While nearly all (95 per cent) generation Z employees say they’ve avoided posting their real opinions online because they believe it could hurt their career, 90 per cent say they’ve faced negative workplace consequences — including warnings, reprimands and conflicts — because of something they posted online through social media, according to a new survey by career website Zety.com.
The survey, which polled more than 900 U.S.-based gen-Zers, found two-thirds (67 per cent) said they’ve felt pressure from managers to connect online and 25 per cent said they’ve felt the same pressure from coworkers. Respondents said they were most likely to add a coworker or direct manager (57 per cent each) to their social media accounts, followed by a manager in another department (44 per cent), a subordinate (21 per cent) and an executive (nine per cent).
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It noted workers are taking deliberate steps to shape how they appear online and limit potential professional risk. Roughly seven in 10 (69 per cent) said they keep some or all of their social media platforms private, while nearly six in 10 (57 per cent) said they curate what they post to make it appear professional. Roughly a third said they maintain separate personal and professional accounts (34 per cent) and delete or archive old posts (30 per cent). A tenth (11 per cent) said they restrict their content to close friends only.
“What’s unfolding as gen Z social media consequences persist is a shift in how professional reputation is formed and evaluated in real time,” the survey noted. “Until clearer norms are established, employees are operating in an environment where perception can carry as much weight as performance.”
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