Silicon Valley tech companies have begun hiring etiquette experts, whose services cost a lot of money, to teach Gen Z employees how to behave properly in the office. For example, they explain why it is inappropriate to come to work in sweatpants.
Silicon Valley tech companies have begun hiring etiquette experts, whose services cost a lot of money, to teach Gen Z employees how to behave properly in the office. For example, they explain why it is inappropriate to come to work in sweatpants.
One such expert, Rosalinda Randall, claims that requests for her services have increased by 50% in the past two months. She is hired to teach young workers about civilized behavior in the workplace, writes Gizmodo.
For example, one manager told Randall that a new employee repeatedly left food wrappers scattered on the communal dining table, thinking the cleaners would clean it up. “Their manager didn’t know how to handle it because he didn’t want to look like a father,” the etiquette expert said.
In another case, a San Francisco tech company asked her to look into the personal hygiene of several new employees who hadn’t showered or changed their shirts in weeks. “They didn’t want to deal with that, so they hired me,” Randall explained.
Other potential problems include inappropriate feminine clothing, a rebellious attitude, and poor knowledge of how to talk to colleagues on Slack.
It’s hard to see how an etiquette coach’s services are significantly different from what an HR department should provide, but according to the report, companies do pay for such services. For example, Randall charges his clients up to $2,500 for a 90-minute workshop with employees to teach them things like “how to make eye contact,” “where to put your name badge (always on the right),” and “how to ask, not demand, something from your boss.”
The demand for etiquette coaches is growing rapidly, in part because “younger workers are increasingly making up a larger share of the workforce and prefer a more casual work environment, which creates friction with older generations.”
