Parents of Gen Zers Show Up at Job Interviews With Them

Firing a 24-year-old once was awkward enough; having to repeat the conversation with his mom a few hours later was a new kind of HR headache. That Alaska staffing executive's story opens Ray A. Smith's piece in the Wall Street Journal on how some Gen Z workers now come with a parental "co-pilot" attached—one who emails recruiters, delivers resumes at job fairs, and even dials HR to contest performance reviews. "The first time it happened, I was appalled," says Steven Clark, the Alaska staffing exec, on taking phone calls from parents after their child didn't get a job offer. "Since then it's become more of a here-we-go-again reaction." A Zety survey cited by Smith even found that 1 in 5 Gen Z workers had a parent sit in on a job interview.

HR leaders say this kind of involvement can backfire, suggesting a lack of independence and raising concern that parents will keep inserting themselves. "You get a sense it's all hands on deck for some families," says Keith Wolf, the managing partner of a recruiting firm. Some employers are experimenting with ways to channel the helicopter-parent impulse, like designated "signing days" where questions are invited from moms and dads. How do the members of Gen Z feel about their parents sneaking their way into the process? Like every generation, they're not a monolith, but one 22-year-old weighs in with Smith that the trend "has really hurt my generation by creating this kind of stereotype that we need our hands held." To dig into why parents say they're doing it, and how companies are responding, read the full piece here.