Awakened Gen Z workers terrify their millennial bosses with a series of awakened and authorized demands, CEOs revealed.

CEO of sex toy company Unbound, Polly Rodriguez, 34, said she was stunned when her co-founder contacted her to tell her that a young social media manager called on a Saturday to ask how the start was -up of vibrators would support Black Lives Matter.

Gen Z’er did so in June 2020, days after George Floyd’s assassination, with the two bosses surprised by the contact, assuming a staff member would only make contact on weekends in case emergency. Unbound duly hired a diversity, equity and inclusion manager to train staff and started a fundraiser for a group that supports sex workers of color.

Commenting on the attitude of the Gen Z’ers, or “dot com kids” – those born between 1997 and 2021 – Rodriguez told the New York Times: “When I entered the workforce, I wouldn’t have delegated to my boss Gen Z doesn’t hesitate to do it …

“Some young ex-employees are much more willing to burn bridges.

“For me, it’s short-sighted. Is it worth it to be gratified on social media and then reject someone who could continue to help you professionally? ”

Meanwhile, lab-testing startup CEO Lola Priego, 31, was shocked to receive a rating on workplace messaging service Slack from a Gen Z employer giving her a rating. task.

Priego says she was tickled by the edict and appreciated that her subordinate saw her as approachable – but admitted that another senior colleague was appalled at the lack of respect for the traditional hierarchy in the workplace.

By 2025, Gen Z will represent 27% of the global workforce, predicts the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Lola Priego, 31, CEO of test start-up Base (pictured), received a Slack message from a Gen Z employee giving her a job to do

Ali Kriegsman, 30, co-founder of retail tech company Bulletin, still doesn’t know how to react when her employees started asking for paid time off for illnesses her generation would endure, like menstrual cramps and menstruation. anxiety attacks.

She said a typical call, usually sent by text, reads: “Hey, I woke up and I’m not mentally well – I’m not going in today.”

While Kriegsman admires their efforts to prioritize their well-being, she knows that distributing an extra PTO could reduce profits. She appreciates the effort to separate work and personal life, a gap that is difficult to maintain in the digital age.

Like other managers, however, she is caught off guard by the generation’s outspoken way of speaking out and how they flout the social norms of the traditional hierarchy of work. The schism is great although many bosses are young millennials themselves – those born between 1981 and 1996.

“As an entrepreneur, sometimes I want to step back from managing my team because my period makes me super hormonal,” she told The Times. “But I’m in a position where I have to get through.”

Tero Isokauppila, 37, told The Times that a junior staff member at his food company urged him to post a black square showing his support for the movement on his social media.

Maternity startup co-founder Oula recalled Slack messages from one of her youngest employees asking what the company could do in solidarity with Asian Americans after a series of shootings at spas in the Atlanta area.

“You talk to old people and they’re like, ‘Dude, we’re selling tomato sauce, we’re not selling politics,’ said Gabe Kennedy, 30, founder of herbal supplement company Plant People. “Then you have young people who say to themselves: ‘These are political tomatoes. This is political tomato sauce’.”

Kennedy said that although his team of 10, mostly millennials, have rigid office hours, often working late nights and sharing Chinese take-out while leaning into customer feedback, his younger employees prefer to set their own schedules.

A Gen Zer who interviewed Kennedy for a full-time job, he said, asked why she had to clock in got an eight-hour day when she could finish her day’s chores earlier – Kennedy told her said the role was to be a nine to five job.

“The older generations were much more used to pointing the clock,” Kennedy told The Times.

“You talk to old people and they’re like ‘Dude, we sell tomato sauce, we don’t sell politics,’ said Gabe Kennedy, 30, founder of herbal supplement company Plant People (pictured “Then you have young people who say to themselves: ‘These are political tomatoes. This is political tomato sauce’.”

It was: “I go up the ranks and I get my pension and my gold watch.” Then, for millennials, it was, “There’s still a desk, but I can play ping-pong and drink nitro coffee.” ‘

“For the next generation, it’s: ‘Holy cow, I can make a living posting on social media when and how I want. “

Many of these young workers have been emboldened by the work-from-home revolution sparked by COVID, which has seen many businesses rocked by fights among staff who do not appreciate the order to return to the office.

“These younger generations crack the code and say to themselves’ Hey guys it turns out we don’t have to do it like these old people tell us we have to do it” “, Colin Guinn, 41, co-founder of robotics company Hangar Technology, told The Times.

“We can really do what we want and be so successful. And we old people ask ourselves, ‘What’s going on? ”

“These younger generations crack the code and say to themselves ‘Hey guys it turns out we don’t have to do it like these old people tell us we have to do it'”, Colin Guinn (pictured), 41 – One-year-old co-founder of robotics company Hangar Technology, told The Times.

Ali Kriegsman, 30, co-founder of Bulleting receives texts from her young employees who say they are too anxious to work. “As an entrepreneur, sometimes I want to step back from managing my team because my period makes me super hormonal,” she told The Times. “But I’m in a position where I have to get through”

Andy Dunn, founder of millennial favorite clothing brand Bonobos (pictured), was rocked after a Gen Zer was instructed to flag his current book for callous language – the awake reviewer left 1,100 comments on documents in just one day.

Andy Dunn, founder of millennial favorite clothing brand Bonobos, was rocked after a Gen Zer was tasked with flagging his book in progress for callous language – the awake reviewer left 1,100 comments on the documents in just a day.

“I’m very sure I’m not cool,” Dunn, 42, told The Times. “I came to accept it. “

Dunn recounted the times he tried to increase his sensitivity to gendered language, saying “people” or “all of you” instead of “guys”.

“I’m like ‘let’s all go’ even though I’m from Illinois,” the entrepreneur told The Times.

On June 19, a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of African-American slaves in the United States in 1865, his young employees asked Dunn if they had a day off – although he did not consider it at the leaving he told them ‘of course we’re off.’