This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
Some employers said they’d be willing to offer older professionals more benefits and higher salaries to avoid hiring new college graduates, a recent survey found.
Intelligent, an online magazine focused on student life, commissioned a Pollfish survey of 800 managers, directors, and executives involved in hiring in the U.S. in December.
Thirty-nine percent of the employers who responded said they prefer to hire older job seekers over recent college graduates, in part, because young professionals don’t make a good first impression in job interviews.
More than half of the employers said young recruits struggled to make eye contact during the interview, and 50% said they asked for unreasonable compensation. Almost half of the employers said a young job candidate showed up in inappropriate attire, and nearly 20% said a recent college grad had brought a parent to a job interview.
Of the employers who said they prefer to hire older job seekers, 60% said they would be willing to offer more benefits to attract them, 59% said they would offer higher salaries, 48% said they would allow remote or hybrid-working opportunities, and 46% said they would be willing to hire overqualified candidates.
Young professionals also appear to have a reputation for being difficult to work with. Nearly two-thirds of employers said it was “very true” or “somewhat true” that recent college grads are “entitled,” while 58% said it was very or somewhat true that they “get offended too easily.”
Nearly 60% of bosses said it was very or somewhat true that recent grads are unprepared for the workforce, with more than half agreeing that young professionals “don’t respond well to feedback” and have “poor communication skills.”
As Gen Z has entered the workforce in increasing numbers in recent years, employers have expressed concerns about the younger generation’s ability to adapt to corporate life.
PWC, Deloitte, and KPMG are among the major firms that have said Gen Z recruits who graduated during the pandemic struggle to exercise basic communication skills and office etiquette.
As a result, these companies have offered extra classes on soft skills such as how to send emails, what to wear to the office, and how to work in a team.
