Trevor Laffan: Gen Zzzzzzz! You have to face up to life, kids, not stay in bed

For those of you who need reminding, Generation Z, or Zoomers as they’re sometimes described, are the generation born between 1997 and 2012.

They’re the first generation in the west to have grown up in an internet age, which accounts for Gen Z’s widespread social media presence.

They may well be comfortable in the virtual setting, but the real world appears to be causing them huge insecurity. It seems that leaving the house to go to work where they would have to deal with actual people is proving difficult for some of Gen Z.

Having to be at work for 9am is a step too far. They worry that they may not like the conversations taking place there either, or that they might have to engage in small talk, and what would they do then?

The mere thought of having to answer a phone is enough to send them to therapy.

The Times UK reported recently on a survey that found that 28% of Gen Z would drop the 9am to 5pm working day and replace it with flexible hours, and a third of them believe mental health days should be a standard workplace benefit as polling revealed they worry more about human interaction than artificial intelligence.

Working with unknown people, having to make small talk, anxiety about using the phone, and having to get up early every morning were the biggest sources of anxiety for young employees, the poll found.

They were also concerned about standard office interactions and 21% were dreading entering the workplace for the first time; 30% feared the prospect of sticking up for themselves, and 28% said the idea of early mornings and having to be on time filled them with dread.

Old-school office banter was considered inappropriate and offensive by half of respondents, and 68% wished they could work from home, while 59% said they struggled to work with colleagues from older generations.

Of the Gen Z workers surveyed, 18% thought they should have seats at the decision table and 13% wanted collaborative decision-making and de-centralised leadership.

What have we done to our young people?

The Gen Z kids appear to be broken as they struggle to deal with day to day living.

If they are under pressure now, wait until they grow up, get a mortgage, and have kids of their own with all that entails. How will they cope with all that when they can’t even answer the phone?

I was 20 years old when my parents dropped me off at the entrance to the Garda Training Centre in Templemore, Co. Tipperary. I stood outside the gate with a suitcase and 90 other guys on a cold winter’s day on December 5, 1979.

We were taken inside as a group to a recreation hall where we were seated, and for the next few hours, we received instructions on what was expected of us and how we were expected to behave.

We received specific instructions on how to make our beds. They were to be dressed in a certain way, and we were given a demonstration on how to do it properly.

The blankets were brown, hairy things with dark lines running horizontally through them. When they were folded for inspection, it had to be done in such a way that the lines would show at the fold.

They had to be stacked at the foot of the bed with the pillows placed on top. The lino-covered floors had to be clean and polished.

Our uniforms had to be clean, pressed with buttons, and shoes polished. Hair had to be kept neat and tidy, and no facial hair was allowed.

For the next six months, we would be subjected to daily inspections of ourselves, our uniforms and our rooms.

Sanctions were applied for any drop in standards, including a restriction on the free time we were allowed, which was limited at the best of times.

It was a challenging regime, and voices were often raised, but it brought the group of us together and we were better for it.

We looked out for each other too, and that continued long after we had left the centre. Friends of mine who joined the defence forces shared similar experiences.

As a young garda, I was expected to do my job. That’s what I signed up for and what I was trained to do.

Your emotional reaction when you encounter scenes of an unpleasant nature is something you can’t train for.

I dealt with five suicides in a two-month period during my service and nothing prepares you for coping in those circumstances.

Every policeman or woman will encounter a horrific situation at some stage in their career, and they will be expected to deal with it.

I remember on one occasion, early in the morning, having to remove a body from the river that had been there for some time. It was removed to the morgue and the paperwork was completed.

The city morgue in those days was in White Street and was completely unfit for purpose. There was no ventilation and the place stank.

Soon after that, we had to take our break and have our breakfast. As soon as we finished, it was time to head back out again to deal with the next call. Not every day was like that but there were plenty of difficult times and we got on with it.

The men and women of the fire service did their bit too and they also had plenty of tough days.

So, it gets up my nose a bit when I listen to all the whingeing from these Gen Z kids.

Looking for mental health days as standard practice, and how workplace interaction stresses them out, causing anxiety...

Give me a break.