Why you should never send a thumbs up emoji to your Gen Z co-worker

Gen Z is claiming there should be a blanket ban on sending your work colleagues the ‘thumbs up’ emoji — claiming it creates ‘bad vibes’ in the office.

Last year, British employees were surveyed on which emojis they found to be the most aggressive when used in work communications.

These included the eye-rolling emoji, a person shrugging their shoulders and the upside-down smiley face.

However, Gen-Z - born during the late 1990s and early 2000s - are making a case for the thumbs-up emoji being considered as the most passive-aggressive.

In a post, which has since been deleted on Reddit, one user queried: “Am I not adult enough to be comfortable with the thumbs-up emoji?’

The anonymous person continued to explain that they had recently embarked on a career where they used Microsoft Teams to connect with their colleagues.

“Currently, there are only a few emojis you can use to react to a message. Most people at work use the ‘thumbs up’ reaction all the time.

“I don’t use it much. I either ‘heart’ reactions or reply even if it’s a short ‘Great!’ or ‘Thanks’.”

After complaining that they probably use too many exclamation marks in their messages, they asked fellow Redditors for their advice.

“Anyway, [they] think it’s normal to ‘thumbs up’ messages, but I still feel like it’s such an unsettling response. Does anyone else feel this way?”

A Redditor explained why they find the thumbs-up emoji unsettling. (Getty stock images)

Interestingly, this presumed Gen-Z employee has sparked a debate on the website, with one user replying: “For younger people, the thumbs-up emoji is used to be really passive-aggressive.

“It’s super rude if someone just sends you a thumbs up. So I also had a weird time adjusting because my workplace is the same.”

A second queried: "Why do you feel like it's unsettling? Honest question... Bc that's literally how I respond to 90 per cent of messages... I'm almost 40 though, so I wonder if it's a generational thing... I’d feel more unsettled w the heart reaction.”

"I understand what you mean, my last workplace had a WhatsApp chat for our team to send info to each other on and most of the people on there just replied with a [thumbs up emoji],” replied another user.

“I don't know why but it seemed a little bit hostile to me, like an acknowledgement but kind of saying 'I don't really care/am not interested'? Don't know if that's the way you feel but I got used to it in time and I'm just as bad for sending a thumbs up now.”

One person claimed the emoji gave them 'bad vibes'. (Tyla)

The conversation has since spilled over to X, formerly known as Twitter, where one user commented: “The thumbs up emoji is so passive aggressive & I will not be told otherwise.”

“Look I don’t make the rules but the thumbs up emoji is passive aggressive. Idk why, it’s bad vibes," claimed another.

So, if you’re speaking to your Gen Z co-worker, then maybe be aware that your light-hearted thumbs-up emoji may be rubbing them the wrong way.