“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
As soon as you hit conversational age, parents, teachers, and any other adult in your life will expect you to come up with an answer as to what career will shape your identity for the rest of your life. I always imagined I’d have some sort of big-boy job when I got older—but now, at the age of 26, I work in a restaurant part-time. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t work at all.
While the idea of a “slacker” generation is nothing new, Gen Z’s views on work seem to be a byproduct of hopelessness rather than apathy. During our 20-odd years of living, the attainability of the lifestyle our parents lived has slipped away, creating a generational gap in how we perceive work. The world we came of age in is vastly different than the one in which our parents did. Owning property is a pipe dream; most degrees don’t seem worth the paper they’re printed on; and the prospect of complete environmental or societal collapse feels more realistic than retirement—so it’s perhaps no wonder many of us are choosing to prioritize recreation, hobbies, and relationships.
Julian, a 26-year old psychology student who asked that his last name not be used for fear of repercussions (ah, the corporate world), says that his current work co-op in tech has opened his eyes to what he doesn’t want.
“It fucking blows. I was looking around and thinking, ‘Do I want any of these people’s jobs? Would any of these lives be satisfying to me?’ Definitely not, is the conclusion that I’ve come to,” he says. “With how unrealistic it is that we’re ever going to own property, it’s like: what’s the point in going through all this? Whether I work for a tech company or, like, a coffee shop, I’m going to have to work until I’m 75 to survive anyway.”
Since the pandemic, the concept of a “dream job” has shifted. Finding a career doing something interesting and meaningful that also pays you enough to live seems as likely as finding the end of the rainbow.
“It really does feel like everyone our age is feeling this,” says Allee Errico, an artist who works part-time in the restaurant industry. “There was a time, when we were kids, that it felt hopeful that we were going to live in the world our parents lived in—but the reality of it is just so defeating on a daily basis. I think I would prefer to keep working ‘shitty jobs,’ so to speak, and not having responsibility outside of them, because I want to work on my art. Working for someone else doesn’t really bring me fulfillment.”
Many people, like Errico, see the ultimate goal as being self-employed: turning a creative endeavor into a small business, and supplementing income with other casual part-time work. Others are happy to settle for working from home, freeing themselves from commutes, office chit-chat, and dress codes. Some accept that they have to bite the bullet and work a nine-to-five, but are hopeful that things could change.
Recent trials of four-day work weeks in offices across North America have been a success among employees, and have shown no major decrease in productivity. It could show us a pathway to the future—the 40-hour work week, after all, is as archaic as the typewriters and fax machines used when the last major work reform movement was underway. With major improvements in technology, modern employees have become significantly more efficient—but instead of this resulting in better work-life balance, it’s somehow just made full-time jobs increasingly demanding.
Julian admits he will probably end up in a nine-to-five job when he’s done at school, but he’s not enthusiastic about the idea.
“I could stomach working eight hours a day if I felt like I was working for my own benefit, or for the benefit of people that need help, rather than solely for a rich person who I’m making richer,” he says. “Something that I can enjoy at some level—or at least not feel like I’m being exploited for profit.”
For myself and many others, floating through various entry-level, part-time jobs is not necessarily the ideal—but it’s certainly more tolerable than working five days a week.
Eden DaSilva is a writer (sometimes) in Vancouver.
A nine-to-five job? In this economy?
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16.01.2024
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
As soon as you hit conversational age, parents, teachers, and any other adult in your life will expect you to come up with an answer as to what career will shape your identity for the rest of your life. I always imagined I’d have some sort of big-boy job when I got older—but now, at the age of 26, I work in a restaurant part-time. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t work at all.
While the idea of a “slacker” generation is nothing new, Gen Z’s views on work seem to be a byproduct of hopelessness rather than apathy. During our 20-odd years of living, the attainability of the lifestyle our parents lived has slipped away, creating a generational gap in how we perceive work. The world we came of age in is vastly different than the one in which our parents did. Owning property is a pipe dream; most degrees don’t seem worth the paper they’re printed on; and the prospect of complete environmental or societal collapse feels more realistic than retirement—so it’s perhaps no wonder many of us are........
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