The pandemic and its ensuing lockdowns forced Gen Z to miss out on vital experiences as they spent almost two years of college and/or high school shuttered at home. They were robbed of the closure of graduation ceremonies, the fun of college parties, and the hands-on experience of internships and first jobs. But they still had to go to work.
Even that was an unexpectedly big letdown as the same lockdowns wound up dramatically hurting their soft skills. The excitement of a first day at work was quickly tempered for recent graduates when, instead of going to a ritzy office bustling with employees, they found themselves stuck in their childhood bedroom talking to a bunch of floating heads on Zoom. Thanks to remote work, instead of navigating the time-honored tradition of making new friends at work, they probably hung out with their parents more than any young person eager to enter the early stages of adulthood would have liked. The Big Four consulting firms see an emerging market in training Gen Z with proper workplace etiquette.
