There are 25 working days left in 2021. That probably terrifies and thrills you at the same time—after all, if 2022 is as weird for work as 2021 has been, we’re in for an interesting time.
Many companies (and politicians) dubbed 2021 the year of returning to the office, but many white-collar workers have either refused or ended up adopting a hybrid system where some days are spent in peace at home and other days are spent gossiping around the water cooler at the office. We’ve also seen the start of two large movements that threaten to reshape the labor market: the Great Resignation and Lying Flat.
Stephen Carter writes about a new Pew Research Center survey of 19,000 people in 17 developed countries on what gives their life meaning. Unsurprisingly, family ranked first in most places. Perhaps surprisingly, occupation also ranked highly, coming in second place in seven nations and fourth in the U.S. and the U.K.
The pandemic has no doubt shifted the tensions between work, family and other important aspects of our lives, and that seems to be at the heart of the two movements.
Erin Lowry wrote back in October that millennials are leading the recent increase in people quitting their jobs. Even before the pandemic, millennials were suffering from high rates of burnout, so it makes sense that many are taking the return to normal as a chance to change what that normal is. As Erin puts it: “Shouldn’t this be a moment to consider how to work to live instead of live to work?” On social media, that sentiment has driven the rise of r/antiwork, a rapidly growing community of overworked and underappreciated employees.
Among the most popular forms of content are screenshots of conversations with bad bosses. Allison Schrager says bad management is no doubt contributing to high quit rates: “A bad manager can make any employee feel like their work is pointless, that they aren’t valued, or have no stability. This is often what tips the decisions to stay in a job or not.”
While it’s older millennials who are leading the charge, what effects will the pandemic and working life have on Gen Z, our newest employees? A survey of 1,345 young Brits ages 16 to 25 by the Health Foundation and Institute for Employment Studies sheds some light on a generation that isn’t necessarily happy at work but has aspirations for a fulfilling career.
More than half of respondents reported often or sometimes feeling overworked, a lack of motivation, stressed or anxious. While everyone experiences stressful periods at work, it’s not a promising sign that young employees are already feeling burned out. This could have something to do with that pesky pandemic, though. A large number of respondents also reported poorer working conditions after the start of the pandemic.