The professional skills Gen Z lacks.

Generation Z professionals (those born between 1995 and 2010) are, one way or another, thriving in the new world of work.

They joined the workforce at a time when flexibility was routine, digital connectivity was ubiquitous, and employees were asking companies what they needed.

But at the same time, some experts worry that remote and hybrid work arrangements are already leaving some early-career professionals behind.

Many of these concerns are due to a lack of intangible aid — the lack of informal conversations and informal feedback that traditionally teach young professionals how to act. And with virtual environments, specialists believe, junior professionals fail to acquire vital indicators that guide their behavior, cooperation, and formation of communication networks.

“It’s mostly about communication,” says Professor Helen Hughes of the University of Leeds Business School in the UK.

“It’s things like understanding norms, values ​​and etiquette: Who should you contact? How should you contact them? Are some people unreachable?” she explains.

These types of questions are answered quickly in face-to-face settings – a stop at the desk or a quick reminder in the office kitchen.

The practice of office politics was also intuitive, based on subtle but tangible cues: static seating arrangements often indicated hierarchy, while body language indicated when colleagues were most welcome.

“Social comparison is more difficult in remote or hybrid settings,” says Hughes. “You can’t see all the people around you and see how you are doing.”

But with many young employees now working remotely or in a hybrid form, confrontation that was once normal has been replaced by another layer of distancing, which is inherently more complex. And for Hughes, this makes even the most mundane professional tasks difficult to accomplish.

“Miscommunication is common in the virtual environment — misinterpretation of an email tone, for example,” she explains. “There can be a lack of awareness of when to schedule a meeting — whether it’s appropriate to wait and form a list of questions or call every time something is needed.”

Without the ability to notice cues of colleagues’ behavior in the office, Hughes points out that young professionals can struggle to strike the perfect balance between overeagerness and laziness.

“They may have general concerns about the level of visibility they should aim to achieve,” she explains. “In a hybrid or remote environment, it can be very easy to hide under the radar and let your work go unnoticed.”

The result, according to Hughes, is that many professionals early in their careers prioritize the impression they make on the job, rather than their actual performance on the job. This breeds behaviors such as being present and procrastinating.

“They may ask so many questions that they seem interested, or they may not ask at all because they worry about their peers’ perception of them,” she said.

Ultimately, informal encounters with peers help build trust, encouraging an environment of risk-taking and innovation, according to James Bailey, professor of leadership development at the George Washington University School of Business.

“Opportunity is an important part of face-to-face office life that cannot be duplicated online,” he says. “Some of our best ideas come from conversations with colleagues at the water cooler. If you want to replicate these informal conversations over Zoom, you need to schedule a meeting with someone.”

For Bailey, unless the previous model of face-to-face learning is updated for a new era of work, in conjunction with its current challenges, some Generation Z professionals may not acquire the leadership qualities that will be needed in the future.

“They may not have difficulty performing a specific task independently, but they may have underdeveloped cross-functional skills,” he explains. “They need a strategic vision for the entire organization – the role of the leader.”

Of course, not all young telecommuting professionals suffer, at least in part. But for many of these inexperienced workers, virtual work environments can exacerbate a new kind of work stress.

Many of these questions remain [razões de] The concern is for new hires in typical office environments, but remote work seems to accentuate the transactional aspects,” Hughes explains.

This lack of learning by osmosis has experts worried that Generation Z professionals may only feel the true cost of these conditions later in their careers.

Read the original version of this report (in English) on the BBC Worklife website.