Gen Z is forcing a workplace reckoning that should have happened years ago
Gen Z is forcing a workplace reckoning that should have happened years ago
Young people are questioning workplace norms that have stood for a century. It means more change is coming, experts told Insider. That's not a bad thing.
We wasted so much time figuring out that none of this bullshit is logical or fair, getting mad and saying we wanted change and being ignored. Gen z just straight up walks out if they don't like what they see and I'm all for it. My daughter is 12 and I've been teaching her about her rights, and her dignity at work, and that minium wage=minimum effort, that a work family is not a real thing, that you never do "favors" for a company that can afford to pay you, and that unions are a must. I'm not surprised that gen z refuses to let themselves be abused, it took me way too long to realize that i can tell my boss to eat shit.
173it took me way too long to realize that i can tell my boss to eat shit.
I think the difference in upbringing you're describing is a huge part of it.
Millennials went through spending our entire early adult lives being gaslit about how all the ways we were being abused were ultimately somehow our fault because our parents refused to recognize the systemic issues we were facing.
We may have come to the realization late, but we can certainly make sure younger generations know that they can and should call bullshit when they see it.
88Gen Z has no choice but to 'Rise up'. They are facing a lifetime of 2 full time jobs plus a 'Gig' if they want to come close to what was a hard opportunity to Gen X. They're already accepted that what the Boomer had will never come to pass again. It's downright despicable.
I fully support them. We are in this together.
63We're just fed up with their bullshit. the workers currently have a monopoly on Labour, so we can demand actual wages. until they replace us all.
17I think Zoomers also have the benefit of not having Boomers in the work force as a counterweight. For 20 years before COVID, the two largest generations in American history were in the work force together. Now the majority of Boomers are retired, power in the workplace is leaning towards the workers instead of companies.
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the whole workplace culture is so anti-worker its unreal, its almost adversarial like the landlord-tennant relationship. it'd be great if there were a "you take care of me, I take care of you" attitude for employee/employers but these days it feels like they want to squeeze every last bit of productivity out of you and pay you as little as possible for your efforts, and everyone wonders why its so hard to attract tallent. its out there, just take care of your workers!
109No almost about it. It is adversarial in a lot (maybe most) cases. When it is only, and always, about money, with no other priority the company has a strong incentive to screw over and exploit workers more. And if beholden to shareholders, squeezing blood from every stone is a requirement.
Chasing dollars sure seems to be at odds with virtually anything good and decent.
24even in my experience (research/healthcare) this is a reality, theres so much preventable brain drain from people in critical positions who have just had enough.
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Companies, by their very nature, are authoritarian structures. You receive orders from on high and by and large are only able to discuss how to implement them (if even that) with the threat of removing your livelihood as discipline. Unless there is some level of worker ownership or worker representation at senior management level companies are more akin to feudal power structures than modern ones.
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I opine this is the advantage of growing up on social media and being used to deliberating. When I was a young clerk in the late eighties, we were pressured not to ask questions about cruel treatment, (which factored into my suicidality.)
When zoomers see something weird or harsh, they go on social media and ask their homies my boss keeps hanging around looking down my blouse. Does anyone else think it's super creepy? So they get a lot of rapid feedback.
Maybe they'll lead the revolution toppling capitalism.
100I hope so, very much.
My boss keeps hanging around his yacht, while I can't afford a house. Does anyone else think that's super exploitative?
40Who's up for a barbeque and guillotine siesta this friday? Please RSVP before wednesday so I know how much food I need to buy in advance.
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Every single gen z person I met, I encourage them to push for unions. I'm so happy they're not putting up with this shit.
71I believe that as millennials, we have a duty to help radicalize the youth. Just a bit.
64Millennials can have a little radicalization of the youth, as a treat.
I mean, I've moved further left the older I've gotten, so I'm on board with encouraging the next generations to recognize exploitative systems and to stand up for themselves. I wish a lot of us had figured that out sooner instead of so many buying into the narrative we were fed about college being practically mandatory with the promise of good things at the end of the rainbow and then being told we're entitled when we point out the massive rug pull that shit was.
35We will make them radical.
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I'm a millennial and have been questioning it for quite sometime to the point I've had places cut my hours and pay for calling out shitty practices like making us punch out to use the restroom. And this was at a government facility.
62We millennials wasted too much time questioning these shitty practices and tryinh to work up the nerve to call it out. Gen z walks in, gets treated badly once, and gets the fuck out, knowing there are better workplace. I'm proud of them, and they they don't waste time calling out unfairness, and just walk out.
34That's largely because we millennials already uncovered the unfairness for them. They don't have to figure it out; they just have to act against it.
I still give them credit for that, but it's not as though they walked in without having the previous generation's help getting started. We tried with Occupy Wall Street and failed. Maybe they'll try again and succeed someday.
23I'm proud of them and I encourage them every chance I get.
When I got in, the oldest old-timers were still lifers, and seeing them was inbetween an illusion and an anachronism. Something that none of us would ever have: a lifelong career at the same place.
They were very loyal to the company, but the company had also (mostly) been loyal to them through their career.
Then we started seeing the corpo-grinder start cutting folks a year away from their retirement, they started or gutting pensions, etc. Full mask off moment.Now, they don't even bother with the illusion, so I don't see why younger folks would have loyalty for the grinder.
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thank fucking god. so much at so many work environments i've been in just seem designed to be malignant and enforce austere application of power moreso than anything, let alone account for worker quality of life and mental health. it's a business so because it's a business and since they have to make money that's just ok to disregard, as though our existence as human flesh and blood bodies and souls is predicated upon keeping these fucking things going, rather than these companies providing for our common needs and goods.
i remember a dishwasher job at college which was literally just standing in place washing dishes, the boss kept coming back to check on us and yell at us if we were listening to music in headphones because we had to be able to communicate at all times apparently - and these checkups were the only time we had any fucking thing to communicate; the only other duties of the job were mind numbing standing in place washing spoons with roaring machines going.
61Gen Z is leading the good fight that we could not. I wish them the best and they have my support at every turn.
27As a millennial, I will defend the "could not" in the sense that we were told lies that took too many years into adulthood to detect. Now that we recognize them as lies, we can reliably pass on reality instead of pissing in their ears and telling them it's raining.
Even to this day, my instinct is to pull up my bootstraps and try harder, since that's what I was programmed to do. It's all I know how to do. Maybe Gen Z has better programming and can form their identity around fairness instead of hard work that generally doesn't pay.
16I think this is not quite true or fair. As millennials, it seemed like we were just about the only generation seeing through the bullshit and weren't benefiting largely from the system that the other gens were. We were alone, so of course we didn't make much progress. Now we have help from gen z (and hopefully gen alpha in a decade or so), and with our powers combined we are able to start to affect real change!
It's an exciting time. Millennials, don't discount yourselves. We walked (felt like limping much of the time) so our Gen Z brethren could help us all run.
11Not to mention I feel like I spent my whole working life having the "grateful to have a job" mindset. I'm not now, but worked construction through the housing market collapse, a recession or two thereafter. Many corporate bailouts. It wasn't exactly easy to find a decent job if you didn't "know" someone.
The global pandemic was a neat addition to the chaos of it all.
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Here you have to give 60 day resignation notice here, it's not legally required, it depends on "company to company'" my employer says and refuses to pay my final month's payment before the 60 days end. And ofc I can't do shit about it legally.
5The website is anti ad-block. It would be nice to post another link to an archive of the site.
5Works fine for me. I use uBlock Origin on FIrefox.
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Lmao wouldn't put too much faith into zoomers
-23The system is a sham.
Consciousness is growing.
The young in particular are noticing, and becoming increasingly engaged in imagining a world that is different.
9Sure sure
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Are you willing to articulate why?
3Yes
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