Gen Z Computer Knowledge

THE SMART PHONE IMPACT

NOVEMBER 2025 | Nextworks

Times have changed. It is difficult to hire young people who know how to use a computer.

Smartphones have contributed to a noticeable decline in baseline computer literacy among teenagers and young adults entering the workforce, especially since around 2015–2018. This is now a well-documented phenomenon in education and HR circles.

Key Evidence and Observations

Skill / Task	Gen Z / young Gen Alpha	Millennials & Older
Typing speed on a physical keyboard	Often 20–40 wpm (hunt-and-peck common)	60–100+ wpm common
Using a mouse + keyboard shortcuts	Frequently clumsy or very slow	Second nature
File-system navigation (folders, saving files, paths)	Many have never had to do it seriously	Routine since childhood
Installing software, adding printers, etc.	Rare; panic when asked	Normal part of growing up with PCs
Using Office/desktop apps properly (Excel formulas, Word styles, etc.)	Extremely shallow knowledge outside of Google Docs	Much deeper on average
Troubleshooting basic PC issues (restart, clear cache, check Task Manager)	Often helpless	Usually attempted first
Comfort with Windows or MacOS desktop environments	Low - Many have only used IOS or Android	High

Real-World Anecdotes

University IT departments report freshmen who have never used an external mouse or don't know how to right-click.
Employers in entry-level office jobs (banks, insurance, admin) now routinely give "how to use Windows + Outlook + Excel" training that used to be unnecessary.
High-school and college teachers say students will take a photo of an assignment on a classroom PC screen with their phone rather than e-mail it or put it on a USB stick.
A 2023 survey by Dell found that 42 % of Gen Z respondents preferred to do work on their phone rather than a laptop or desktop when given the choice, and many openly admitted they were faster and more comfortable on mobile.

Why This Happened

Smartphones became "good enough" very quickly (2012–2016). By the time today's 20-year-olds were 10–14, an iPhone or Android phone could already do 90 % of what teens needed: social media, YouTube, schoolwork via Google Docs, messaging.
Schools switched to Chromebooks or iPads (which are locked-down, web-only, and hide the file system). Many kids went from primary school iPad, to middle/high school Chromebook, to personal smartphone with almost zero exposure to a traditional desktop OS.
Parents stopped buying "family desktop PCs" and just handed kids phones or tablets instead.
The cognitive model of "apps + cloud" replaced "files + folders + programs."

Bottom Line

A non-trivial percentage of people entering the workforce in the 2020s and 2025s are the first generations in decades who can be functionally computer-illiterate on a traditional laptop or desktop despite being digitally native on phones and tablets.

Are young people tech-savvy or tech-dependent?

It's not universal (plenty of Gen Z gamers, Computer Science students, and power users are extremely proficient), but the floor of basic computer literacy has dropped dramatically compared to even 2010-era teenagers. Employers now treat "can navigate Windows/macOS and use Office properly" as a skill to screen for or train, whereas it used to be assumed.

Let Nextworks help to ease your IT burden.

Lean more about Nextworks IT Managed Services.

[ Return to News & Commentary home. ]

[ Return to Nextworks IT home. ]