Czech firms say Gen Z isn’t ready – graduates say companies need to step up

A new survey of 1,500 employees and 324 companies paints a stark picture of the gap between Czech education and workplace reality.

Conducted by recruitment firms Grafton Recruitment and Gi Group in early 2026, the survey found that just 1 percent of companies consider graduates fully prepared for work.

More than half say new hires are unready, rising to 60 percent in manufacturing and industrial firms, where employees must quickly grasp complex operations.

The biggest issue, cited by both graduates and employers, is not technical knowledge but a lack of understanding of how companies function.

“Recruitment plays a major role, especially in how realistically companies communicate what the job will be like. If expectations are set too optimistically and the reality doesn’t match, a disconnect emerges,” said Jitka Kouba, marketing director at Grafton Recruitment and Gi Group.

Nearly half of graduates (48 percent) say they struggled to understand company processes in their first role, while employers estimate the figure even higher at 65 percent. White-collar graduates report the most difficulty (55 percent).

By contrast, young workers in manual roles, such as manufacturing, warehouses, or construction, report fewer issues (36 percent).

Onboarding remains a key factor in retention, Kouba said. “The key is not only the content of the job, but also the quality of onboarding and how companies guide new employees through the first months.”

Beyond onboarding, 35 percent of graduates say they were surprised by the pace and workload, while about a quarter cite a mismatch between job expectations and reality.

Even those with strong academic backgrounds report uncertainty early on, driven by a lack of experience, fast work pace, and unclear expectations.

Employers are more critical of graduates’ readiness. Nearly half (46 percent) cite poor prioritization, while around two-thirds point to weak independence and difficulty working under pressure.

Just 1 percent consider graduates fully job-ready, with more than half deeming them unprepared.

While graduates often arrive with solid theoretical knowledge, employers say they lack insight into how decisions are made, how to push back, and how to manage upwards.

By contrast, digital skills and customer communication (12 percent) and time management (13 percent) are seen as relatively minor issues.

The survey highlights internships during study as the single strongest factor in easing the transition into work, an insight that companies may need to factor into recruitment strategies.