by Charlotte Hazard
America’s newest entrants into the workforce aren’t making an early favorable impression: 68% of small business owners believe that Generation Z employees are the “least reliable” of their workforce, according to a new Freedom Economy Index survey.
The survey, a product of the Red Balloon job site and the Public Square shopping site, was released Thursday and also found that less than 4% of businesses found that Gen. Z “most aligns with their workplace culture.”
About 71% of employers also said Gen Z workers were the most likely to suffer a workplace mental health issue.
Gen Z are Americans born to members of Generation X or older Millennials between the mid-1990s and early 2010s.
Red Balloon CEO Andrew Crapuchettes said that his advice for small businesses to avoid getting “unreliable” Gen. Z workers is to avoid skimping on the hiring process.
“If you get the wrong person within your four walls, it’s going to cost you a significant amount of money,” he said during a LinkedIn live event hosted by Just the News Editor in Chief John Solomon. “What we’ve been telling employers is ‘you need to be putting the time and effort into making sure that you’re doing the hiring process well.'”
The Freedom Economy Index conducted a survey of small business owners last month that found that the economy was taking a toll on small businesses as over 30% of employees who work at small businesses have taken on second jobs and in some cases, a third job.
This month’s survey found that 67% of employers believe a recession is on the horizon (down from 78% in February), and they are still being very cautious with their money and only make necessary purchases for their business.
“Optimism levels were actually regional,” PublicSquare CEO Michael Seifert explained during the event. “So if you were a business owner in a red state, you actually polled above 35% in terms of optimism for the future of your business. But if you’re in a blue state, it’s half of that.”
The Freedom Economy Index is a project of PublicSquare and RedBalloon. The survey was conducted March 15-19 and had a margin of error of +/- 3% with a confidence level of 95 percent.
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Charlotte Hazard is a 2022 Liberty University alumni who graduated with a major in journalism and a minor in government.
