Rather than lounge on the beach this spring break, I traveled for 16 hours to do business work overseas. Then, at one of the meetings, one of the attendees had the gall to call me lazy. Maybe not me specifically, but during a discussion about work-life balance, she interjected with a statement that made the students in the room go silent: Generation Z is too lazy to meaningfully contribute to the workforce.
While my peers looked around at each other incredulously, the adults in the room nodded in agreement as they shared in their disdain for our generation. At the time, I was too stunned to speak. Hence, I am writing this article now to tell everyone that Gen Z is not lazy, we have just learned how to set boundaries.
In the past few years after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the beginnings of a shift toward focusing on workplace wellness and work-life balance. In the past decade, many companies like Deloitte have begun offering their employees “well-being subsidies” to be used on fitness devices, gym memberships and other health related expenses. Other companies like Google have free on-site cafes and wellness facilities to promote healthy employees.
While these initiatives are honorable and important, our society still has a long way to go. According to an ADP Research Institute study from 2021, average unpaid overtime jumped to 9.2 hours per week, up significantly from 2020. Additionally, new entry-level Gen Z workers were most likely to be furloughed, let go or temporarily laid off from their positions as a result of the pandemic. This combination of workplace trends has created a pessimistic attitude around the future of the workplace.
With the rise of social media and protest culture, Gen Z is not letting this go unaddressed. Younger workers have begun to protest toxic “grind culture” by exploring appropriate ways to set workplace boundaries. Gone are the days when young workers will tolerate the idea that leaving work at their contracted hours is demonstrating that they “are not a team player.” Nor will they put up with corporate threats to bar them from promotions when they refuse to take on someone else’s task.
It seems that many older generations forget that pushing for better working conditions is not a new phenomenon. Without the New Deal-era Fair Labor Standards Act, there would be no 40-hour work week, no weekends and no minimum wage. In fact, you might still have nine-year-olds making your consumables. This trend is just history repeating itself in a slightly different way.
When Generation X and Baby Boomers see these trends, they scoff. They pass it off as a lack of work ethic and the corruption that technology has had on our society. They have even begun labeling younger people as lazy in other aspects of their lives, such as pursuing marriage and the purchase of a home. More people are renting now than ever in the last 50 years, and the majority of these are millennials and Gen Z.
In reality, what these findings show are the trials of a group of young people searching for a way to navigate a new type of world. It shows us that Gen Z is committed to creating a better environment for themselves and their children, the same goal that their parents and grandparents had for them. It may look a little different for us, but I promise we are not lazy. We just do not want our energy and livelihoods squashed by the big boot of the corporate world.