Are Gen Z workers really as lazy as (privileged) millennials paint them as, or has society simply failed them?
“Beyonce has the same 24-hours in the day as everyone else!”
The widely ridiculed words of none other than Molly-Mae Hague echo inside my ears as I close my LinkedIn for the day – after what felt like hours of scrolling through potential right fits for myself in terms of qualifications and skills.
Whilst I might not apply to countless jobs every day, doom scrolling through LinkedIn and the mental gymnastics of evaluating pros, cons, and overall future projects has been taking up way too much of my mental energy lately.
So to hear privileged people lament the ‘laziness’ of the demographic I am a part of not only exacerbates my imposter syndrome, but has at times made me wonder, “what’s the point?”
In early April, writer Sophia Money-Coutts penned a column in The Telegraph aptly titled ‘Gen Z are an employer’s nightmare – my twenties put them to shame’, in which she denounces Gen-Z workers who privilege ‘lazy-girl jobs’ to the ‘hustle culture’ she, and people in her demographic, experienced when they first approached employment.
Mrs. Money-Coutts, however, fails to mention a key detail: her incredibly privileged background. The Money-Coutts are an English aristocracy and her grandfather was once editor of The Telegraph. As such, it is rather disingenuous to claim to have had to “hustle all hours of my career” when by simple fact of your lineage, you don’t. Most twenty-somethings can’t benefit from such luxury.
It is rather disingenuous to claim to have had to “hustle all hours of my career” when by simple fact of your lineage, you don’t. Most twenty-somethings can’t benefit from such luxury.
Also, to add insult to injury, the column is hidden behind a paywall.
The term “lazy-girl jobs” was popularised on TikTok over the past year, and describes “a non-technical role that requires little interaction with colleagues and mainly entails repetitive tasks like responding to emails or drafting documents from templates.” It follows that the proliferation of these roles relates to the aftermath of the pandemic, with remote arrangements and online-only outputs.
The adjective ‘lazy’ mostly relates to how these jobs often do not require the effort of spending long hours in the office – for an interminable work day if you add commute hours too. However, the apparent popularity of these roles reveals another trend: the willingness (or hope) of this generation to supplant the strict 9-to-5 corporate structure of the workplace, after acknowledging its untenability and outright lack of a healthy work-life balance.
The apparent popularity of these roles reveals another trend: the willingness (or hope) of this generation to supplant the strict 9-to-5 corporate structure of the workplace, after acknowledging its untenability and outright lack of a healthy work-life balance.
The preoccupation with a work-life balance comes from how Covid forced everyone (not only Gen-Zs) to spend time at home, leading many to learn their boundaries and limits also with regards to employment. As such, the realisation that arrangements such as ‘girl boss’ and ‘lean in’ only fuel exploitation rather than securing career advancement hit, which further contributed to the re-evaluation of the emphasis we put on work in our life.
This re-evaluation was further helped by the (over-)exposure to information that came with the increased reliance on technology. Social media, particularly TikTok, is now a place for people to share their life and work experiences adjusting to post-Covid life and the difficulties that ensued as a result of newfound social arrangements; from the cost of living crisis to calling out misbehaviour and discrimination, what happens in the workplace is now a highly documented feat workers (regardless of whether they are Gen-Z) are widely aware of.
Social media, particularly TikTok, is now a place for people to share their life and work experiences adjusting to post-Covid life and the difficulties that ensued as a result of newfound social arrangements.
It is this increased sensibility to a mindful work environment that leads to the perception of Gen-Z workers as both lazy and “toxic”. As reported by Newsweek, PublicSquare and RedBalloon conducted a survey on small business owners in the United States, which revealed that Gen-Z workers are often blamed for creating a toxic work environment, and are more likely to disclose their mental health issues. Newsweek acknowledges that the survey might not be representative of the broader job market since it pooled small business owners. Nevertheless, these results epitomise the negative perceptions of Gen-Z workers.
“Lazy”, “demanding”, “problematic”, these are only some of the adjectives associated with Gen-Z workers in popular discourses. Yet those who put forward these arguments fail to acknowledge that the employment sector needs a drastic overhaul to accommodate employees’ needs – Gen-Z or not. People need jobs that allow them to survive in an appalling cost of living crisis, yet they would rather avoid selling their souls to the corporate world. Gen-Z workers who are forced to take this route are highly dissatisfied with it; according to a MetLife survey, only 62% of Gen-Z employees are happy with their jobs.
As a Gen-Z scouring through the job market daily, I know we are neither lazy nor demanding: we feel left behind by a society that requires us to be productive in the capitalist sense of the term but has not put us in a position to do so – and blames us for it.
So, dearest Molly-Mae and Sophia, we do want to work; we only wish society would allow us to.