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There’s not a day goes by, it seems, without a fresh batch of headlines, usually based on a new report, outlining how feckless, unengaged, lackadaisical and (most recently) downright stupid, the so-called Generation Z is.
The latest pop at the youngest part of the workforce comes from neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath (nope, me either) who reports that these “Zoomers” are the first generation in recorded history to be dumber than the one before.
“They’re the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized academic tests than the one before it,” Horvath told the New York Post.
He says the decline cuts across attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, and general IQ.
“More than half of the time a teenager is awake, half of it is spent staring at a screen,” he said. Human learning, he argued, depends on sustained attention and interaction with other people. Endless feeds and condensed content don’t offer either.
“Learning from screens has turned them into skimmers. Without heavy lifting, even beautiful minds can turn to mush.”
He places the blame not just on leisure-time screen presence but on educational establishments making a hand-brake turn into technology and learning from screens rather than books, replacing long-form content and problem solving with bite-size information.
“I’m not anti-tech. I’m pro-rigor,” Horvath said. Rigor, in his view, comes from reading longer content, working to understand and not expecting quick rewards.
Gen Z workplace traits and expectations
There’s no word on how other generations are faring in this new world of instant short-form information, mind. One hunch would be that what they possess in terms of greater attention spans and a greater amount of that ‘rigor’ that Horvath prizes so highly, is balanced by Gen Z’s quicker processing speed and decision making. And aren’t they the skills best suited to the new fast-paced world we are building for ourselves?
Or to put it another way. ”Our brains are not designed for this day and age," says neuroscientist Dr. Patrick Porter. "We need to train differently to get the brain to work with all the technology that we have today.”
Isn’t that what these so-called digital natives are doing? Albeit, accidentally on purpose.
According to HiBob’s Young Generation in Tech report, there are some clear differences that set Gen Z workers apart from previous generations.
A passion for diversity
Demand a personalized employee experience
Good at multitasking
Enjoy individual tasks more than working in teams
Prefer companies with good ethics, impact, and practices
Want financial stability
Look for independent learning opportunities
Expect competitive salaries
Generational workplace criticism isn’t new
“The traditional yearning for a benevolent employer who can provide a job for life also seems to be on the wane… In particular, they want to avoid ‘low-level jobs that aren’t keeping them intellectually challenged.’”
So says the FT. Oh, but not about Gen Z. They were sticking the boot in on Generation X back in 1995.
And here’s another. “They are a fleet of job-hoppers who think they're above the grunt work of an entry-level position; in other words, not the most desirable employees.”
That’s Generation Y being given short shrift by the Irish Independent in 2017. We could go on.
And how’s this for a quote?
“Today’s youth is rotten, evil, godless and lazy. It will never be what youth used to be, and it will never be able to preserve our culture.”
NBC? The New York Times? No, that was discovered on a Babylonian clay tablet dated around 1000 BC. I mean, they might have been onto something with the last point - where are the Babylonians now?
Oh. You thought moaning about them spending too much time on their tablets was new? Nah. It seems that older generations have always had a problem with the way young people do things.
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Gen Z enters a changed world of work
Thing is, as has been well-documented, they have entered the workforce at a time of great change. The pandemic altered nearly everyone’s attitude to the 9 to 5 and AI has since caused (and will continue to cause) huge changes to corporate strategy and individual roles, killing off some, and creating entirely new ones. As a result of all that, yes they do have a much different relationship with the world of work. They want work that mixes career growth with personal wellbeing and a genuine sense of community.
Their career paths will be different, their expectations are different and the social contract that previously promised that hard work and forward career momentum would deliver a good salary, a house, a “lifestyle”, and money to save/invest has been fractured.
Unless you’ve got an account at the Bank of Mum and Dad, there are no longer any guarantees of having the same essentials that the previous generation enjoyed.
So, if you’re of the generation before them and not down with the kids, considering them feckless, lazy, and distracted, cut them some slack. And remember. They’re your kids.
Daniel Jones
Yes, Gen Z has entered the workforce during a period of massive change, and that absolutely shapes how they view work. In many ways, especially around diversity, inclusion, and healthier workplace cultures, their perspective is valuable. They’ve pushed important conversations forward.
They’re also often described as highly tech-savvy. Generally true. But even that’s not universal. I have brothers who own every device imaginable and still use maybe half of what those devices can actually do. I’ve been the one teaching them. So even the “digital native” narrative has exceptions.
And when you look at what they want from employers? It’s not radically different from what previous generations wanted. Purpose. Fair pay. Flexibility. Respect. Growth. That’s not generational — that’s human instinct.
That said, I do think there’s truth behind some of Horvath’s observations. The conversation around shortened attention spans, lower measured IQ trends, instant gratification, and surface-level research deserves attention. Framing that as “faster processing” or “quick decision-making” — as if that automatically makes it a strength, feels like a stretch. Quick decisions don’t equal sound decisions.
I’ve seen this firsthand with my younger brothers. Choices that felt like obvious common sense to me at their age didn’t register the same way for them, and the consequences have been heavier. That’s not an indictment of a generation; it’s an observation about impulse, speed, and depth of thought. If we ignore those patterns, it can create issues across multiple fronts. Even the sharp increase in Adderall prescriptions among adults 22–44 in recent years points to something broader happening culturally around focus and cognitive strain.
Overall, though, I genuinely appreciate how Gen Z and even Gen Alpha think. They’re often more intentional about the work they choose and more vocal about wanting it to matter. In the era we’re living in, that desire for purpose is powerful. It shouldn’t be dismissed, it should be channeled.