Challenges and Perceptions of Post-2000s Employees: A Changing Work Landscape

University graduates preparing to enter the professional world.

In recent years, you may have seen lots of online posts and articles criticizing young employees born after the year 2000, often referred to as "00s." But why are these young workers getting so much flak, especially when many of them are just starting their careers and are as young as 23? What is it about these young workers that's causing so much grief to their detractors?

To this end, we spoke with current university students to determine whether they are apprehensive about negative reviews potentially impacting their job search after graduation.

Certain quarters, allegedly they are bosses or HR staff, claimed that these young workers have a bad work attitude, do not cooperate well in teams, are selfish and even disrespect their employers. These sort of criticisms are most noticeable on Chinese social media platforms, including those in Malaysia, China, and Taiwan.

29% of young people in Generation Zmight change jobs quite often in the early stages of their careers. (Photo Source: Randstad Malaysia)

A study by Randstad Malaysia in 2022 found that 29% of young people in Generation Z, aged 18 to 25, might change jobs quite often in the early stages of their careers to find employers that meet their expectations. So, what do they expect? Well, they are not mainly pursuing after high salaries. Instead, they want a good work-life balance and hope their employers offer healthcare and wellness benefits.

Of course, data is only one part of the story. To understand them better, I spoke to two 00s students at Taylor's University. Wang Yi Tong, a Chinese student studying Mass Communication, thinks that these young workers aren't afraid to be themselves because they're young and don't have responsibilities such as raising a big family yet. Even though they get criticized a lot, Wang believes smart bosses won't miss out on great employees just because of a few negative comments.

“I think that it is because youngsters nowadays have no need for any bills or mortgage, and parents will also support us when we are making any decision.” Wang said.

University students presently engaged in coursework.

Another student, Ho Jun Kit, who's studying Computer Science, believes that the negative image of 00s employees mostly comes from social media. He says that bosses might have had issues with their employees' work attitude before, but back then, social media wasn't as popular, so complaints about Generation X and Y workers didn't get as much attention. However, Ho admits he's more worried about the rise of artificial intelligence and how it might make it harder for young people to find jobs in the future.

“I think the biggest concern is more on AI replacing humans for work instead of attitude.” Ho said

While proponents of information freedom argue that it empowers individual citizens and promotes democratic ideals, leading them to oppose private media ownership and media regulation, the rise of computer-based interactive social media has profoundly transformed the way information is disseminated. It has achieved unprecedented levels of information diffusion, exceeding traditional print and broadcast media in terms of interactivity and frequency, and has also altered the way people interact.

The Oxford Internet Institute, in a report published in 2019, has noted that social network technologies in the digital age have significantly altered the scale, scope, and precision of information dissemination, leveraging advantages such as convenience, algorithms, auto-generation systems, and big data. Hence, Ho's argument holds merit.

Nevertheless, since the interviewees do not seem concerned that external perceptions of their "work attitude" will affect their future career prospects, perhaps we have been overly concerned.