• GenZ and its expectations for the workplace were a talking point at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
• Excessive screen time has dulled their creativity and attention span, experts say.
• Some business leaders say it's important to meet employees where they are.

Five generations are working side-by-side in offices for the first time, but the youngest cohort is bringing new expectations and boundaries to the workplace that break with traditional conventions employers are used to.

"There's very widespread dissatisfaction and concern about young employees," Jonathan Haidt, a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business and author of "The Anxious Generation," told Business Insider at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last week.

Countless hours of staring at screens have damaged young Gen Z employees' ability to function well in the workplace, he said.

Many young people are almost constantly using social media, Haidt told BI, which often means they "never have a moment to reflect, they don't have time to mull things over, they don't have time to be creative."

Social media has diminished their ability to pay attention and blocked opportunities for growth, he said. "Those people are largely taking themselves out of the game. They're they're much less likely to ever amount to anything. They're less likely to develop social skills, less likely to marry."

Attention deficit

Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation" explores how social media and smartphones have transformed younger generations. Its publication in March 2024 sparked fresh concerns and conversations about the mental health crisis affecting young people.

Haidt told BI that he now thinks he understated the scope of the problem.

"It's not just mental health," he said. "The decimation of human attention around the world might even be a bigger cost to humanity than the mental health and mental illness epidemic."

The NYU business professor previously explained on an episode of "The Tim Ferriss Show" that young people's attention scarcity is proving an issue as they enter professional life. They're not developing well in the workplace, and managers are finding it hard to work with them, he said.

Martin Sorrell echoed Haidt's comments about Gen Z's attention span on a Davos panel chaired by BI's Spriha Srivastava titled "Mass Events, Massive Gains?"

The founder of WPP, one of the world's largest advertising agencies, said events must evolve to appeal to Gen Z consumers who won't tune in for an entire football game or golf tournament.

Sorrell said that "getting them to watch things is totally different because they watch highlights," adding that "they're multitasking even when they're watching highlights."

At Davos, business leaders were focused on how to adapt to the changing culture Gen Z is bringing to offices.

Haidt's biggest piece of advice for employers and managers is to explain the concept of anti-fragility to their Gen Z employees.

Anti-fragility is the idea that "we grow from adversity and effort," Haidt told BI. That means giving employees direct feedback and challenges so they can learn, develop, and address their shortcomings.

Talk and listen

Haidt added that Gen Z is not in denial and are aware of the problem.

"Talk to your new employees and listen to their concerns, and then make it clear that you want them to succeed and you're going to help them succeed," he said.

Ravin Jesuthasan, a prominent future-of-work researcher and author of "The Skills-Powered Organization," told BI that while Gen Z's attention span has shrunk, individuals are not less creative.

"Maybe the traditional things we relied on for creativity are not there, but I think that this next generation have different ways of engendering their creativity," he said, pointing to GenAI as an example.

Their alternative mindset and worldview can also have benefits for intergenerational teams in the workplace, Jesusthasan said.

Whether or not companies are ready to adapt, GenZ's influence on the world of work is only growing.

Gen Z will make up 30% of the workforce by 2030, EY's global chair and CEO Janet Truncale told a Davos panel titled "Gen Z changes the map."

At EY, the pace of generational transformation is even greater, with Gen Z accounting for about 70% of the workforce by 2030, she said.

To adapt to the changing workforce, it's crucial to recognize that Gen Z is "holistically different" in how it learns and communicates.

Truncale said that doesn't mean Zeds are less effective. "I see the same level of work output and ideas and innovation that are coming from that generation as mine. We've got to meet our employees where they are."

She said that means meeting their needs with flexibility, intergenerational collaboration, and an ongoing dialogue about what workers require.

EY recently launched a new employee value proposition with a strong focus on wellness, and the firm has also started running training sessions through social media and podcasts.

"You're going to start to see more and more CEOs talking about strategy and the vision of their companies through videos while they're running or exercising," Truncale said.

There are traditional conventions and company values that are important to pass down to younger employees, she added. "But there's just as much that we can be taking from the younger generations. We shouldn't be living a life of comparison."

• Christopher Walken, 81, says he doesn't own a phone and has never emailed.
• He even watches "Severance" — an AppleTV+ show he stars in — on DVDs that the production team provides.
• He isn't the only celebrity who has spoken about his technological preferences.

"Severance" actor Christopher Walken isn't much of a tech user.

In a Wall Street Journal interview published Monday, Walken said his relationship with technology is almost nonexistent.

"I don't have technology. I only have a satellite dish on my house. So I've seen 'Severance' on DVDs that they're good enough to send me. I don't have a cellphone. I've never emailed or, what do you call it, Twittered," Walken told the Journal.

Despite that, he doesn't feel left out in a world where people are addicted to their devices.

"I've never had a watch either. But if I need the time, I just ask somebody. Likewise, once in a while when I need to use a phone, I just ask if I can borrow one," Walken said.

He also remembers how "phones rang in the theater" in 2010, disrupting a play he was performing in.

"If not that, they're taking a video of your performance. I thought, that's it, it's over. I can't do it anymore," Walken said, recalling the incident.

This isn't the first time the "Dune: Part Two" actor has spoken about not using phones or computers.

During a 2020 appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Walken clarified that he wasn't "opposed" to modern technology, just that he "got to it too late."

"I think I'm right at a certain age where it just passed me by, and I never got involved in it because it would be strange to have. Any 10-year-old would be much better at it than I am," Walken told Colbert.

Walken also isn't the only celebrity who has spoken about their technological preferences.

In 2023, Christopher Nolan said he doesn't own a smartphone and writes his scripts on a computer without internet access so he doesn't get distracted.

"I think technology and what it can provide is amazing. My personal choice is about how involved I get," Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter. "If I'm generating my material and writing my own scripts, being on a smartphone all day wouldn't be very useful for me."

During a 2024 appearance on the "Therapuss with Jake Shane" podcast, Ed Sheeran told host Jake Shane that he "hasn't had a phone since 2015."

"I just was losing real-life interaction, so I got rid of it; I got an iPad, I moved everything onto email, which I reply to once a week," Sheeran said.

In recent years, there's been a lot of discussion around screen time and smartphone use, particularly among kids and teens. Even tech execs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs raised their kids with limited access to tech devices like smartphones.

However, research has shown that excessive screen time also negatively affects adult brains, leading to symptoms such as impaired concentration and memory.

A 2019 study has found that excessive smartphone use may also increase the risk of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional disorders in adolescents and young adults.

A representative for Walken did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

• When we talk about screen time rules, we usually think about giving them to kids.
• However, I didn't realize how much my kids were affected by my screen time.
• As a family, we decided everyone would limit their use of screens, including parents.

There's so much discussion about kids and screens — how much is too much, what's healthy, and so on. I began to tune out all the advice a while ago because it was just another weight in the mental load of parenting, and it often led to more guilt than anything helpful.

Yet, I still noticed when my kids became dysregulated after certain types of screen time, and I didn't want that for them or for the rest of the household. Rather than trying to figure it out on my own, I brought our kids into the conversation. What they brought up was eye-opening and really helpful.

Screens weren't a problem for just the kids

One of the things the kids mentioned was that their father and I were also often on our screens, specifically our phones. They were confused by the fact that we essentially had no rules around our screen use, and they were also frustrated that sometimes they wanted our full attention but couldn't get it. This shifted my perspective and I realized that our conversation couldn't be just about their screens but had to be about the whole family's habits.

My partner and I often used our phones for things like answering Slack messages or texting people about all the life things that come up, but that wasn't clear to our kids. And it honestly didn't make a difference to them. They wanted undivided attention at certain times.

They were also refreshingly honest about how they felt after different screen time uses — the good, the bad, and the unknown. Most surprising, perhaps, was that they were very open to hearing our advice on how to handle screen time better, and they brought some great solutions to the table.

I changed my screen time rules, and it wasn't easy

One of the most interesting aspects of this conversation was that we all proposed our own screen time rules. The kids each came up with a thoughtful plan that my spouse and I approved after all the details were worked out, and I also created rules for myself. These included putting my phone away on our charging station between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., not wearing my Apple Watch when we were all together, and setting Apple's app limits on ones that were a time-suck (looking at you, Instagram).

From the silly (did you really stand all day if Apple Watch doesn't say you did?) to the practical (sometimes I miss messages from people I wish I had answered sooner), it was challenging at first. But ultimately I got used to this new habit, and it was worth it.

Our family has benefited from our new rules

I've seen firsthand how modeling awareness and good screen habits for my kids has helped them have more awareness and self-regulation. The rules don't seem arbitrary, and they apply to everyone. This has lessened the tension around screen time in our house, and while I can't say the house is magically calmer — three young kids are living in it, after all — I can say that the yelling these days is more play-based and less meltdown-based, which is a big win.

While the rules are different for each of us, based on age and what we are doing with our screens, our kids are learning that boundaries around screen time are healthy. My hope is that this will serve them well in the future. And having them involved in the conversation has helped empower them to take more ownership of their screen use. For me, the end goal has never been eliminating screens but finding a better balance and more harmony as a family. And I'm happy to say we achieved that. For now, anyway.