How smartphones killed Gen Z's creativity — and what bosses can do about it

• 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."