When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, no one could predict the lasting effect on people’s psyches. Like it or not, the virus changed the way we work and play and gave rise to a lot of mental unrest. One of the fundamental areas of young people’s lives that still hasn’t recovered from the fallout is the job sector, where it has been reported that millions of Generation Zers are ‘quiet quitting’ their jobs every day.
For those of you who don’t make a habit of looking up Generation Names, to belong to Generation Z you must have been born between 1997 and 2012. This means that while the younger members of this group still have a few years left to enter the workforce, the 27-year-olds on the other end of the age spectrum have gotten more than a taste of what it means to work nine to five.
The issue is that while Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) were willing to work till their fingers were bloody because they were raised to people please, not question things too much, and told that hard work could help you achieve anything, Generation Z knows that this isn’t true.
Unable to leave their many-time entry-level jobs because they need the money and experience but still deeply unhappy and unmotivated, many Gen Zers are ‘quiet quitting’ instead, which basically means that they are disengaging from their jobs without actively leaving and doing just enough work not to draw attention and get fired. This way of working leads to all-around resentment, especially from Millennial managers who can tell their younger workers are doing next to nothing.
In addition to a CNBC survey finding that 47% of Generation Z workers claimed they are doing the least possible to get by at work, the participants reported feeling they have the least meaningful work and the least autonomy. They are also highly ambitious in a way Millennials perhaps thought they couldn’t be when they were the same age because workplace hierarchies were more defined in the past.
So, what can be done? The truth is precious little is being undertaken to understand the younger workforce members, with many of their elders simply branding them as entitled and lazy. Ironically, it is this technology-savvy generation that craves and values connection more than any of its predecessors, which means that if employers take the time to foster relationships with their younger cohorts and also make them feel like they’re part of the decision-making process, they’ll have a winning ticket on their hands instead of lacklustre one.
Dismissing people and failing to validate their feelings will not get you a healthy, thriving workplace, but re-educating yourself about how to meet the needs of others best certainly will.