Soft Skills Crisis? Why Gen Z Struggles — and How Leaders Can Help

Innovative Connections’ Dr. Laurie Cure offers commentary on the soft skills crisis, why Gen Z struggles, and how leaders can help. This article originally appeared in Insight Jam, an enterprise IT community that enables human conversation on AI.

Soft skills have always played a quiet but powerful role in workplace success. After all, these are the often invisible qualities that allow people to collaborate, resolve issues, and lead with confidence — often the most essential elements for leadership success.

Communication, adaptability, time management, and emotional intelligence also fall into this category, and while they’re more complicated to define than technical skills, their impact is far from soft. In fact, lacking them can quickly lead to workplace breakdowns, and that’s the concern many companies are grappling with right now.

As Gen Z continues to enter the workforce, employers report that these young professionals often struggle with soft skills. Some label it a generational flaw, others blame the pandemic, and a few still hope it’s just a phase. In reality, it is likely a result of their newness in the workplace and the fact that they are still learning and building these skills, particularly as a digital generation.

Regardless of the cause, the question remains: how can leaders help Gen Z build these crucial capabilities?

What Happens When Soft Skills are Missing?

Leaders share the challenges younger workers experience with unprofessional interactions due to a lack of exposure to traditional workplace norms or the inability to manage peer-to-peer conflict in healthy ways. Many find it frustrating that Gen Z employees seek rapid career advancement without “putting in the time,” and leaders often lack the awareness that Gen Z operates at a quicker pace, which might require changes to traditional structures and long-held beliefs about how work is done.

The absence of soft skills doesn’t always trigger an immediate red flag. It’s not a glaring typo in a report or a failed deadline. It’s more subtle — sometimes ineffable — yet just as disruptive. It shows up as a team miscommunication that delays a product launch, a manager giving feedback only to be met with defensiveness, or a remote employee going quiet on Slack during a critical project.

In high-functioning, data-driven environments, these misfires quickly add up. A single error in communication or team coordination can slow momentum and lower morale. Without soft skills in play, even the most technically brilliant employee can become isolated or ineffective.

Why Gen Z is Catching Criticism

There’s a growing belief that Gen Z — those born between the late 1990s and early 2000s (though this year’s range is constantly shifting) — lacks the soft skills the previous generation had when entering the workplace. But to understand why, it’s essential to look at context, not character.

Gen Z didn’t just grow up with digital tools; they were immersed in them, making them the first generation of true digital natives. Text replaced talking, emails were replaced by emojis, and collaboration often happened in digital and virtual classrooms.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which interrupted in-person education, internships, and early job opportunities. Instead of learning through hallway chats and team meetings, many Gen Zers launched their careers through screens and virtual job training.

This means many of those in Gen Z missed out on the collaboration offered through real-time, face-to-face interaction. They weren’t given the same opportunities to stumble, recover, and grow through trial and error in professional settings, and those gaps didn’t just delay development but left a lot of young professionals feeling overwhelmed or unsure of workplace norms.

How Leadership Can Respond — Not React

Blaming Gen Z for lacking what they haven’t yet been taught doesn’t solve the problem. Instead, smart leadership teams focus on what they can do to fill in the gaps and prepare this generation for long-term success.

Ditch the Perfunctory Onboarding

Too often, onboarding is reduced to a checklist of passwords, HR forms, and software tutorials. However, onboarding is also the first chance to set expectations for workplace communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution. Investing a little more time in thoughtful, interactive onboarding can be incredibly advantageous in the long run.

Teach Through Doing — Not Telling

Soft skills develop through experience, so leaders should create environments where Gen Z employees can observe and practice these skills in real time. They are quick learners who will pick up on subtleties easily.  That might mean sitting in on tough meetings, joining client calls, or shadowing team leads. Think of these experiences as real-time workshops — not just tasks to get through.

Normalize Feedback & Coaching

Many Gen Z workers want to improve, but they don’t always know how to ask for feedback or process it when it’s delivered. Leaders can help by offering regular, constructive insights framed with clarity and empathy. Make feedback a natural part of the workflow, not a performance review surprise. Keeping the conversation a two-way dialogue promotes growth by encouraging safety.

Build Cross-Generational Mentorships

Bringing younger and older employees together can offer learning opportunities on both sides. Gen Z can pick up workplace habits and soft skills, while seasoned employees can gain insight into new technologies or trends. These partnerships work best when framed as collaborative — not hierarchical.

Create Room for Mistakes

People don’t become skilled communicators overnight. It takes stumbling, reflecting, and trying again. Leaders should create space where younger employees can fail safely — because every professional has had a difficult learning or two on their way to competence.

Embrace Gen Z’s strengths

While much of the conversation focuses on what Gen Z lacks, it’s equally important to recognize what they bring. This generation is tech-native, socially aware, and values-driven. Their instincts often push companies toward innovation and equity. Combined with well-developed soft skills, those traits can help shape a future workforce that’s competent, compassionate and drives better business results.

Helping Gen Z thrive doesn’t require lowering expectations or ignoring accountability. It requires meeting them where they are and guiding them forward with intention. The payoff is more than just smoother meetings or better communication — it’s a stronger, more resilient company culture that grows alongside its people.

And that? That’s not just advantageous. It’s necessary.