Capitalism is an economic and political system. In this system, property, business, and industry are controlled by private owners, rather than by the state. The purpose is to make a profit. For a long time, critics of capitalism were dismissed as complainers or attention-seekers.

As time goes on, age discrimination is increasing. Paradoxically, a few years ago, this was a concern for older, not younger people. So, what happened? Why is getting into the army easier than getting an entry-level job? Why do we face those chains of “unfortunately” in our mails? 36% of hiring managers report being biased against Gen Z candidates. In contrast, 34% are biased against over‑60s. This suggests that a 62-year-old man is more likely to secure employment in today’s society. Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man finds it harder to get a job. Surveys show that 60% of employers have fired recently hired Gen Z graduates within a year. They often cite “lack of motivation” and “poor communication skills” as reasons. Gen Z is 18% less likely than other age groups to feel a sense of belonging to a company.

Every Gen Z individual has heard that sentence at least once in their life: “Young people are just mean and lazy individuals who do not want to suffer anymore for what matters, to get a good job and have their life fixed.“, but the truth is that Gen Z candidates submit 24 job applications on average, compared to 12 for Gen X and 11 for Baby Boomers therefore I believe that, as much as it is a concern for people of my generation to wear a stereotype of laziness while data clearly show that we are doing the most efforts to get a job, it is equally a struggle for the older generation to be unable to understand how we are “wired”. But let’s ask the good questions: why did a whole generation rise and decide to shift their tone, values, and response to authority? Why are they setting boundaries, demanding respect, and rejecting silence? Why did an entire generation rise and decide that, actually, they can reply with sarcasm to their boss in the middle of a meeting? The answer is not Gen Z but the generation before us: A survey was held in the USA, and among U.S. workers surveyed, 70% experienced workplace incivility, such as rudeness or disrespect, even when they maintained professionalism, an Harvard Business Review (2021) report on organisational silence revealed that 50%+ of employees report staying silent even when they have concerns, over 60% of employees report suppressing feedback. To all millennials, boomers, and I don’t know which other generation out there: does this sound like a life that you want to live yourself?

Who are Gen Z individuals? What are their profiles? Gen Z individuals are those children of overworked parents who rarely came home before dark. We have been witnesses of multiple abuses older generations have lived within their workspace, how they traded their health and job for the hope of retirement, and how miserable the pension of a lifetime sacrifice could be, how little recognition you get from companies. Millions of workers have fought over centuries all around the world for us to finally have rights within companies, for our labour, to have our say, to even see the shadow of freedom and as matter of fact, today, we are only seeing the shadow of that said freedom and that’s what separates Gen Z and companies: We are not lazy, we simply aren’t dreaming of the life you are selling us, therefore no effort is put in. We are simply tired of being seen as a resource rather than human beings, and because we have approximately 80 years on this planet, we want to live, to be better fathers, mothers, partners, or to be single all our lives, and travel. The world is beautiful, yet all the generations before us chose to become a finite resource within companies, where they are barely respected by employees, managers, and even clients.

Let’s now come to the notion of “professionalism”, because that is another argument managers hold against us: We are poor communicators, and we lack professionalism. A UK survey of 2,000 employees found that 31% experienced discrimination or microaggressions from their manager in the past six months. Younger workers (18–34) were especially targeted, 66% of them reported discriminatory behavior, including mocking, favoritism, and exclusion, but many remained silent about it. In another survey of 1,000 Gen Z full-time workers, 80% said generational stereotypes negatively impacted their work experience. 20% reported their work was scrutinized more than that of older colleagues. A Gen Z Individual calling out his manager in public is not more or less professional than a manager calling out his Gen Z employee in public. Publicly calling someone out, whether subordinate or superior, is rarely constructive because, in the long run, it can damage the team relationship. When a Gen Z employee will call his manager out, he’ll be called direspectful, mean and emotionally immature, everybody will assume that he has to go to the manager office and talk nicely and quietly when he has a concern, but when a manager does it, he is excused because he is giving “feedback.” or it is just within his power. My answer to those people? Don’t start a game if you do not want to play until the end. Public shaming erodes trust, morale, and psychological safety. A private, respectful dialogue should always be the standard for everyone. It is not a privilege for managers and HRs; the message Gen Z is sending to companies is “an eye for an eye.”, if you feel like it’s ok to talk to me that way, then it should be okay for you too.

Another concern people have is that this “lack of professionalism” from my generation does not spare clients or customers, which highly bothers companies because most of the time, a dissatisfied client is a client who does not come back, but according to the International Labour Organisation, over 60% of customer-facing employees globally report verbal abuse from customers. According to the USDAW Union (UK, 2021 retail survey), frontline retail and hospitality workers under 25 are 25% more likely to experience rude or aggressive customer behavior. 67% of young employees feel undervalued or unprotected by HR when dealing with abusive clients. Faced with those workplace challenges, we simply do not believe in a culture where customers buy our silence to their inappropriate behaviour, so we speak up, and because we put ourselves first, like companies put themselves first, there is a conflict of interest.

Gen Z employees are twice as likely to quit a job over mistreatment by customers or management, compared to Millennials. Over 75% say they would walk away from a toxic work culture, even if it paid well. What companies and managers call “lack of professionalism”, “lack of communication”, “lack of motivation” and “poor engagement” are just symptoms of job dissatisfaction, no more, no less. And even if you keep nurturing the culture of discrimination against younger generations in the hiring process, guess what? In about 15 years, we will replace all of you, so change your company dynamic, and we will certainly change ours. Every single generation contains unprofessional people; therefore, labelling a single one as the reference of unprofessionalism is highly cynical.

We are young, we are fed up. And if companies put their own profits first, why shouldn’t we?