hearing about them and are interested in the topics.

Out of all the Gen Z bashing headlines I've ever seen... this is the only one I am inclined to agree with. It doesn't even have to be a politically motivated disagreement; I've met too many young people that once you disagree with them on something, try to completely avoid talking to you and also do not take criticism of any kind well.

Don't worry, us millennials ruined toast apparently.
- How much could avacado toast cost, Micheal? $100?
Yup. That’s how it goes for sure for many. Not all, but there is a very large segment. They’re used to blocking or pressuring others into mass blocking (e.g., cancelling) others. There’s a time and a place for it, but it also seems to be the norm for anything that doesn’t align with them exactly.

I’m a millennial and we have our own issues, but that is theirs.

I can’t read the article, so not sure if this is all politically motivated or not. If so, I guess I can see their side to not disagreeing - there are moral issues that must be upheld.
- As a millenial, we at least made it to our teenage years before the internet and social media was ubiquitous. With Gen Z, those mechanics have been there their whole life.

Maybe there's a degree of truth to this, but the issue doesn't only apply to Gen Z... I've had plenty of overgrown children in their 40s and 50s lose their shit in the workplace when the slightest bit of pushback comes up about anything. I'd say this is more of a general communication skills problem these days

Uh, that's because the different views are fucking wild bad, and they're not just putting up with it.

If the social contact was the same as it was when today's old people were young, then today's young people would be much more willing to put up with shit.

Eh, this generational conflict stuff is nonsense. For years I’ve run teams of boomers, X, Y, and now Z. Have I had to punt some younger folks because they couldn’t work past some not-work-relevant difference with someone else in the office? Sure. But that’s not a Z thing at all.

Anyone who can’t check their personal baggage at the door and get work done as part of a team ends up being shown to the sidewalk. There’s no generational component to this, it’s happening to everyone of all ages.

I hope this guy's company can't adjust to reality & it's eaten by a Gen-Z owned competitor.

Unfortunately, Channel 4 is currently a Crown corporation, so they're owned by the United Kingdom.
- So run up until recently by the greatest generation still. Ugh

It's fucking hilarious seeing a bunch of septics in here without a scooby about Channel 4 deciding it must be full of bigoted managers that the gen Z won't tolerate. When it's always been one of the most progressive channels in the UK and has been allowing diverse voices to shine for years.

Y’know, I watched enough kids get shuttled to-and-from school in Chelsea tractors by their onni-present parents that I could actually believe this is a trend. Kids can’t develop resilience if you don’t give them any independence.

Setting aside the fact that this is a generalization and thus naturally overstating things, I don't doubt that there's some truth to this.

There's a sort of rigidly intolerant moralizing that arose on the internet over the last decade or so, most exemplified by Tumblr, and gen z was right in the middle of it.

It puts me in mind of the Victorian era, with a group of people who absolutely and unequivocally condemn anyone and everyone who violates their rigid sense of propriety, or more precisely, the stereotypes that they substitute for those people. Of course, the biggest difference is that they have a completely different set of rules to which they insist that all submit - instead of a religious morality mostly concerned with sex they have a secular morality mostly concerned with social behavior. But they share that absolutism - the smug certainty that their way is the only way and that any who believe otherwise are not only wrong, but due to the fact that they believe otherwise, so monstrous as to be unfit to even judge.

That last is the trap - the thing that sets that extreme of moralizing apart and keeps it going when it takes hold. Those who come to believe in it end up believing not simply that they're right, but that believing as they do is the defining trait of people who are fit to judge the matter, so they then can and do reject any and all differing views out of hand on the basis that the mere act of holding a different view means that one is obviously an inferior being, and since one is an inferior being, whatever one believes is and can only be wrong. It becomes a closed loop, in which people aren't even capable of considering different viewpoints.

And that's presumably the quality that's being characterized, and with some accuracy, as them not having the skills to disagree.

I'd note though that this is just one manifestation of the problem. It's a new version of it, made possible by social media, and it appears to be notably widespread, and particularly in a relatively narrow age group, but the dynamic itself is likely as old as human civilization.

Hahahahahahahahaha. And WHO DOES?!?!?!

Social skills for all of us took a hit from the pandemic, but Gen Z truly got screwed. Combine that with whatever internet echo-chamber of choice, and no wonder they're less tolerant of differing opinions and struggle to communicate.

I have some young friends that got out of high school right before the pandemic hit. They seem perfectly fine. But the young folks I run into in public seem to have real communication issues.

And that's not just some old GenX guy's opinion. I'm seeing more and more articles and comment on the problem. Employers are noting it, universities are trying to deal with it. It's real.

EDIT: Oh god. The comments here. "Yeah, we're just not putting up with your bullshit you fucking Boomers!" Sigh...

I'm reading this thread comments and it seems that Gen Z has decided that it can't be their social skills - it must be the other older generation that is flawed.

Interesting.

Also a lot of comments how older generations have character flaws that do not exist in their own generation.

Even more interesting.

I guess gen Z is just the best generation so far, according to themselves. :)

It is hilarious that this thread proves the article right.

Cause you're seeing views you disagree with and can't handle it?
It literally does the opposite but ok
- Proposition:
  
  "Gen Z is bad at discussion"
  
  Reaction:
  
  "Gen Z isn't bad at discussion, everyone at the workplace has bad opinions and we shouldn't have to discuss"
  
  Reality:
  
  Offices aren't filled to the brim with evil people and yes you do have to talk to people you disagree with on a high level. Gen Z probably really does have issues with actual high level discussion because they've grown up their whole life surrounded by Internet echo chambers. This includes right wingers.
Actually no, this is not true at all. It's just that everyone who disagrees with me is either trolling, completely ignorant about basic, objective scientific facts, or is a hate-filled extermist. Our society will surely be destroyed if I pretend even for a second that these awful people's dangerous views are worth listening to or engaging with or being allowed to exist.
- Actually no, this is not true at all. It's just that everyone who disagrees with me is either trolling, completely ignorant about basic, objective scientific facts, or is a hate-filled extermist. Our society will surely be destroyed if I pretend even for a second that these awful people's dangerous views are worth listening to or engaging with or being allowed to exist.
  
  Yeah I agree, the guy who thinks I should solve this database file location issue by standardizing the call and making a change in every class we have to prevent future work, but necessitating lots of testing, is a hate-filled extremist.
  
  Obviously my position that we should take the existing structure and write a simple base-class level method to handle it and then assume future edge cases may pop up is the only ethically correct stance. Maybe he’s trolling.
  
  😁
LOL, no lie. Well, let's see how that pans out for them socially and in the workplace. We'll have a Social Darwinism kind of experiment, see who gets along best in the long run.
- Social Darwinism- the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals. Now largely discredited, social Darwinism was advocated by Herbert Spencer and others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was used to justify political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention and reform.
  
  I don't understand why you're advocating for social darwinism, but it may be my lack of communication skills at fault.