Why 1 in 6 Employers Are Hesitant About Gen Z – and Why Former Athletes Might Be the Fix
For years, employers have said they want to hire the next generation of talent – digital natives, socially aware, adaptable. Yet a surprising reality is emerging in 2025:
- A growing awareness that it’s not always easy to hire recent graduates.
- A rising question: Why isn’t Gen Z fitting the mold we’ve relied on for Millennials and Gen X?
The Challenge: A Values & Fit Gap
Let’s start with the facts (yes – the hard ones).
A recent study covered by Suzy Welch and her team revealed that 1 in 6 employers are hesitant to hire Gen Z into open roles, and three-quarters of companies say they’re dissatisfied with recent college graduates. Perhaps most startling: only 2% of hiring managers’ priorities align with those of Gen Z.
That’s not a typo. Just two percent.
In short: the values gap is real, and it matters. Those findings sit alongside broader industry commentary that Gen Z employees are not always behaving in or adapting to the ways we once expected, and that’s raising red flags in recruiting.
The misalignment is often subtle: Gen Z tends to emphasize voice, authenticity, and purpose; many employers still prioritize hustle, ambition, visible progression, and a “grind” mindset. The result? A talent pool that looks promising on paper but doesn’t always match the cultural or performance expectations of the employer. (Business Insider) And when recruiters aren’t confident in alignment, they may hesitate.
Enter the Opportunity: Athletes as Talent
Here’s where the story changes. Instead of looking at this mis-match as a recruiting dead-end, we at Podium X believe it’s an opening. Because what if you tapped a talent segment whose values already align with what your organization needs?
That’s former collegiate or professional athletes. What studies show:
- In a paper titled “A high-performance sports career as a signal in the job application”, researchers found that recruiters perceived team-sport high-performance athletes as significantly more capable for professional entry than non-athletes. SpringerLink
- Another study found that participation in sports (particularly when focused on competitive goal-setting) builds “grit” and perseverance – qualities that directly translate into career satisfaction and performance under pressure. Cambridge University Press & Assessment
- Broadly, an article summarizing youth sports research noted that people who played high school (or college) athletics showed stronger leadership skills, self-confidence, and long-term career advantage compared to those who did not. Athletic Business
So the narrative is clear: athletes bring discipline, teamwork, a performance mindset, an understanding of what it means to show up, compete, win, adapt – and those are the very traits many employers say they want.
How Podium X Bridges the Gap
At Podium X, we focus on former-athlete talent because:
- They have already been tested in competitive environments, with goals, outcomes, and accountability.
- Their mindset aligns with what high-performing organizations need: team orientation, measurement of success, commitment, adaptability.
- We help our employer-partners tap into that talent and present it in a way that resonates: aligning athlete experiences with business results and organizational culture.
What this means for you (the company/hiring team) is:
- You get access to a talent pool whose values are less of a guess and more of a proven track record.
- You reduce the risk of culture-fit misalignment that many employers face with recent grads.
- You position yourself as an organization that recognizes and rewards performance, and that attracts driven individuals who want to win for your brand.
What to Do Next
At Podium X, we help companies bring performance-minded hiring to life. Our platform connects employers with former collegiate and professional athletes whose discipline, teamwork, and competitive drive translate seamlessly into business success.
Already used by over 5% of all current collegiate athletes – and growing rapidly – Podium X is becoming the go-to source for organizations seeking proven, high-performance talent.
Built by recruiters and HR leaders, the platform offers flexible integration options: our API fits seamlessly into existing applicant tracking systems, or employers can use our internal Admin Dashboard to manage candidates, post jobs, and monitor engagement in real time. The result is a streamlined, high-impact hiring process that delivers performers who fit.
Final Thought
The broad headline: Gen Z talent isn’t broken – it’s just different. And many organizations are still using a “Millennial hiring playbook” for a generation wired for something else. What Podium X offers is a chance to bypass that gap entirely by tapping a talent segment whose training, mindset and performance-orientation are an excellent fit for organizations that win.
If you’re looking to hire differently – and better – it might be time to give former athletes a look.