The discourse around Generation Z in the workplace has settled into a familiar loop — each generation is accused of the same failures by the one that preceded it, and the accusations resolve themselves as cohorts age and the economy adjusts. The data, when examined without the editorial overlay, is more interesting than the complaints suggest. Gen Z entered the labor market during a period of profound disruption. Remote work normalization, AI-driven job displacement anxiety, credential inflation in hiring, and an entry-level market that had become structurally worse in terms of real wage growth all arrived simultaneously.