Will’s Word: Why are so many Gen Z workers unhappy at work?

I've been mulling over a new report from recruitment site SEEK which suggests Gen Z workers are the least likely to be happy at work.

Spoiler alert, I am a Gen-Zer myself and I'll admit that finding threw me off a wee bit. The survey shows 40 per cent of those born in the late 1990s and early 2000s dread going to work and are more likely to feel burnt out and exhausted.

Why is that? Are we perhaps softer than previous generations? Do we feel hard done by? Do we genuinely believe we deserve more? I don't ask these questions to be cheeky, I ask because I want to understand why people my age feel such a deep disconnect from work.

Is it the cost of living? Is it the weight of comparison culture with influences, flaunting lifestyles most of us cannot touch? Think about it. You go on social media nowadays and you see these rich mega millionaires flaunting their money, their wealth.

It's predatory capitalism, frankly, and so, inevitably, perhaps Gen-Zers compare ourselves to that. I do sometimes, not because I want that, but I just think, ‘jeepers, what a life they live’. Yes, it's not lost on me the work that I do.

I work in a unique job, a privileged job. One that I'm grateful to wake up for every morning, which makes me wonder, should we be doing more to encourage young people to chase creative paths or at least aspire to jobs that speak to them?

Not to sound wishy-washy, but I want more for my generation. And that SEEK survey has left me with more questions than answers.

That's Will's Word.

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