Hustle culture is ‘out’: Young people want jobs they can ‘leave at work’

For a long time, it has been said that young people, particularly those from Generation Z, have different demands from their employers and simply want a different life from older generations. Working all day, having no time for oneself, and being constantly available to the employer. At what cost?

Neither a good salary, nor great responsibility, nor important titles seem to be worth the time and, more importantly, the mental health of zoomers.

New research has shown that workers who are part of Generation Z in the United Kingdom are increasingly seeking less stressful jobs, as they prioritize work-life balance over the so-called hustle culture embraced by previous generations.

Specifically, the British company that aggregates job advertisements and operates in 20 countries worldwide, Adzuna, has recorded an increase in clicks on job ads for positions such as office administrators, accounting jobs, and marketing associates, which it links to more flexibility and less stress, Bloomberg reports. Interest is growing for jobs that Adzuna describes as ‘typical jobs for younger staff’ where people can easily combine work and private life and live decently from it.

Moreover, they value flexibility in working hours and remote work, and do not want to take on significant responsibilities such as team management or regular overtime.

Clicks per ad for many of these roles have doubled in the first half of 2023 compared to the second half of 2022, according to data from Adzuna provided to Bloomberg. Clicks on ads for office administrators increased by 131 percent during that period, while clicks for roles such as data analysts rose by 50 percent.

Private life comes first

All this says: young people do not like the idea of 24/7 jobs even when they are well paid. Romanticizing constant availability to the employer, boasting about working until midnight, and having no free time is no longer in trend. Long before, young people today choose ‘nine to five’ jobs, which imply that work is done during working hours and that it also ‘stays at work’.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, emphasized to Bloomberg that the balance between work and private life is no longer something that Generation Z is willing to compromise on.

Additionally, all this follows a trend where work ceases to be the focus of life, led by the trend of ‘quiet quitting’ which implies doing ‘only’ what is in the employee’s job description. Achieving more free time is now a key demand for all age groups after the pandemic of burnout has taken hold among employees in the corporate world.

A broader problem than demanding zoomers

However, the working-age Generation Z in the United Kingdom faces a unique set of problems that previous generations did not. This includes weakening job prospects, large student debts, and rising housing costs. The number of inactive workers in that age group – unemployed and not seeking work – has sharply increased between 2019 and 2022, contributing to a widespread labor shortage across the country.

The number of individuals aged 18 to 24 who have left the labor market since the beginning of the pandemic exceeded 1.66 million in the last quarter, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. This is an increase of 88,000 from the period just before the first lockdown. The inactivity rate for that group rose during that period by 2.1 percent (to 30.9 percent), the highest for any age group.

A global survey conducted by Cigna International showed that members of Generation Z are among the employees most exposed to burnout issues, with 91 percent of respondents saying they feel stressed, significantly higher than the 84 percent of all respondents.

All this could affect British employers trying to retain staff, and it further spills over into the already existing problem of recruiting and retaining workers – especially quality ones.