Why more Gen Z workers are being fired

The ethos of Generation Z workers has been put under the spotlight after a recent report found more bosses were firing their younger staff.

Data from US firm, Intelligent, found 60 per cent of managers had to let their younger staff go, because they wanted to leave earlier, start later and be paid more than they deserved.

With the trend of more younger staff getting fired appearing to take hold in Australia as well, the question has been reignited, are Gen Z workers lazy, or do they just have different priorities to the older generations?

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Marketing executive and mother of teenagers, Dee Madigan, said she doesn't think Gen Z are lazy, they just think differently to older workers.

"They're not bad, they're growing up in a world where they're probably not going to ever afford to buy a house, they've gone through COVID-19 and I think they've just got a bigger sense of YOLO than we did," Dee told Today.

"And that's not a bad thing, it's just different, so I think older bosses are like, 'no, I worked a horrible job all my life, you should too', and the kids are saying no."

If anything, Dee suggested it is a different way of looking at life and probably a healthier way too.

"Although one thing I would say to Gen Z is be careful with the working from home thing, because what that means is you're not picking up the skills from older workers," she said.

"That's almost by osmosis when you're in the office, so if you're working from home, your skill set will just stay the same and when those bosses are looking to promote someone, they're going to promote the people they see."

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One Gen Z-er who definitely can't be called lazy is chef and entrepreneur, Morgan Hipworth.

At just 23-years-old, he runs two bakeries, a restaurant and has a staff of 40 he manages.

He told Today a person's work ethic comes down to whether they have that passion to be there and he has seen laziness in Gen Z staff, but also those older workers too.

"I think some of this trend may be because this work wasn't their passion and it's not something they really wanted to do for the rest of their life," he said.

"If someone finds a job they love, they'll put in their all and I think my generation nowadays are just more inclined to be like, 'look, this isn't for me and I'm not going to give my all, instead I'll find something else that is.'"

Hear the full chat with Morgan and Dee in the video above