NextGen

Gen Zers Vent About Their Employers Online More Than Other Employees

GettyImages-934913106 Woman Laptop Computer Frustrated Sad

Forty-eight percent of Gen Zers have posted negatively about their jobs on social media, according to video conferencing company Owl Labs’ 8th Annual State of Hybrid Work report

Gen Z’s percentage is much higher than that of the rest of the workers; 34% of all U.S. workers say they vented online about their employers, Newsweek reported.

Posting negatively included posting on personal social channels such as Instagram and X (19%); posting on personal TikTok (15%); recording conversations or meetings with employer (15%) and posting anonymously on sites such as Glassdoor (13%), the report said.  

"What we're seeing is a generation refusing to put up with the same workplace injustices that previous generations might have accepted," said human resources consultant Bryan Driscoll when interviewed by Newsweek. "Are some workers just looking to be snarky and unhappy where they are? Sure. But generally, these acts aren't about being ungrateful or entitled. These acts show awareness."

Newsweek reported that these complaints arise as firms increasingly require office work and abandon prior work-from-home or hybrid policies. A quarter of workers (25%) also said firms changed their remote or hybrid work policy.

The report shows that 62% of workers work in the office in 2024. By contrast, 27% have a hybrid schedule and 11% work fully remotely.

Driscoll noted that Gen Zers posting critical comments online about their firms can actually reveal outmoded work practices and inequities.

He added that members of this generation do not feel obliged to pay their dues just because that is how it was done in the past. "They see their value, and if their employer doesn't, they're not going to quietly endure it."

Driscoll observed that companies that are reluctant to hire Gen Zers based on these stats should, instead of silencing these employees, worry more about the reasons why the employees are airing their grievances publicly.