Business Owners Say Gen Z ‘Extremely Overwhelmed’: Poll

Business owners find that Gen Z employees appear to be the most overwhelmed generation at work, a Newsweek poll shows.

Linsey Lunny, CEO of Hidden Strength, told Newsweek that she views Gen Z workers as “extremely overwhelmed to the point that they shut down as a form of self-preservation.”

Why It Matters

Experts have blamed some of Gen Z’s work woes on a rise in “nonchalance” among the generation born between 1997 and 2012, which means they may be less inclined to show effort when it comes to both their work and love lives.

If they view ‘trying too hard’ as embarrassing, they may be less likely to earn a promotion or take on more of a responsibility at work. And in dating, this nonchalant attitude could prevent them from ever making the necessary steps to enter a relationship as people fight over who can act like they care less, creating “situationships” and expectations mismatch.

What To Know

Newsweek spoke to four business owners who all said they had all noted that Gen Z employees appeared to be more overwhelmed and disillusioned with their careers that previous generations.

None of four polled found Gen Z employee less ambitious or hardworking compared to other generations, and all the business people said they would still happily hire or promote a Gen Z candidate.

However, they did say they might have to change their management style to fit younger workers’ needs.

Jaya Jaya Myra, bestselling mind body wellness and consciousness author and the owner of Jaya Jaya Myra Productions, a New York City based communications agency, said she’s observed Gen Z to be driven by purpose, but that many seem disillusioned with the traditional benchmarks of success.

“If this emotional detachment becomes the norm, the cost will be high: missed opportunities for real intimacy, weaker team collaboration, and a more fragmented, transactional society in general, focused on hyper independence,” Myra told Newsweek.

Lunny said that she had found Gen Z’s “extreme” overwhelm could lead to “disengagement or job-hopping—not because they don’t care, but because they feel like they have to protect themselves in a system that feels unstable.”

“They are extremely ambitious and passionate. The pressure to succeed is completely overwhelming, and the constant comparison to something that is unreal can become too much for anyone. The expectations we put on Gen Z and therefore by default they put on themselves is something that needs to be addressed,” she added.

Stephanie Facey, the owner of seed subscription kit company Bloomin’ Bin in Austin, Texas, said her experiences with workers of different ages has varied, but Gen Z did display a more flaky disposition.

“I had a few Gen X I had to let go because they were using my flexibility as an excuse to never show up,” Facey told Newsweek. “Millennials and Boomers tended to be my best workers. I had one Gen Alpha that was one of my best and longest workers. Gen Z tended to not show up to interviews and the few I hired just flaked and stopped showing up within weeks.”

“I am not less likely to hire a Gen Z person,” Mylo Villanueva, the owner of Texas-based MYLO Obstacle Fitness, told Newsweek. “I just know that I have to be straight from the get go, not let anything slide, be clear with my expectations in the beginning… I think Gen Z can be ambitious. I think they are more entrepreneurial than any other generation. You just have to figure out what gets them motivated, what leadership style they respond to.”

Some of the issues in the workplace, and in their wider lives and relationship may be down to the rise in Gen Z nonchalance, according to David Robbins, behavioral expert and media analyst at EduBirdie. Google searches for “how to be nonchalant” spiked 241 percent this month, but Robbins is warning that nonchalant culture could actually be ruining Gen Z’s lives.

While Gen Z may have invented trends like quiet quitting or catfishing their employers, what this essentially amounts to is “self-sabotage,” said Robbins. “To fix it, Gen-Z should remember that work fulfillment, which they crave so much, never comes with detachment, but from investing effort into something that challenges us.”

While Gen Z’s nonchalance may work as a coping mechanism against the shock of layoffs and companies that don’t return any loyalty, it also could stop them from ever changing their own career situations.

“If you don’t try, you can’t fail,” Robbins told Newsweek. “But disengagement kills growth and blocks fulfillment. And if it goes too far, Gen Z risks building the exact kind of work lives they fear: uninspired, unchallenged, and unseen.”

Gen Z’s Nonchalance in Dating

On an interpersonal level, avoiding being seen as “chalant” can mean any sort of intimacy feels “cringe,” Robbins said.

“Nonchalance tears romance root and stem. It tells you to avoid appearing ‘pressed’ or ‘too into it,’ so you default to ironic detachment. Combine this with the challenges of digitalized dating, and you get an emotionally deprived generation starved for authentic connections.”

This leads to a rise in ghosting, “situationships” and general noncommitment, according to experts.

While a nonchalant approach might protect you from a heartbreak, there’s no way to build real relationships without vulnerability and the risk of rejection, Robbins said.

“To have a real connection, you need to risk embarrassment and hurting your feelings. Say what you feel, even if your voice shakes. And if you’re worried about being ‘too much,’ think this: if you are indeed too much for someone, then let them find someone less, don’t reduce yourself,” Robbins said.

Alex Reid, a 25-year-old field engineer living in Kyle, Texas, has experienced these issues firsthand.

While the relationships Reid had before the pandemic weren’t affected by ‘nonchalance’ culture, he’s been experiencing a far different dating pool after his most recent relationship of two and a half years ended.

“I’ve been finding that the dating pool is either emotionally unavailable, or emotionally immature,” Reid told Newsweek. “I worry that the unavailability of my generation is going to lead to a lack of genuine connections, and genuine and meaningful memories. Dating apps, among other forms of social media, are forcing us to live life for or with a screen, versus living for ourselves.”

The growing annoyance of finding only emotionally unavailable or nonchalant people in their age group could even cause them to look for older partners.

Avion Blackstone, a 37-year-old millennial living in Austin, Texas, said she’s noticed an increasingly frequent number of Gen Z “age-fish” their way into her dating pool by marking themselves as five to 10 years older on dating apps.

“When I ask them why exactly a 27 year old would be interested in a 37 year old they are all consistently saying, ‘Girls my age are all mean, crazy, or flaky,'” Blackstone told Newsweek.

Larger Socioeconomic Shifts in Dating

Jamie Date, an Austin-based dating coach with more than five years of experience, said Gen Z’s nonchalance in dating is a result of larger socioeconomic shifts, digital overwhelm, and evolutionary mismatch.

“Dating, in particular, has become a costly and often disheartening pursuit—especially for men,” Date said. “Despite evolving gender roles, men are still largely expected to play the role of provider. Yet, statistically, they’re earning less, owning fewer homes, and are falling behind their female peers in education, career status, and homeownership.”

While women’s biological chip in the dating game is still often tied to beauty and youth, there can be a disconnect as more and more men fail to offer the value as a provider and economic stability, Date said.

“That’s where cheap dopamine becomes the fallback. For women, it’s endless validation on social media that creates a perception of abundant romantic opportunity (even if it’s mostly surface-level),” Date said. “For men, it’s pornography—a false sense of sexual success without any of the vulnerability or effort real relationships require. Repeated exposure to porn conditions them to believe they can access sexual gratification with minimal effort, and this distorts how they view and approach real women.”

Evolutionarily, Date said women’s attraction is often lifestyle-based. They are drawn to men who are respected, well-connected, and contribute meaningfully to their communities. In the past, women could see men like this in local scenes, at places of worship, social circles, or shared community spaces.

“Now? That visibility is gone. Men are increasingly isolated, social circles are shrinking, and public gathering spaces are either disappearing or monetized,” Date said. “When women can’t see men in their element, attraction takes longer to build—and for many, it just doesn’t build at all.”

“The result? Widespread apathy, sexual disconnection, and a generation too anxious to try.”

Even friendships could suffer due to nonchalant culture.

“The nonchalance epidemic means that friendships have gone on autopilot: meme exchanges, vague ‘we should hang; texts, and empty conversations that avoid anything that requires effort. Everyone’s a “bestie,” but it’s somehow the loneliest generation,” Robbins said.

What People Are Saying

David Robbins, behavioral expert and media analyst at EduBirdie, told Newsweek: “The pandemic took away the last chances for real-life socializing during key years when people figure out who they are by being around others. The psychological response is clear: when vulnerability consistently leads to disappointment, and external systems appear fundamentally unreliable, emotional detachment becomes a coping mechanism. So it makes perfect sense why caring feels dangerous to them, and trying too hard and failing feels worse than not trying at all.”

Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek: “Gen Z has witnessed their parents go through a lot of economic turmoil. The oldest of Gen Z typically have younger Baby Boomer and older Gen X parents. They saw their parents struggle through the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the COVID Crash in 2020, and likely heard the horror stories of the Dot Com Crash of 2001. They saw their parents downsized and pushed out of jobs at rates unheard-of by older Baby Boomers and the Greatest Generation. They may be looking at all of it and asking, ‘For what?'”

HR consultant Bryan Driscoll told Newsweek: “I think the entire framing of Gen Z as nonchalant misses the point. What some perceive as apathy is actually self-preservation. Gen Z watched their parents burn out for companies that laid them off without hesitation. They grew up during recessions, school shootings, climate collapse, and now they’re being told they don’t care enough. Maybe they’re just done pretending that corporate loyalty is a two-way street. At work, what looks like indifference is a boundary.”

What Happens Next

While there could be long-standing issues in a generation that embraces a ‘nonchalant’ attitude, not everyone believes that Gen Z’s nonchalance will end up working against them in their careers in the long term.

“For what it’s worth, every older generation has looked at the younger generations and felt they were lazy, lackadaisical, irresponsible—pick your derision,” Powers said. “Perhaps it is just Gen Z’s time to be complained about, and in another 30 years they will be making the same complaints about the 25-year-olds of the future.”

Update 05/14/25, 11:06 p.m.: This article was updated with comment from Driscoll.