6 'proper' workplace behaviors boomers insist on that Gen Z finds completely dehumanizing

I was sitting in a conference room last Tuesday, watching a 24-year-old software engineer get gently scolded for eating lunch at her desk during a client call. "It's unprofessional," her manager explained, trying to be nice about it. The engineer nodded, apologized, and later told me she was updating her LinkedIn.

"I'm not looking to work somewhere that treats eating like a character flaw," she said.

That moment stuck with me. What older generations call "professionalism," Gen Z increasingly experiences as dehumanizing corporate theater. They're not being lazy or entitled—they're calling out workplace rules that feel increasingly absurd.

The clash isn't really about age. It's about radically different ideas of what work should demand from us as humans. As Glassdoor's workplace analysis shows, this generational shift is creating massive tensions around everything from remote work to what counts as "professional."

Here are six workplace behaviors that show just how deep this divide runs.

1. The camera must always be on

Ever notice how different generations treat video calls?

For Boomers who spent decades building trust through face-to-face meetings, cameras on makes perfect sense. It's about engagement, connection, reading the room. How else do you build relationships?

But Gen Z? They've grown up curating their digital presence with surgical precision. They choose exactly when and how to be visible online. Being forced to broadcast their living situation for eight hours straight doesn't feel like collaboration—it feels like surveillance.

One junior analyst told me she spent $300 on a ring light and backdrop after her manager said her apartment looked "unprofessional" on calls. Let that sink in.

"My grandmother FaceTimes me while she's cooking dinner," she said. "But my employer needs to see my face to trust I'm working? That's not connection—that's control."

The disconnect runs deep. Boomers see being visible at work was just part of showing up. Gen Z considers forced visibility invasive—especially when they're simultaneously being told their generation overshares online. The mixed messages are exhausting: Be authentic, but not too authentic. Be yourself, but only the corporate-approved version.

2. Professional appearance standards that ignore economic reality

A senior partner at a law firm recently told me—with genuine confusion—that junior associates were showing up to client meetings in "weekend clothes." When I asked what that meant, she described clean but casual clothing, minimal makeup, neat but unstyled hair.

"Don't they want to be taken seriously?" she wondered.

Here's what she's missing: Professional wardrobes are expensive. We're talking thousands annually for suits, shoes, grooming, dry cleaning. For young workers drowning in student debt while paying astronomical rent, that math doesn't work.

But it goes deeper than money. Gen Z is asking a pretty reasonable question: Why should looking rich signal competence? They've watched tech CEOs run billion-dollar companies in hoodies. The whole "dress for the job you want" thing feels especially hollow when the job you want still won't let you afford a house.

"I can code in pajamas or a three-piece suit," one developer told me. "The output is identical. Making me spend money I don't have on clothes that don't affect my work isn't professionalism—it's hazing."

3. The 'open door policy' that's actually a test

Every Boomer manager I know loves announcing their "open door policy." It's supposed to signal approachability. Come talk anytime! Mi casa es su casa!

But Gen Z has figured out this is often a trap.

See, they grew up scheduling everything digitally. To them, respecting someone's time means booking a meeting, sending an agenda, coming prepared. Just dropping by feels rude—like showing up at someone's house unannounced. Yet when they try to schedule time, many Boomer managers act offended. Too formal! Just drop by!

"My boss said I never take advantage of his open door," one marketing coordinator explained. "But when I asked if I should schedule time to discuss my project, he said I was being too formal. When I actually dropped by without scheduling, he was obviously busy and annoyed. I literally cannot win."

The miscommunication goes beyond scheduling preferences. For Boomers, the casual drop-by represents relationship building, the kind of organic interaction that builds careers. For Gen Z, it feels like another unwritten rule in a workplace already full of them—a test where the correct answer keeps changing.

4. Staying late as performance art

Nothing shows the generational divide quite like attitudes toward working late.

Boomer professionals love their war stories—being the last car in the parking lot, how their dedication "paid off." First in, last out wasn't just work ethic. It was identity.

Gen Z sees it differently. If you can't finish your work in regular hours, either you're inefficient or the job is poorly designed. They watched their parents miss countless dinners and school plays for companies that eventually laid them off anyway. Why perform dedication for an organization that won't return the favor?

"My manager literally said 'perception matters' when I left at 5:30 after finishing all my work," a consultant told me, rolling her eyes. "So now I stay until 6:30 and do my grocery shopping online. Everyone's happy, nothing additional gets done, and we all pretend this makes sense."

The whole charade exhausts them. They're not avoiding hard work—they're rejecting the idea that suffering signals value. When you can measure actual output instead of hours logged, the staying-late olympics looks like what it is: collective delusion.

5. Phone calls without warning

When did calling someone become an act of aggression?

To Boomers, picking up the phone is efficient. Email chains are annoying—why not just call and sort it out? But to Gen Z, an unscheduled phone call feels like an ambush. They grew up in a world where you text first, where synchronous communication is scheduled, where they have time to craft responses.

"My boss calls me constantly for things that could be a two-sentence email," one designer told me. "I'll be deep in code, totally focused, and suddenly I have to drop everything because he prefers talking. It's like someone repeatedly tapping your shoulder while you're trying to read."

The friction reveals different relationships with time and attention. Boomers grew up when a ringing phone meant something important. Gen z grew up screening calls because most of them are spam. One generation sees phone calls as connection; the other experiences them as interruption.

It's not that Gen Z hates talking. They just want warning first.

6. Loyalty without reciprocity

This might be the deepest divide of all.

Boomer managers constantly complain that Gen Z workers don't seem "invested" in their companies. They job-hop, maintain boundaries, won't let work consume their identity. Where's the commitment?

Here's the thing though. Gen Z watched their parents demonstrate unwavering loyalty and get laid off via Zoom. They've seen benefits vanish and job security become a fairy tale. Modern layoffs, as Stanford research shows, are often just copycat behavior—companies firing people because everyone else is doing it.

"My dad worked at the same company for 30 years and they laid him off via email during COVID," a product manager told me, shaking her head. "Now his old boss posts LinkedIn screeds about ungrateful young workers who won't 'pay their dues.' The cognitive dissonance is wild."

This isn't cynicism—it's pattern recognition. These younger workers are responding rationally to a completely changed game. Gen Z will absolutely show loyalty—to people, not logos. They'll work incredibly hard for managers who respect them, collaborate deeply with colleagues they trust. But blind devotion to a company that's shown it won't return the favor? That's not disloyalty. That's just smart.

Final thoughts

What older generations call professionalism, Gen Z increasingly sees as elaborate corporate cosplay. They're not rejecting excellence or hard work. They're rejecting the idea that being excellent requires checking your humanity at the door.

Both sides have valid points. Boomers aren't wrong that relationships matter, that showing up counts, that some workplace norms help people collaborate. Gen Z isn't wrong that many of these "rules" have become empty rituals—demanding conformity for conformity's sake.

The behaviors Gen Z rejects aren't sacred. They're leftovers from a different economic era, when loyalty actually flowed both ways and playing the professional game could reliably get you somewhere.

Today's young workers see the deal clearly: Perform all these professional rituals in exchange for... what exactly? Not job security. Not pensions. Not affordable housing. When you look at it that way, rejecting dehumanizing workplace theater isn't generational warfare—it's basic cost-benefit analysis.

Smart companies are already adapting. They measure actual results instead of face-time. Build trust through transparency instead of surveillance. Earn loyalty by showing it first.

The rest? They're on LinkedIn complaining that nobody wants to work anymore, wondering why their open doors stay empty.