'Gen Zs are not lazy, some are just entitled’ — George Quaye

Entertainment and communications expert George Quaye has pushed back against the popular narrative that Ghana's Gen Z youth are lazy, arguing that the generation is simply wired differently.

Speaking on the Talk No Dey Cook Rice podcast, Quaye said the lazy label is unfair, noting that older generations have failed to adapt their communication to meet them where they are.

"It is a generation that has learned how to do things easier and faster and quicker. And that's what they've embraced. It is not lazy," he said.

He continued, "When I was growing up, I had a library at home. There were books that you had to actually open and read. We didn't have mobile phones. The people you're calling Gen Zs have mobile phones.”

No sleep, rain-soaked, on stage by 4pm - George Quaye's wild night at Rapperholic Kumasi

According to Quaye, managers and employers who attempt to lead Gen Z workers using outdated approaches will consistently fail, and the older generation needs to learn how to communicate.

"If you are instructing a Gen Z with your kind of growing up process, it is not going to work. If there's a Gen Z working in your office and you want to give them an assignment, does that assignment come with a way to achieve it quicker, faster and easier? That is Gen Z," he said.

However, Quaye was not without criticism of the generation. He described a troubling sense of entitlement among them, a tendency to demand rewards before demonstrating competence.

"I didn't grow up demanding things. I grew up earning things. But Gen Z demands even when they haven't shown the competence for what they are demanding. That is my only problem, but I don't find them lazy at all," he stated.

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