I was reading an article about worker happiness in Australia based on a survey, with a large difference between the happiness of Gen-Z compared to the boomers. Firstly, it is good to remember that the youngest "boomers" are close to retirement age with 60% of them already retired. There is a trend to call everyone a boomer, but what people forget is that the average 60 year old has been on the internet for twenty to thirty years already. An internet that was far harder to use.
But this is a digression.
The younger generations who are just entering into the workforce in any kind of career trajectory, are far less happy, experiencing anxiety, stress and burnout and apparently most are struggling in the workplace. While the article did mention that this is partly due to the point in their career where the jobs are entry level, what it failed to mention is that those boomers also entered into entry level positions and had to work their way up.
What the article failed to mention, is the expectation and entitlement that younger generations seem to have when it comes to their working environment. they expect it to be tailored for them, not for the business. They expect to have a lot of responsibility and salary, but will not do what they don't like to do. And they believe that the workplace should provide life purpose, even when they choose the field for the money it can offer.
The boomers were much happier.
And it is easy to attribute this to holding better positions that pay more, or having a house paid or close to paid off. But I don't think that this is the reason that they are happier at work at all. I think that firstly, they might have accepted their position and regardless of whether it started off having meaning for them, they made meaning in what they do, where work has become part of their life experience. But it is the experience that I want to mention here in more detail.
Life experience, not work experience.
Consider the average life experience of the oldest of Gen-Z, which is currently 28 years of age.
The average age of marriage in Australia since 1940:
The first Gen-Z were born in 1997, but the average age of marriage is 32.8 years for males and 31.2 years for females. And the average age for a woman giving birth in Australia is around 31.3 years, with the average for first-time mothers being 29.9 years as of 2023. That means the average of the oldest Gen-Zers are not married, nor do they have children. So, no life experience in those areas, where people tend to learn about commitment, compromise and a hell of a lot of responsibility and having to provide for the family, often having to do what is not desirable.
I highlight the marriage and children because Boomers were born from 1946 to 1964. Neither of my parents were Boomers, they were both in the "silent generation".
Here is the birth rates by age groups.
Pay special attention to the 20-24 and the 25-29 ages, because they have fallen off a cliff since the 1960s. But the 30-34 and 35-39 has climbed. This is because women are having children later in life. But think about those birth peaks and align it with the boomers, because while the average 28-year old Gen-Zer is unmarried and childless, the average boomer at the same age was married and had children. There are some economic aspects that go into this, but the trend is largely social and cultural, because the trend has been happening regardless of economic prosperity or opportunity.
But, I am not thinking about the economics of it here, but the experience of it, because at the same time boomers were building their career from entry level positions, they were also getting married, having kids and taking on mortgages for houses. They were adulting because they were adults, whereas the average Gen-Zer is still acting like a teen as they approach thirty. Not with the dreams of a teen looking to have a career in this and that, because Gen-Zers don't seem to care about what career they actually have, as long as it gives them enough money and time to do what they really want, which is to continue on with childish behaviours. Which if you think just a little, you will also understand how this approach might impact on their workplace happiness and lack of purpose there.
Marriages and births aside, the experience of these things also brings other experiences, with a lot of late nights up with a sick child, the feelings of not being able to provide enough, as well cheating partners, divorces, and having to navigate a social network as a couple, and a broken-up couple. And the older the boomer gets, the more experiences get grouped around these things, with the oldest of the boomers being in their 40s in the recession of the late 80s and early 90s, where jobs were lost, mortgage rates went to nearly 20% in Australia and they still had to hold their family together, feed their kids, and ensure they had a clean guernsey for footy practice.
The average boomer has had a very different young career experience than the average young person today, and it wasn't all roses. Many will say how easy life was because it was easier to buy a house, but they fail to recognise all the other differences in life at the time also. There was far less entertainment for example, and it was very different. Does this have an impact?
Short answer, yes.
But now looking at those generally happier boomers in the workplace today, people are again attributing it to the economic aspects, without looking holistically at all the factors. Yep, they might own a house, but they have likely also experienced the troubles that having older children brings, with at least some of them losing their children already to cancer or a heart attack. And they have likely also lost some of their friends and colleagues to illness and accident also. Yet, they are happy? Yes, because they don't take the workplace for granted and have long ago shed the expectations that their workplace is meant to provide them with purpose and meaning. They know it is a job to pay the bills, which also makes it easier to bear. Not only that, they are also working for the purpose of their family, with kids now in their forties and fifties, who have their own children. This means that the work they do now is for other people who will benefit from their earnings, savings, and investments.
Gen-Z are only working for themselves
The guiding principle, the north star, the fundamental tenet that gives their direction in life, is themselves. It is all about doing what is right by them, balancing life for them, working to do what they want to do. And ultimately as humans who have evolved to be social and communal, a life focused on the self is unfulfilling for most people, and will lead to disconnection and loneliness. Not aloneness, loneliness. And this is happening in younger and younger age groups, where anxiety and depression runs rampant, as do the avoidance mechanisms and pharmacological treatments for it.
Experience matters.
Not just in the workplace, but in life. Wellbeing doesn't come from a good job with a good salary and a lot of vacation time, otherwise all of those Hollywood stars would have the highest wellbeing on earth, instead of drug and relationship problems. Wellbeing comes from living a life worth valuing, and valuing it, even when it isn't perfect, even when things break, even when you don't get what you want, and even when you have to do things that you would rather not do, for years on end. When you have a reason to work for others, it becomes so much easier to do all kinds of unwanted tasks.
Before you whine - are you experienced enough?
For most people who complain about their cushy job in an office, the reason they complain is because they haven't had enough negative experience to truly know what hardship is, nor have they had enough life experience to be willing to do work they don't want to do, for the sake of others.
You want purpose?
It isn't hard.
Build a life worth working for.
It is the most rewarding thing you can do.
Taraz
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My son, born in 2001 is working in his professional job for over three years and this whole time he treats a job as just a job. His fulfillment is elsewhere... And yes, he is 24 and doesn't have stable girlfriend yet, but I was married for five years by then and had him by the time I was 25...
Having the fulfilment elsewhere is a good thing. Hopefully he is social and building lifelong friendships too, because I see a lot of younger people only building friends for a year or two, before moving on. I think it ends up being a problem in the forties, when there is no one around who "knows" you.
I wish I had children much earlier, as was my plan. It didn't work out that way.
Experiences. Entertainment. Expectations. Reading your text, which - as so many times - is just within my convictions, I stumbled across the thought that there is one more connection.
While the boomers and in my opinion up to GenY/Millenials had that "hard access" to entertainment, they had a lot more experiences - in both the negative and the positive. Meanwhile, every generation that comes after, was way more exposed to entertainment, which is by definition only positive experience. The worst that can happen is that a movie is bad, but no broken bones for doing stupid stunts in that.
The overload of positivity in the "entertainment" generation generated a whole different set of expectations. A more positive one, aka higher one, which is way easier to be unfulfilled.
The more I think about that, the more I could write a post :-D What do you think?
Oh, and just in case:
What does it mean? WHAT DOES IT MEAN???!??!?
Absolutely. A couple decades ago, parents were told they had to introduce disappointment for children, but that is new. Before, children experienced disappointment through living and a parent's job was to help them process it. Now, all that positive entertainment experience, and parents that are doing the same, where is their disappointment and learning how to cope strategy coming from?
Ah fuck. lost my train of thought... Now I don't know either!
It's easy to condemn younger generations as lazy entitled shits, but we were all young, inexperienced, and somewhat entitled ourselves. The kids aren't really different there. That said, they often lack skills because they come from increasingly broken homes and distant parents who aren't teaching them basic life skills. They're also entering a job market that treats them like garbage, and expenses are absurdly high. Luxuries are cheap, but housing and food are expensive.
They aren't all buying new iPhones and Taylor Swift concert tickets and doordash for every meal, either. Hell, I was still able to pay for community college tuition from a summer job. That's not an option. But we were all told to go into debt to fund a degree because that was the path to success. Now, people have debt but no prospects. Many of their complaints are very valid, and lumping it all together as childish whinging is not cool.
The Baby Boomers already often own homes, have established retirement funds, etc. and the same circumstances which the younger crowd rightly bemoans are part of why the older folks are so out of touch. Their real estate makes them feel comfortably wealthy, and they can't see the disconnect.
I think this is part of it though too, right? The broken homes are caused by something, perhaps it is a lack of social ability and maturity.
At least in Finland and much of Europe, the conditions are pretty good. Better than the past. The difference is that when kids go home from work today, all they have is ways to entertain themselves. In the past people had responsibilities that mattered to them.
Yep. I paid my university working at McDonald's. Also took on a mortgage at 18 with it.
In Finland, people have debt, but education is free, including university. Though, not all degrees are going to lead to a job. A lot of what people choose to do are pretty pointless, and that was well before AI came into the picture.
The complaints are valid in one respect, but what do you think the solution is? Is it appealing to an authority to fix it? Is it sitting down for more Netflix and playstation? Is it expecting workplaces to change all of the work they do to fit in with a schedule of a twenty year old too afraid to answer the phone and can't be somewhere on time?
But, this is again only looking at the economic aspect of it, without remembering that money doesn't buy happiness. They do have a better quality of life, but is it only due to money? That is my point here, because I don't think so. My dad died poor, with pretty much nothing. But he was pretty happy. At the age of seven, he also saw his best friend have his head cut off with a sword, along with the rest of his friend's family. Perhaps he had some perspective?
Curiousity is consuming me alive now XD
I want to say there seems to be a 50/50 on these decisions but it's not that even, and I lose track of which one I think is dominant between conversations XD but I have known people who are glad they had their kids older as they were a lot more stable in their lives and emotional development and felt much more capable of dealing with the nonsense that comes with children, they've said that if they'd done it in their 20s they would likely be the type of parents they don't want to be (screaming a lot instead of dealing with things calmly etc) which they put down to just life experience in general.
Then there are the other ones who tiredly say they don't regret having kids in the slightest but regret not starting earlier (in some cases it was just a logistics thing like didn't meet someone they'd want to have kids with til their 30s etc) as apparently trying to keep up with a toddler/young child or multiple thereof in your 40s is hard.
I have to say I like the tiny circles I move in more and more as most of the kids are sensible (at least in regards to how things actually function even though there are a small handful of them who seem to be extremely entitled and know-it-all).
Everything I think is 100% correct because I've done all the research and considered all the options (yes every single one of them with every variable that could possibly exist at any stage) and anyone who disagrees with me is toxic and needs to be cut out of my life forever XD
Yeah - just edited because after a sleep, I have no idea where it was going either. You know when you are thinking one thing and then you are about to say something profound like ... squirrel!
but maybe having children younger teaches things that add to what they need a bit later in life, when they have teenagers?
Yep. That is me. I would have wanted kids in my twenties, but it wasn't to be. But having one is better than none in my opinion, even if I am old and crotchety.
Absolutely! And any disagreement, no matter how miniscule, is cause to cut that toxic arsehole out completely.
Nowadays, many people choose jobs for money, although our first target should be attraction or love for that job. But it is also true that both money and status become very important in the path of life. However, one thing I think is that the age for marriage should be reduced further and the time for giving birth to children. Although in this case, boomers are much ahead and Generation Z is much behind in this regard. We see here that girls get married very early, but the average age of marriage of boys is increasing day by day because they think of becoming financially independent earlier and many people delay it in the hope of a good job. In many cases, boys are getting married at the age of 35. But in our context here, they are half their age at this age. It is seen that there is a big gap between them and their partners in age. Moreover, we see here that the method of giving birth is also difficult for girls who get married late because many face infertility problems.
I don't think we have to love our job, but we have to accept it for what it is.
Halfway through life, yet to actually live much life.
Wisdom is that thing which arrives just after you need it. I honestly think social safety nets are a factor here. You swim harder when there's a shark behind you. You work harder when there's a chance of starving behind a dumpster. Today, the worst possible outcome is having to stand in the queue at Centrelink for a while.
For sure. Though, them not being "social" is also a problem. At one point, being on centerlink was a shame, now it is another entitlement, not a support. What you are hungry for, matters.
I definitely will think they bring a lot of that stress on themselves. I recently had a conversation where a person realized it was going to take them a long time to accomplish a task at their job. They were kind of complaining about the fact and all I could think was "but that's your job". Like what else do you have to do?
Many seem to see their job as only the parts they want to do of it and everything they don't, is someone else's problem. I think everyone should have to work in fastfood or something for a couple years, before they are allowed to get any other kind of job, or tertiary education for that matter.
The genZ phase enter silently without making any noise..but whom to blame for? The parents too let the things slipping away from their hands. i have seen how these new genz are silent quitters at work ....they are careless and carefree...and when taking any responsibility they hesitate...there are many examples around here too and it always make me wary.
The blame is on the parents, and their parents. But at some point, a person who believes they are a special individual, needs to take responsibility for their own experience, right?
I'm four weeks into my new job. I'm happier than I've ever been. Certainly, not having dickheads as coworkers is a grand improvement.
Everyone else at the workplace is happy too - and there is an incredibly broad demographic.
I hope it will be my last job.
It makes a big difference. It also depends on the type of dickhead. Some people are dickheads at work because that is what they think gets the work done. Some are dickheads because they don't actually want to do the work, so make unnecessary complication.
Careful what you wish for! :D
I remember conversations on the train, about 20 years ago. One woman was telling another about me, like, well, if he hasn't married by 27, he won't marry at all. The women were from the countryside, where a girl over 20 was considered an old maid.
I think in the future society will start heading back toward younger age pregnancies, because it will provide some purpose for otherwise unemployed people. A life lived just for oneself, soon become depressing.
I agree that expectations play a big role. Many Gen-Z workers want purpose delivered to them instead of building purpose through action. But I also think part of the gap comes from growing up online—comparison, perfectionism, and instant gratification are baked into their worldview. Boomers didn’t have that noise; they learned through doing. Maybe the lesson here isn’t that one generation is better, but that experience still matters more than comfort or ideal conditions.
Yes it is.
And if people are unwilling to have the negative experiences that shaped people in the past, they are going to end up softer, less robust, and fragile.
I think that the way boomers accept their roles and responsibilities appears to come from a lifetime of experiences that Gen-Z hasn't fully faced yet.
I don't think most in Gen-Z will face the experiences, because they will choose what is easiest for their life now.
Cheers.