"i'm just a girl": how gen z women are resisting the rat race

this year has been my first full year in a full time corporate job and it’s been a big adjustment for me. reconciling my left-wing, anti-capitalist politics and personal values with the reality of working a 9-5 (well, 9-6) has been a lot. i like to think of myself as a socialist but i work in the private sector, in corporate communications working for huge businesses. it doesn’t add up.

i think this is an issue that many people my age are coming to terms with, and not just finding purpose and deciding how rewarding work needs to be, but also adjusting to full time work in an environment of economic downturn (we’ve been talking about inflation since i left uni), global climate and political crises.

a video went viral recently of a 20-something young woman crying about her 9-5 job and having no time for anything anymore, and people mocked her. but what was so silly about what she said? it’s true, when you work 9-5 and commute, almost 10 hours of your day are gone. once you cook, eat and shower there really isn’t time for anything else. people have commented on the video saying ‘that’s life’ but i find this to be both dismissive of the reality of working 40 hours a week until we’re 70, and apathetic to the possibility that we could have more.

older generations are perhaps resigned to it, having worked for longer, which might explain the unkind and unsympathetic attitude towards new workers entering this unforgiving routine. either that or they’re still bought into ‘hustle’ culture and the idea that you have to suffer at the bottom, work yourself to burnout and eventually be rewarded.

people like to call Gen Z ‘lazy’ with ‘no work ethic’ but is it so wrong to question the way most professional jobs require you to live? the post-covid era has afforded many of us a level of work-life balance that was never had before. working from home, flexible hours and other arrangements which are very popular with older and young workers alike are now viewed as normal - so why shouldn’t we question the other policies that currently seem impossible to change?

rather than lazy, i think Gen Z are inquisitive and independently minded. we don’t feel like we should accept the status quo just because that’s how it’s always been. just because those before me were overworked and underpaid, why should i be?

we also have arguably less reason to put up with the poor conditions. with the cost of living, increasing house prices, inflation and an ever-looming climate crisis, Gen Z are frankly, pessimistic about the future. it’s hard to want to ‘grind’ and ‘hustle’ when you still might not be able to buy a house or send a child to nursery without going bankrupt.

how are young people supposed to motivate ourselves for our future careers when the future, economically speaking, seems at best, uncertain, and at worst, bleak. factor into this the fact that women are still paid less than men, make up less of C-suite positions, and do more unpaid labour (women do 75% of unpaid care work globally), it’s not hard to understand why Gen Z women are searching for ‘Lazy Girl Jobs’.
 
i don’t think young people should be criticised for a poor work ethic or lack of long-term goals. i think the fact they are questioning the norms of the workplace and demanding more is important, and necessary. until we can expect a decent standard of living as a result of working hard, i think everyone should just act their wage.

best believe that until we are paid equally and we no longer suffer the motherhood penalty, i will be ‘i’m just a girl’ing my way out of any and all extra workplace responsibilities.