this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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Work Reform

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A future-of-work expert said Gen Zers didn't have the "promise of stability" at work, so they're putting their personal lives and well-being first.

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[–] CptOblivius@lemmy.world 201 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I just saw Docs, nurses and staff who had pensions for 30+ years just get butchered as the new Hospital system took over. Routed it all to standard 401ks. Why put your soul into a company. They will never come through. That ship has sailed.

[–] Alto@kbin.social 105 points 10 months ago (1 children)

My only hope is people look around at the fact that one of the few ways to still get a pension is through union work, and the current unionization wave continues into something bigger, better, and greater than we've had in the past.

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[–] tigerjerusalem@lemmy.world 114 points 10 months ago (5 children)

It reeks of those headlines saying that millenials/gen zs are "losing interest in buying cars and houses".

Motherfucker, interest has nothing to do with it. We can't afford it!

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 36 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Well interest does come into it. Y'all can't afford the interest payments on the loans you'd need. Can't even find a decently priced used car.

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[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 105 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (11 children)

I’m curious about how different Gen Z is from Millennials here, because everyone in my age range seems to share this sentiment with them?

[–] DaCookeyMonsta@lemmy.world 73 points 10 months ago

I feel like millennials have a "It is what it is, guess ill work til I die" attitude whereas Gen Z have more of a Bartleby the Scrivener "I'd rather not" energy.

[–] UsefulInfoPlz@kbin.social 40 points 10 months ago (10 children)

Gen x here and we seen it coming as well but no options for us at the time. I don’t blame any of you. Corporate greed and the great 401k lie is bullshit. They want us to work till we’re dead. Screw them.

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[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 35 points 10 months ago (1 children)

As a millennial: I think it’s the dichotomy between “I play the game even though I hate it because it genuinely feels like the only viable option to have a remotely satisfying life” and “fuck the game”.

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[–] Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I'm a millennial too, and I see some of this but it only seems to be some industries. I'm a programmer and my coworkers are like 90% about "the grindset", but people I meet doing health and wellness are 90% the other way. I also feel like cities and large metros tend to be more focused on work, and less urban areas are more focused on living.

I would say a lot of millenials are this way too, and it's not fair to say it's just a gem z thing, but it's far from the majority... At least around me. There seem to at least be pockets of it, but overall I feel like it's closer to 20%.

With gen z, I feel like the people are way more heavily skewed the other way. I've had gen z general contractors and such just cut the bullshit, tell it like it is, and show that they value ME more than THEIR BOSS. It seems much more universal in their generation.

But that's just my experience. I dunno which is more universal.

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[–] theparadox@lemmy.world 84 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

"Many of us built, whether it's bought homes or whatever, based on this promise of stability," Jesuthasan said. "There was this expectation that the tail was bigger. And we took on liabilities and obligations early on because of that tail. I think this generation has seen that tail dissipate."

In other words, when millennials did what their parents did and assumed if they worked hard they'd get to live a decent life. Then they got fucked by companies whose priorities became getting as much out of their employees as possible while investing in those employees as little as possible.

As a millennial, I hated the idea of debt. As a result, I've had no debt beyond college loans despite being able to afford a lower middle class lifestyle. It took me never living alone (roommates, SOs) but I did it. The education was bullshit and the loans were obscene but I got a piece of paper that helped me keep my job. After working in the public sector for 20+ years I actually had my loans forgiven... and now rent is going through the roof to compensate. Still, I might actually own a home before I'm 50, assuming current and future landlords don't decide to take me for all I'm worth.

When I finally own a home, I'm sure it'll get washed away by the thirteenth "century flood" that year or some other bullshit thanks to climate change. So fucking glad I decided not to have kids. Fuck this world.

[–] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago

If it makes you feel any better, the rent was going to skyrocket regardless of the loan forgiveness. That's just the generations before us people trying to make sure they get to the top so they can pull the ladder up behind them.

We have no loan forgiveness here in Canada and rent is still going up faster than anyone can afford. It doesn't help that all of the politicians are landlords.

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[–] menthol@lemm.ee 73 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Meanwhile, celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg have dismissed their economic struggles. She said they couldn't afford to buy a house because they're lazy and "only want to work four hours" a day.

Is every single host of The View a giant piece of shit, or what? We saw this exact same bullshit just the other day from one of the other ones. They should change the name to The Karen.

[–] OpenStars@startrek.website 38 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

The problem, or at least one of them, is that those words resonate so well with her viewers. I am not excusing her, but if she did not say them then someone else would - so yeah it's more the game than the playa.

People in Gen-Z just don't work hard as often. Ofc there are reasons: why should they, when their work isn't valued/rewarded properly? So then to the self-ish/-centered crowd, all they see is that they get served less well by their Gen-Z ~~slaves~~ workers than the Millennials who put in more of an effort, but rather than take ownership of that and like go somewhere else that pays their workers better, they instead blame the victim. Like, "I paid a whole dollar for this burger - why aren't you smiling at me harder as you walk out in the rain to hand-deliver it to me?"

Like if you have to live with your parents or roommates anyway, and have little to no hope of ever owning your own home, or possibly even car, and also can't afford health insurance, to get married, and after over-turning of Roe v. Wade to have sex (even if you were married), etc. then why should you work more than the bare minimum to survive?

If you kick a dog often enough, it stops being happy to see you.:-( Boomers solution: it must need to be kicked harder, until it complies and wags its tail enthusiastically whenever you come home. I am sorry if it breaks your heart to read that sentence... but fwiw, at least it proves you have one:-).

[–] menthol@lemm.ee 21 points 10 months ago (4 children)

People in Gen-Z just don’t work hard as often.

Is that really true though? I'm Gen-X and they said the same thing about us, and then the Millennials, and now the current gen. I think quit quitting is largely a myth and plenty of GenZ are working their asses off. They're not getting the same rewards. But I can also understand if some them do choose to opt out. But the fact that they can't afford to buy homes is not proof that they are lazy.

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[–] AnarchoSnowPlow@midwest.social 20 points 10 months ago

They all belong to a specific economic class.

Money rots your brain.

[–] Donkter@lemmy.world 66 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (15 children)

Promise of what? I think the major change with millennials and gen z is that we see through the dogmatism that is corporate culture. Even if the promise was that of the "American dream" 50 years ago it's quite clearly not worth it to sacrifice your youth and 1/3 of your life (another third being sleep) to afford to sit around in a house and squeeze in stagnant social obligations for the rest of your life.

Life is what you make of it, and familial loyalty to a company that doesn't care about me just doesn't cut it.

[–] autokludge@programming.dev 26 points 10 months ago

A corporate 'promise' is a verbal unenforceable contract. What do you even do with the promise of a habitual liar?

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[–] Perhapsjustsniffit@lemmy.world 66 points 10 months ago (18 children)

X'er here. Been doing this my entire life. Fuck the corporate overlords. Everyone should prioritize life over work. Unfortunately for most the world is against them in this regard.

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[–] RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world 64 points 10 months ago

You mean they saw what happened to their parents.

[–] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 61 points 10 months ago (2 children)

You get what you pay for, pay your employees shit and get shit. Completely remove all rewards for hard work and no ones going to be incentivized to do more than the bare minnimum.

[–] Got_Bent@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago (4 children)

At the last big boy firm I worked at, they set the metrics for getting a bonus so unrealistically high that it disincentived staff from even trying. It had a negative effect where everybody purposely did just enough to not get fired rather than killing themselves to come up short and get nothing.

They wanted something stupid like 2,500 billable hours which do not include meetings, continuing education, mandatory volunteer time, etc etc etc.

The biggest rock stars in the industry struggle to hit 2,000.

So we all dropped down to the 1,500 range because fuck that shit.

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[–] half_built_pyramids@lemmy.world 54 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I'm immediately click bait suspicious of any reporting that's generation says this.

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[–] Jakdracula@lemmy.world 54 points 10 months ago (9 children)

America isn’t a country, it’s just a business. That business minded model for society has drained all decency out of it. The US is a kleptocratic, psychopathic, oligarchy that has rotted out the brains of formerly decent people who have become the monsters we all see in stories like these. It will take multiple generations to fix this, if that is even possible.

[–] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 33 points 10 months ago

America isn’t a country, it’s just a business

It's three businesses in a country sized trench coat.

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[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 53 points 10 months ago

The internet is the reason they get to grow up with tons of details about how and why these promises are bullshit and vapor.

[–] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 52 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Not gen z, but God bless 'em. I came to the same conclusion after the first round of layoffs at my first job. They laid off the experts because they had higher salaries and kept the lower paid, less skilled workers. It was completely absurd. Then it happened again, and again. Why would I ever expect my work to treat me with any loyalty or concern when no employer has even shown me or mine any?

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[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 41 points 10 months ago (1 children)

i remember reading similar headlines about millenials... this bullshit is always targeted at young adults, and its always the same superficial "analysis"

[–] Shapillon@lemmy.world 27 points 10 months ago (2 children)

from a "future of work expert"

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[–] 1984@lemmy.today 40 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Corporate America is a shit lifestyle and double digit iq is enough to realize that.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 38 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I mean I'm GenX, and I've been fired from three different jobs for reasons beyond my control.

The concept of working for one company for your whole career, getting promoted to a high paying position, retiring with a healthy pension simply no longer exists anymore. You can work hard and do everything right, even be in a division that's making money and you still might lose your job simply because laying off employees looks good to the shareholders.

But it's all the fault of the young people! You just need to work harder... on your LinkedIn profile because what you do for the company you're at right now doesn't matter, it's what it looks like you do that matters more now.

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[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 37 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I'm so fucking tired reading articles about boomers this, millenials that, zoomies this.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 39 points 10 months ago

What you're seeing is the result of decades of Reaganomics coming home to roost.

Look up Hunter' Thompson's book about the "Hell's Angels." There's a chapter on the economics of being a biker/hippie/artist circa 1970.

A biker could work six months as a Union stevedore and earn enough to live on the road for two years, and a part time waitress could support herself and a musician boyfriend.

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[–] TCB13@lemmy.world 37 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (25 children)

And then you've the fucktards who say in the WEF and other places that "people have to suffer" in order to be more productive / want to work.

They have seen the legacy of all these broken promises. In the old days and in many parts of the West, they would promise you if you worked for 30 years, you have this defined benefit pension, you have retiree medical care, etc. None of that exists today.

But at the end of the day it was the same fucktards who broke the social contract when it comes to work and benefits.

I'm only as good as the value I'm delivering today, and so these are the terms under which I want to work, and you either meet them or not.'"

That's the right approach to the job market and I'm not even Gen Z. The current state of things, like expecting people to work multiple jobs, underpaying, firing to then hire at half the rate, constant layoffs, unreasonable demands and managers it's all bullshit that people can't stand anymore.

numerous Gen Zers are "quiet quitting" and taking a step back at work because they're painfully aware that their hard work could essentially amount to nothing.

When a employers and governments "loudly quit" on people's life's and expectations that's what they get.

In one survey last year, 74% of managers said the generation was the most challenging to work with.

How many of those managers are 50+ years old, with all they ever wanted and a sense their hard work payed off?

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[–] z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 32 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Pfft. This article isn't nearly in depth enough on the topic.

How about the fact that minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation? How about the fact that social security and medicare will be gutted by the time they reach elder years? If they reach those elder years at all with all the homelessness, famine, drought, war, and genocide that is already here and creeping into even the most affluent parts of society?

When you ask why kids don't want to work these days, perhaps you're not asking the right question because the better question is so uncomfortable, you'd rather not ask it?

Cuz the better question is "Why would kids even want to live in this increasingly nightmarish world my and previous generations have all had a hand in creating?"

But hey, don't worry about it. Just keep your head in the sand, keep removed about shit you don't want to understand, and count your stock options, capitalism daddy. /s

[–] SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

Recently the boss asked since guy why he doesn't put in more effort for the end of year evaluation and a promotion. Guy opens a spreadsheet that he'd been working on. It basically shows that even when he'd double his wage in that promotion, he still would not be able to afford a house and felt striving for a promotion in those circumstances didn't matter much. The boss left.

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[–] Delta_V@lemmy.world 30 points 10 months ago

Also, nobody wants to hire anymore.

If employers get to say it when they can't fill poverty wage positions, the rest of us get to say it when employers fail to offer 7 figure salaries.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 30 points 10 months ago (5 children)

In 1960, minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the price of the average home was $11,000.00. Of course people wanted to work hard and save, because they could see that it paid off almost instantly.

BTW, in 1960 $1 million would buy a mansion, a few nice cars, and a couple of businesses. Today, it's what a rich guy pays for a party.

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 29 points 10 months ago

“Gen Z is catching on. Vilify them!”

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 28 points 10 months ago (2 children)

a future-of-work expert

Saw the writing on the wall and just invented a new job.

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[–] Jakdracula@lemmy.world 27 points 10 months ago (1 children)

My grandfather was a soldier so my dad could be a farmer so I could be a poet.

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[–] _number8_@lemmy.world 27 points 10 months ago

it's genuinely bewildering seeing someone my age talk about a 'career'....like...what dude? oh maybe if i work hard the guy will shake my hand and give me a raise? do you live in a norman rockwell painting?

[–] ConstantPain@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago (6 children)

My work pays me to work from 9 to 5, which uses the best part of my day. I'm not giving anything more than that.

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[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago

My stepfather worked his entire life like a goddamn donkey. Even when he was supposed to be on pension his old boss still called him and he actually went and worked for him for free. Today, he's practically crippled from all the physical strain he put his body though. His ex-boss, meanwhile, is rich as fuck and doesn't give a fuck, while my stepfather has the absolute minimum pension and no healthcare.

My grandparents, on the other hand, had a very different story. My grandfather worked for the same employer for 50+ years, never missed a day, and had a decent wage AND a pension which he could access at 55 years of age. They were the last generation to receive their part of the social contract, but the generation of my parents and myself are completely missing out.

Small wonder that the young'uns have eyes in their heads and the werewithal to say "No way, not for me!".

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