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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[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I manage teams at a university. Gen Z types tend to be very motivated but won’t easily do useless busy work just cuz you think they should. You need to motivate them. That’s the boss’ job, though.

The real problem was the previous generations who happily devoted themselves to their bosses getting richer.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's pretty true of every generation. If you give anyone a seemingly boring task with no explanation why it matters, they're going to suck at it. What I'm saying is I can't give my Gen Z coworkers an open ended task without detailed instructions, even when I explain why it's important.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Man, I barely graduated from high school because I saw the entire thing as busy work.

My grade in any class was dependant on how much the tests were weighed versus any class or homework. Sleeping or reading through class was my usual.

Now that I'm older I see the value in building the discipline needed to do that sort of busy work because if I don't my house falls apart and such, so there's that.

I wish it didn't take me so long to learn it though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The other half that a lot of kids (me included when I was younger) miss is the stuff that seems useless is still building a base of knowledge and shaping how you think critically. Just knowing more stuff allows you to connect more things in your head, enabling you to problem solve in completely unrelated areas better. It's not obvious how helpful that knowledge foundation is until you have more life experience.

And hey, at least you got the discipline now.