“Generation Z” getting dose of reality

Published 8:29 am Friday, November 3, 2023

“Working 9-5, what a way to make a living, barely getting by, it’s all taking and no giving.” — Dolly Parton

For those not in the know, “Gen Z” (Gen is short for ‘generation’) is comprised of folks born between 1996 and 2010. Just for reference, millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996 (how they come up with that kind of stuff I have no clue).

Well, last week a Gen Z’er inadvertently became famous with a social media post where she bemoaned the fact that working a 9 to 5 job interfered with her doing all of the things she ‘wanted’ to do in her life.

“This is my first job, like, my first 9-to-5 job after college and I am in-person and I’m commuting in the city and it takes me forever to get there,” she stated in the now viral video. “I don’t have time to do anything. Like, I want to shower, eat my dinner and just go to sleep. I don’t have time or energy to cook my dinner, either. Like, I don’t have energy to work out, like, that’s out the window, like. I’m so upset, oh my God! Nothing to do with my job at all, but the 9-to-5 schedule is crazy!”

She added, “How do you have friends? How do you meet, like, a guy? Like, I don’t have time for anything and I’m, like, so stressed out.”

To paraphrase Bruce Willis from “Die Hard”: “like, welcome to the party, pal.”

I have nothing at all against Gen Z’ers. I’ve taught a double-truck load of them, and have two of them in my home. Just like any other generation, they’ve got good and not-so-good representatives to be found among the whole. I want to make clear before I go any further that overall I think a lot of us have raised some pretty dang good kids to hand our torches off to.

But, with that said, there’s no doubt a lot of our Gen Z’ers are going to have to do some serious realigning of their view of reality before those torches are no longer in our hands. And, if we’re being totally honest, a lot of what’s skewed with that reality is entirely not their fault.

Think about it. These kids were raised in one of the most fruitful periods of American history. Many of them were raised in financially bloated situations where they weren’t asked to get part-time jobs or do much of anything to contribute to their own stability or that of their homes and families. In other words, having any clear understanding of what it takes to actually support themselves is 100% absent from their parents spoiling them past rotten.

On top of that, the reality we were all living in was turned completely upside down during the pandemic. Many — if not most — of the Gen Z’ers watched their teachers, their parents, and their older compatriots all forced to work remotely. Many of them graduated from college and were immediately placed into jobs where they were working remotely as well, some of them for the last three years. You combine all that up and that clear view of reality mentioned before was inextricably altered.

Then, when businesses started telling their employees they had to go back into their offices and back out into the real world to work, some of those younger folks simply did not know how to handle it, because that arrangement was anything but normal, at least from their perspective.

I fear that on top of everything else our nation is sending very mixed signals to Gen Z’ers. When the government talks about student loan forgiveness, what kind of message is implied? Lord knows I understand the burdens of student debt as well as anyone, since nearly 100% of my and my wife’s education were paid for through loans. But we signed up for them fully aware that it was our responsibility to pay them back, which we did. Blanket forgiveness seems to at least imply you can borrow money for your personal benefit and someone else will pay for it.

That’s just not how reality has been based — at least not reality as we’ve known it, as it seems to fly in the face of the basic premise that a good work ethic matters and is the best indicator of success in this life. And, unfortunately, reality dictates most jobs will require more than 40 hours worth of commitment per week.

A recent survey from ResumeBuilder shows nearly 75% of managers of business leaders say that Gen Z’ers – are “more difficult to work with than other generations.” Worse, 49% of those business leaders and managers said it is difficult to work with Gen Z all or most of the time due to lack of communication skills, effort, motivation, and even technological skills.

Again, I’m not saying any of this to come down on Gen Z’ers, because as stated before I know for a fact there are plenty of good ones out there. But it’s clear that assuming the mantle of responsibility for the success or failure of our nation is something that too many of them just don’t seem (or don’t want) to have a firm grasp on.

You know, like working a 40-hour week, like.