If you’ve scrolled through LinkedIn lately, you’ve probably seen the hot takes: Gen Z can’t make phone calls. They avoid eye contact. They’d rather quit than attend an in-person meeting. The narrative is everywhere—this generation is communication-deficient, unprepared for the workplace, and struggling to connect in meaningful ways. But before we write off an entire generation, let’s pause and ask a better question: Are they really losing communication skills, or are they simply communicating differently than the world is used to?
The answer, like most things involving generational dynamics, is far more nuanced than the headlines suggest.
In The Workplace
Let’s start with what employers are actually seeing. Gen Z entering the workplace without critical soft skills can hinder effective communication, collaboration and relationship-building, impacting engagement, productivity and performance. The numbers back this up: at least 35% of project managers say Gen Z lacks advanced tech skills and struggles with core soft skills like communication.
The gaps show up in specific ways. Discomfort with live conversations, combined with limited workplace exposure during the pandemic, created noticeable gaps in soft skills like verbal clarity, assertiveness, and confident decision-making. Perhaps most telling, 65% of Gen Z admit they don’t know what to talk about with their co-workers.
These aren’t small numbers, and they’re not imaginary problems. Managers are noticing. HR departments are concerned. But context matters enormously here.
Here’s what often gets overlooked in the “Gen Z can’t communicate” discourse: this generation had their crucial formative years fundamentally disrupted. High school, college, first jobs, early career development—all of it happened during or immediately after a global pandemic that shut down face-to-face interaction for extended periods.
Previous generations learned workplace norms through osmosis—observing office dynamics, navigating awkward small talk at the coffee machine, making mistakes in low-stakes social situations. Gen Z missed many of these informal learning opportunities. They didn’t lose communication skills; they simply didn’t get the same chances to develop certain traditional workplace communication patterns.
It’s less about inability and more about lack of exposure.
They’re Not Communication-Deficient, They’re Communication-Different
Gen Z isn’t struggling to communicate—they’re exceptionally skilled at it, just in formats that don’t always align with traditional workplace expectations.
Gen Z is comfortable with concise, direct communication, whether through instant messaging or short, to-the-point emails, mastering the art of getting straight to the point without unnecessary fluff. They’re efficient communicators who value clarity over formality.
Moreover, Gen Z values two-way communication and thrives on interactivity, with interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions becoming essential parts of their media experience. They don’t just consume information; they expect to engage with it, respond to it, and contribute to the conversation.
This generation is brilliant at visual communication, meme-based storytelling, and conveying complex emotions through digital shorthand. They can build communities, mobilize movements, and create content that reaches millions—all without picking up a phone.
The challenge isn’t that Gen Z can’t communicate. It’s that they’re fluent in one communication language and now need to become bilingual, learning the traditional workplace dialect while maintaining their digital fluency.
Gen Z brings enormous communication strengths to the workplace—they’re authentic, value transparency, adapt quickly to new platforms, and excel at creating engaging digital content. These aren’t trivial skills in our increasingly digital world.
Bridging the Gap
The solution isn’t to shame Gen Z for their communication style or expect them to simply “figure it out.” It’s also not to force workplaces to completely abandon traditional communication norms. The answer lies somewhere in the middle.
Workplaces can help by providing explicit training in areas that previous generations learned informally: how to structure a professional phone call, navigate small talk, read body language in meetings, and communicate assertively in person. These aren’t innate skills—they’re learned behaviors that previous generations simply had more opportunities to practice.
Gen Z, for their part, can recognize that while their communication strengths are valuable, certain workplace contexts still require more traditional approaches. Learning to navigate both spheres makes you more versatile, not less authentic.
Every generation faces criticism for how they communicate. Millennials were “too dependent on text messages.” Gen X was “too cynical and detached.” Baby Boomers were “too formal and hierarchical.” Communication styles evolve with technology, culture, and context. That’s not decline—it’s adaptation.
