The youngest employees are already feeling stressed and exhausted, even in the earliest stages of their careers. Psychotherapist Kim Hollingdale believes that the younger generations have “the worst collection of stressors” among workers right now - from a lack of power at work to the hustle culture and inability to relax. Although all generations might face a lot of professional challenges, the youth have the least authority to set boundaries and say no to tasks. Many feel pressure to perform and take on a big workload that leaves them exhausted.
Another big stressor for Gen Z and Millennials is money, with about 40% reporting worries about their finances. Of course, many workers have also encountered similar problems, but it’s more severe now as the cost of living is rising much faster than salaries. For example, in the US, home prices increased by 121% in the last 56 years, while income rose only by 29%. This makes it more difficult to reach milestones like marriage and homeownership.
Additionally, people who feel like they are unprepared or have failed to reach big goals might suffer from milestone anxiety. It may seem that everyone else is graduating, buying a house, getting married, being promoted, or starting a successful business, and you’re running slightly behind to take these steps. New research suggests that the pressure to hit such milestones is affecting younger people more than previous generations. Shockingly, even 83% of 16 to 24-year-olds feel forced to reach them. In retrospect, that’s way too young to be worrying about not being good enough just because you don’t have a house and all your friends do.
Nevertheless, in order to reach these aims faster, Gen Z and Millennials pick up additional work or start side hustles to get extra money. Freelance content creation, graphic design, small online businesses, and tutoring are just a few popular options among younger people that are flexible enough to combine with a full-time job and provide added income.
#16 Telling Them Not To Throw A Party, Throwing A Party, Then Getting Fired For Your Reaction
These pursuits help to unleash creativity and make them more financially stable, all while creating a passion project or a brand that belongs solely to them. However, long additional working hours have been linked to exhaustion and burnout, which Zoomers and Millennials are strongly connected to.
#17 It’s Not That People Don’t Want To Work Anymore, Even If I Was Rich I’d Still Work Because I’d Be Bored, But Our Futures Are F**ked Right Now With These Living Wages
#19 We Had To Take An "Anonymous" Survey At Work Today. This Is My Somewhat Strongly Worded Response
Contrary to older generations’ beliefs, their successors aren’t work-shy; they’re just not that fond of hustle culture. Today, many focus less on working to the point of extreme fatigue for an employer in order to move up the corporate ladder and more on building their dream careers by themselves. It also acts as a security blanket in case a company fires them. All that’s left is to move forward or take on your passion project full-time. After you start working for yourself, you can’t really get fired.
