“Ungrateful with their full-paid job!” M’sian Questions And Points Out Gen Z’s Work Ethics

With the current online feud going on between millennials and Gen Zs, it’s truly a wonder why these two generations can’t seem to get along despite making up the youngest global age demographic. Aside from their different interests and outlooks on society, there also seems to be a drastic difference when it comes to working attitudes.

Gen Z, often stereotyped as Gen (Lay)Z, is sadly often associated with laziness, privilege, and feelings of entitlement. But are any of these stereotypes actually true?

Well, one very frustrated reader and employee who recently wrote into WORLD OF BUZZ seems to think so. The reader who goes by the name Tiffany recently shared her experience of working alongside juniors below their 30s who have been working at her company for almost two years but have questionable work ethics and attitudes.

Still need to spoonfeed

For illustration purposes only.

“I’m not sure if it is a trend or if their generation is just lazy,” she wrote in exasperation. She said that her juniors still need to be closely monitored with every task they are given and seniors have to “spoonfeed them with all the information that they should have known by now.”

“I didn’t sign up for this”

For illustration purposes only.

She added that when they are given certain tasks out of their job scope, they would start showing their faces and saying they did not sign up for such additional tasks. “Well, as a mature person, they should have taken all these opportunities that they are capable to do such tasks.” Instead, Tiffany says that these employees go around “badmouthing the company and other colleagues” instead of addressing the issue and appealing to their boss.

Lepak culture

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Her younger juniors also seem to go missing and start lepaking whenever there’s free time. “We would find them lingering around in the shopping mall or Mamak. When we confront them, they will start being rebellious and rude.”

Tiffany said that she understands times are difficult for everybody right now as we’re all still in a pandemic. However, she feels that people can still be grateful that they have a full-paid job. “We are all doing extra work now and we understand what the company is facing. Sometimes we need to understand from the company’s perspective as well. If our director can cut his salary for us, we should feel grateful.”

She added that other unfortunate companies would just declare bankruptcy or terminate more staff. “We’re speechless [at this behaviour]. How many people are jobless now and yet there are still some people being ungrateful with their full-paid jobs.”

For illustration purposes only.

Nonetheless, a study conducted by Workforce Institute shows that despite the opinions of older generations, 32% of Gen Z respondents said that they are the “hardest-working generation ever” and 36% believe they “had it the hardest” when entering the working world compared to all other generations before it. This could largely be due to the fact that today’s workforce heavily relies on upskilling and increasing reliance on modern technology.

Are you a Gen Z’er or millennial in the workforce? What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments! 

Also read: Syed Saddiq: Finance Minister’s Comment About Millennials Spending Beyond Their Means Is “Unreasonable”