Survey: Business leaders widely distrust Gen Z with company secrets, data

Work ethic or even work attire are stress-free zones for business leaders, at least in comparison to worries about the security risks in hiring Generation Z employees, according to a new survey from PasswordManager.com. 

Overall, more than half, 52%, of business leaders surveyed say they are very or somewhat concerned about Gen Z employees posing a security risk, while 19% admit they don’t trust Gen Z workers to handle confidential information. Also, the survey found nearly 45% of business leaders believe Gen Zers are more likely than other generations to leak company information and, even more jarring, 47% think it’s likely Gen Z employees would intentionally share confidential details on social media for content or likes. 

The firm, according to a statement, surveyed some 1,000 U.S. business leaders earlier this month. Other results include:

• 58% have increased training due to concerns about Gen Z.
• 34% say they’ve seen Gen Zers record “day in the life” TokToks that reveal sensitive details.
• 30% of companies are avoiding hiring Gen Z employees .
• 29% report seeing Gen Z staffers filming in front of whiteboards or strategy decks.
• 28% say Gen Z employees shared Zoom clips or screenshots from confidential meetings.
• 23% report Gen Z employees using real customer data in video skits.
• 23% have seen Gen Zers share inbox screenshots as “corporate cringe.”
• 21% report encountering “rage videos” where private information was deliberately exposed.
• 18% say a Gen Z employee has leaked confidential information. (Among those impacted, the most common hit to the company, 54%, was reputational damage followed by client loss or damaged relationships, at 52%; legal issues at 47%; and financial losses, at 42%.)

Some survey comments show business leaders recognize sometimes the breaches were honest mistakes, made, though, with at a minimum a cavalier attitude. One respondent says of Gen Z, “they’ve left work laptops unlocked and unattended with sensitive information open and on screen,” while another says “they posted selfies on social media that had patient information in the picture.”

An information systems and cybersecurity analyst quoted in the report, Gunna Kallstrom, is a bit more generous with Gen Z trust issues, saying, in part, the onus is on companies to make it clearer what is secret — and what isn’t.

“The issue is that younger employees don’t always fully understand what counts as sensitive information, because companies often fail to clearly define and contextualize it,” says Kallstrom in the survey. “If it’s only explained in broad compliance terms, it can feel abstract and irrelevant to daily work. Without concrete examples, such as avoiding posts with badges, photos of screens, or travel details on social media, employees may unintentionally overshare. So, while younger generations are often labeled as reckless, much of the problem stems from unclear guidance and training that hasn’t evolved to match their digital habits.”