Gen Z Is Missing These Crucial Skills According To Gen X, Millennials, And Boomers, And It Might Come Back To Haunt Them

As each new generation emerges, they bring unique changes in attitudes, values, and behaviors that set it apart from the previous generation.

However, each generation tends to believe it is superior to the last, sometimes even criticizing the one after it.

While Gen Z might be a tech-savvy generation, the BuzzFeed community says they are missing out on some important life skills.

So, I asked the BuzzFeed Community, "Gen X, Millennials, and Boomers, spill which essential skills Gen Z doesn't know and why it could backfire soon?" Here's the feedback:

1."Younger people under age 40 have no social filter in the workplace. They just let everything out without even thinking and constantly oversharing. It's embarrassing. It comes across as always seeking attention and validation to us Gen X folks."

2."I was just talking about this while getting my nails done. Perseverance, delayed gratification, and patience. Younger generations are getting frustrated and giving up on things way too easily.

3."My husband is a telecom lineman who often has ground hands working under him who are hired straight from high school. I hear a lot of stories that make me scratch my head, but one of my favorites was when his new guy (around 18, I think) had his lace-up work boots improperly tied. He basically hadn't laced them at the top where it transitions from eyelets to hooks. My husband tells him to go sit down and tie his boots properly. The kid disappears behind the truck for a few minutes, then returns with his laces exactly the same. My husband realized this kid did not know how to lace his boots, so he showed him. Now, everyone calls that kid 'laces.'"

4."Knowing how to be polite (holding the door for the next person to exit, etc.), planning skills, problem-solving."

5."Apparently, they stopped teaching sex ed. I heard some of the kids at work talking about it, and one of the guys said he had to google on how to put on a condom. He's 23."

6."Knowing how to research, find information, and not only apply it but be able to apply it to other subjects. This is a problem with older generations, too, but I feel like Gen Z hasn't been taught this kind of ingenuity. Reading comprehension and media literacy. Reading or watching something and correctly processing and interpreting the information shown. It's lacking so severely in Gen Z that authors and writers are having to dumb down their work for people to understand it. We're losing subtly and depth because people need to be explicitly told something. We see this with a lot of online arguments where if you don't include a disclaimer excluding certain groups or making specific proclamations then that must mean it's everybody. And the use of AI is only going to make things worse."

7."What you are describing is something that you can see plague fandoms. A combination of 'the curtains are just blue' and 'everything has to be a moral lesson because fiction influences reality' absolutely nuked nuance from orbit. Once the 'need' for reading comprehension was gone, media literacy swiftly followed. What kills me is that it's actually not *hard* to teach people how to research and how to find information. It is admittedly harder to teach them how to evaluate that information and then how to apply it, though it can be done when focused on a topic the students really care about. Flipping Games and Film Theories are a really good way to introduce research, information discovery and evaluation, applying info, and more. But really, I think the root is people are lazy and argue in bad faith at worst, or are too self-focused and don't know how to connect with others at best."

8."I'm also unsure if this is anything, but I really think that poorly understood phone etiquette, or simply aversion to standard phone calls, is something to note. Our current social climate, at least in the US, really discourages taking phone calls. Phone calls are so inconvenient they are usually considered a method of last resort. Yet most elderly people have no option, say perhaps snail mail or showing up in person. Most office phones are very old-fashioned and are less than easy to learn. Transferring calls always gives me nerves! But this could also be me telling on myself. I never liked phone calls, as I never hear the people on the other end clearly, and I was always anxious about how to deliver my message clearly. I get anxious when I cannot see the other human. But this aversion has negatively impacted me in the workforce."

9."For business situations, I insist on emails. I can call and chat with friends, but if money and/or sensitive information is involved, I want a secure and encrypted email. (Plus, it comes with the benefit of a time stamp, so there is no quibbling about who said what when!) But absolutely - not all generations are digital and should be accommodated."

10."I had to gently tell an acquaintance that they have to be careful who they tell the mental health struggles to at work. I know she was searching not only for connection but also to justify why she struggled in that environment. But many people do not see it that way, and such personal info can be abused horribly. I think that openness is not horrible and that oversharing is just part of a desperate bid to connect and be validated. But workplace social filters are necessary, though they change from workplace to workplace. I personally think that everyone joining a workplace should start off by keeping everything at a surface level. Depth should be earned."

—deadpanclown49

11."Cursive, patience, comprehension, imagination, writing, spelling, communication, follow-through, determination, ability to research facts from reliable sources, basic math skills, money management, and finally etiquette."

12."Knowledge of how computers and tech actually function. Younger people use plenty of tech, but I don't see a lot of evidence that they actually know how it works."

13."Math. Oh, my goodness. I work front of house at a restaurant that has counter service, and the number of times I have to correct the kids' (16/17/18) change is excessive."

14."How to build and operate a desktop computer. It seems specific, but it will set back the computer tech industry without people buying components and building, pushing toward a monopoly among prefab desktop manufacturers. Knowing how to operate a desktop computer is critical for success in most jobs. A laptop just doesn’t cut it in a lot of fields. Knowing how to use both and for what purpose is important."

15."How to find information!! Gen Z checks comments or asks how to do/find something instead of thinking to look it up themselves. They struggle with thinking about how to locate things or research topics on their own. This leads to a lot of misinformation and spreading bad takes. If someone gatekeeps a restaurant or dress, it’s VERY easy to search keywords about what you see and figure it out. Gen Z lacks many of these independent research skills we used to think were second nature."

16."Writing structure — how to structure a formal email and construct an essay or research document. I've worked with a number of Gen Z's who don't know how to do this."

17."A sense of direction without Google Maps and how to talk to strangers. A couple of my coworkers are in their early/mid-20s. They have told me that they wouldn't even know how to approach a stranger and wondered what we did before Google Maps. I said we got lost and hoped you'd run into a nice person who could give you correct directions."

18."Grammar. Y'all need to learn to WRITE properly. Sentence fragments, incorrect word use (e.g., assure v. ensure), missing thesis statements, and so on lead to poor communication. If you have a good idea but cannot communicate it, no one will know. 'Native' English speakers need to take 'ESL' classes and learn the rules. This is not about elitism; this is about being able to communicate clearly. (This might be true for other languages too, but I mostly read in English, so I have a biased perspective)."

19."I went to an all-girls Catholic school where they only mentioned condoms as a way to avoid STIs and STDs. They never showed us what they looked like or how to use them. This was in the early 2010s, so I'm dismayed to hear it's only gotten *worse*"

—deadpanclown49

20."Using a manual can opener."

21."Basic math skills. There are too many people who rely on a calculator to do simple math. If you pay with cash, the look of panic on the Gen Z worker’s face is eye-opening. They don’t know how much money to give back to you, and half of the time, they give you too much change. The next generation thinks learning how to do a new skill is pointless because a machine will do it for them. The future is doomed."

22."I’ve noticed millennials were blessed with being raised in the ‘troubleshooting’ years, on the cusp of a natural evolution of technology and true ingenuity. With Gen Z, I've witnessed that if technology is not fully automated or if they come across a technical issue that needs attention, they pretty much just give up. They would rather get a new phone instead of attending to a simple issue with their current phone. But if your first phone was a Nokia 3310, you appreciate the true value of a smartphone enough to fix it instead of replacing it. Both the older and younger generations are the result of fully formed technical ideas to a point where they aren’t interested in learning more than they currently know."

"But millennials are the test subjects. We went on a ride along with the engineers creating these ideas, going through each phase and learning how to navigate technology at every stage of development. I strongly believe being a millennial has given me expert problem-solving skills under any circumstance, and that is something I don’t see in younger or older generations."

—Anonymous, Age: 36

23."Learning how to cook. Technology has made it way too easy for them to twiddle their thumbs and order takeout from DoorDash, GrubHub, etc. When shit hits the fan and phone service gets wiped out, they're gonna starve to death."

24."How to GIVE directions, especially if an older person who doesn’t have a smartphone needs to know. Or if you live in an area with poor cell signal. Do they know how many miles to travel? What cross streets are named?"

25."Make change, write a check, balance a checkbook, correctly spell a word, learn cursive writing"

26."Being able to perform simple car maintenance. Being able to change oil, change a tire, wiper blades, and filter changes. This can save you a lot of money in the long haul."

—Anonymous, Age: 38

27.And finally, "Driving manual cars. These days, most cars are auto-transmission, but a few are still manual types, like trucks or sports cars."

What do you think of these responses, do you agree? Let me know in the comments.

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length/clarity.