How to Fix the ‘Broken’ Entry-Level Employee Pipeline

Entry-level employees today are less prepared for the workforce than their counterparts five years ago, according to a recent survey by General Assembly, a for-profit education company based in New York City that focuses on technology skills.

A shortage of soft skills topped the list of inadequacies employers have observed in entry-level candidates. The findings are based on two surveys conducted in the U.S. and U.K. in October 2024. Less than half (48%) of 1,180 employed adults and only 12% of 393 midlevel executives said that entry-level workers are well-prepared to do their jobs.

Below are the top reasons cited by employers in the survey.

Entry-level workers lack soft skills—including communication, collaboration, and adaptability, cited by 49% of vice presidents and directors and 37% of employees. Among Generation Z respondents, 40% agreed that a lack of soft skills is the main shortcoming of today’s entry-level workforce.

Communicating in the classroom is far different from communicating in the workplace, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) notes on its website.

“Employers report that the average entry-level candidate struggles with knowing how to listen carefully,” according to the DOL. “They may not immediately process essential instructions or be able to understand how their tasks relate to the overall goals of the organization.”

However, these new workforce entrants—many of them Gen Zers—are more adaptable because of the pandemic, said Lupe Colangelo, director of alumni engagement and employer partnerships at General Assembly.

“There’s a whole generation who went through this pause” in how work was performed five years ago, as the pandemic caused in-person person work experiences to cease, Colangelo explained. “Gen Z was in a really unique spot where they weren’t having those experiences by default—not even an in-person internship.”

That gap is now evident, she noted, prompting survey respondents to say these workers aren’t prepared for the workforce.  (Gen Z is generally defined as those born between 1997 and 2012.)

Entry-level workers lack the “right attitude,” cited by 28% of executives and 30% of employees.

The “right attitude” might include behaving respectfully toward supervisors, co-workers, and customers, or showing initiative—for instance, pitching an idea or looking to solve a problem rather than merely reporting it, according to the DOL.

However, it could also be in the eye of the beholder.

“With Gen Z, we see so many folks bringing a lot of passion to the workplace and culture and not being afraid to use their voices and push back, and that can be difficult for some cultures,” Colangelo said. “Overall, these folks are committed and very adaptable, and given the right tools, the potential is ‘Sky’s the limit.’ Employers need to commit to meeting them where they are.”

Lacking the “right attitude” is a common complaint about Gen Z employees, Colangelo acknowledged, “but I think where we’re seeing a gap here is in the way that Gen Z is entering the workplace with very limited onboarding. Companies aren’t providing the right level of training and onboarding.”

Additionally, jobs paying an entry-level salary typically require some training, “and as an employer, you can’t skip that step,” she said.

Lack of Employer Training

In the survey, respondents who said entry-level employees are not prepared to perform their jobs were more likely to work at organizations that didn’t provide adequate training for new hires:

• 41% of executives said their companies don’t offer a learning stipend or have an education/training budget. Among those who do, 43% said employees don’t use them frequently. 
• 33% of executives and 26% of employees said their organization does not provide adequate training to new employees.
• 34% of executives and 25% of employees said their organization does not provide adequate training for employees to update their skills. 

“The entry-level employee pipeline is broken,” said Jourdan Hathaway, chief business officer at General Assembly. “Companies must rethink how they source, train, and onboard employees. There are evidence-based approaches to improving workforce readiness,” such as technology apprenticeships and skill-training programs that provide participants opportunities to build communication, collaboration, and technical skills.

SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, spoke before Congress on Feb. 5 about the obstacles impeding the critical bridge between education and employment in the U.S., including the misalignment between higher education programs and workforce demands.

He also highlighted a K-12 system that leaves students unprepared for employment and the underutilization of untapped pools of talent. 

“We’ve invested billions in higher education, but degrees don’t always align with labor market needs,” Taylor said. “Employers are beginning to focus on skills-based hiring, recognizing that practical experience and certifications often provide a better measure of job readiness and success than a traditional four-year degree.”

He noted that initiatives such as Michigan State University’s Align Center for Workforce Development and North Carolina’s myFutureNC “prove that we can better connect education to employment.”

General Assembly found that roughly three-fourths of executives (74%) and nearly two-thirds of workers (64%) said employees should take responsibility for their own job readiness, but a good number (66% of executives and 63% of employees) also said employers need to shoulder some of the responsibility.

Additionally, 73% of executives and 53% of employees said educational institutions should share in that responsibility.

“People clearly need more support to enter the workforce and succeed,” Colangelo said in a news release about the findings. 

She advised employers to look for opportunities to provide strong onboarding experiences that include soft-skill development, encourage informal mentorships, and offer lunch-and-learn programs. They can also use platforms such as Slack to provide ways for new employees to feel connected and less afraid to ask questions.

“We can’t expect individual employees to close today’s skills gaps on their own,” Colangelo said. “Businesses, governments, and educational institutions must come together to modernize how we approach workforce readiness.”