Gen Z’s office snag: Young employees struggle to understand common workplace phrases

Joining the workforce for the first time can be daunting, but Gen Z are on the back foot, with the youngsters struggling to get a grasp on everyday work slang. Photo / Getty Images

Gen Z is allegedly entering the workforce on the back foot - and the reason might surprise you.

According to new research, the language barrier forming between the younger and older generations is creating quite a tizz in the office.

Four out of 10 Generation Z employees are clueless when it comes to the meanings behind commonly used workplace sayings such as ‘bite the bullet’ and ‘back to the salt mines’.

Visualisation platform Rethinkly conducted a study which found that workers under the age of 26 are more comfortable when phrases such as ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘take this offline’ are used in the workplace.

Other phrases that Gen Z struggle to understand are ‘cut the mustard’, ‘flogging a dead horse’, ‘throw in the towel’ and ‘burning the midnight oil’.

‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ and ‘what’s the beef’ also joined the list of common sayings that Gen Z can’t hack.

More than four in 10 Gen Z workers don’t know the meaning behind common workplace phrases. Photo / Getty Images

Laurence Brand, a 22-year-old digital designer from London, recalled an interview that was conducted by a panel of 50-year-old people.

“They were great, but they kept saying things I’d never really heard before, and I had to bluff my way through the interview for the most part,” he revealed to the Sun.

“One asked what I’d do if another worker didn’t ‘cut the mustard’.

“I must have looked a bit blank until they told me that it meant someone who wasn’t performing well.”

Brand confessed he was lucky to get the job despite the misunderstanding, noting that there was at least a 10-year age gap between him and the youngest employee, proving that the workplace’s general age was much older.

He also revealed that, a lot of the time, he had no clue what his older work colleagues were saying.

The co-founder of Rethinkly, Andrew Jackson, claims most obstacles in the office are a result of poor communication.

What’s more, Jackson added communication challenges directly correlate with factors such as morale, commitment and productivity within the workspace.