Gen Z Is Breaking Company Rules Twice as Much as Boomers

Gen Z is breaking the rules at work, and it's at twice the rate of Baby Boomers.

That's according to a new report from LRN Corporation, which discovered 22 percent of Gen Z respondents said they engaged in unethical conduct in the past year at work. This was in stark contrast to Baby Boomers, which only said that 9 percent of the time.

By 2025, Gen Z is set to become roughly 30 percent of the global workforce. They graduated amid a global pandemic and often have a more cynical view of the workplace, demanding higher wages and better work-life balance. If they can't find that, they also are not afraid to job hop, according to HR consultant Dan Space.

Altogether, many (23 percent) of the 8,500 global workers surveyed said "It is OK to break the rules if needed to get the job done," while 14 percent acknowledged they had engaged in behavior that violated their company's Code of Conduct or standards in the last year.

The misconduct wasn't going unnoticed by other workers either, as one in three survey respondents said they had observed misconduct or unethical behavior, with harassment, discrimination and employee health and safety violations topping the list. However, one-fifth of those didn't report any misconduct because they didn't think their company would do anything, while 36 percent feared retaliation.

The statistics around Gen Z's workplace misconduct arrive as many hiring managers are saying they avoid hiring the younger generation, which spans those from age 12 to 27.

In another survey, 40 percent of hiring managers admitted they had an age bias against Gen Z candidates. And nearly 80 percent of hiring managers said they worried about Gen Z's lack of experience as a younger generation. The survey also found 58 percent were worried about the generation's unprofessional attitude, and 63 percent expressed concern that they were known to job-hop.

Meanwhile, a Freedom Economy Index report conducted by PublicSquare and RedBalloon found 68 percent of small business owners said Gen Zers were the "least reliable" of all their employees.

One of the surveyed employers spoke of Gen Z's "absolute delusion, complete lack of common sense, and zero critical reasoning or basic analytical skills."

Other HR consultants, like Bryan Driscoll, say companies are likely concerned due to Gen Z's rightful push for more fair compensation and meaningful work.

"The societal promises made to prior generations of workers half a century ago don't exist today," Driscoll previously told Newsweek. "It's a failure of hiring managers and business leaders to interpret these traits in a vacuum as entitlement rather than advocacy for just workplace practices."

If employers do opt away from hiring Gen Z, there could be severe talent ramifications, as the younger generation often brings a new perspective and in-demand tech skills.

"Gen Z is one of the most informed, confident and no BS generation because they saw what happened to the millennials before them," Space told Newsweek.

"You can't intimidate them the way you could with millennials, nor do they have the Gen X apathy," Space said.