• Gen-Z are leaning toward roles that promote flexibility, wellbeing and autonomy, shying away from the traditional 9-5
• Such traits are deemed by some as “lazy” and unprofessional, but is such a perspective preventing employers from moving with the times and adapting workplaces to modern attitudes?
• There are several ways organisations can appeal to Gen-Z attitudes, promoting wellbeing and productivity in the workplace being among them…

Gen-Z are “really annoying, especially in the workplace”, says Oscar-winning actor Jodie Foster in an interview with the Guardian. “They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.'”

The comment was, of course, met with criticism on X (Twitter). One user commented, ‘61-year-old Jodie Foster is part of the generation that left things so bad for Gen Z that they are utterly disgusted, and with good reason.’

Gen Z’s approach to work has been widely discussed in the media, with the general consensus being that they lack work ethic and ambition, that they’re lazy and complain about everything.

A recent Fortune article discussing the topic quoted Gen-Z TikToker Robbie Scott, 27, who had a lot to say about these accusations. “Gen-Z and Millennials don’t lack work ethic. Late stage capitalism does,” he says in a TikTok video that now has more than 108,000 likes.

“We’re staying in school. We’re going to college. We’ve been working since we were 15, 16 years old…doing everything that y’all told us to do, so that we can what? Still be living in our parents’ homes in our late twenties?”

He may have a point. A new Redfin survey found that one in five younger renters think they will never be able to own a home, with most citing a lack of affordability and high house prices as their largest barrier.

It seems that for Gen-Z and younger Millennial workers, the pressure to work hard is still there, but the payoff no longer is.

How can they find value in their work? Enter the soft life trend.

What is the soft life trend?

Soft life is a TikTok trend amongst mainly Gen-Z and Millennial individuals who have given up their stressful corporate jobs in favour of a slower, easier life. Scrolling through social media you may hear young workers talk about “entering their soft life era”.

But what does this look like in practice? For some individuals this soft life means giving up their jobs completely, instead opting for a slower pace of life pursuing their hobbies, and working part time. 

For others, it means securing jobs that allow for remote working and flexibility, offering good benefits and generally just allowing people to have a better work-life balance. 

Seemingly in agreement with sentiments shared by Jodi Foster, these types of jobs have been dubbed ‘lazy girl jobs’ by 26-year-old TikToker Gabrielle Judge, in a video that went viral last year. 

‘Lazy girl jobs’ are essentially jobs that reject the ‘hustle culture’ that was sold to previous generations. They’re jobs that reject the fast-paced working conditions, the (often unspoken) requirement to consistently work overtime, and frequently experiencing burnout. 

But, despite being controversially named, in reality such roles are often far from lazy, instead they simply offer a slower pace of life. It’s less about being lazy, and more about allowing employees to choose the work conditions that best work for them.

How to navigate the soft life trend as an employer

For employers, it may be difficult to know how to navigate this changing mindset to work.

As always, salary is important, but you must also consider other factors, like the overall environment, benefits, flexibility and culture.

Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workforce report revealed that 44% of employees worldwide experience work-related stress: a record high. For American workers, that figure is 83%. 

To combat this, managers should encourage employees to adopt a ‘vacation mindset’ during weekends, write UCLA Anderson School of Management professors, Cassie Holmes, Sanford E. DeVoe and Colin West in a Knowledge at Wharton article.

“Instead of seeing the weekend as an opportunity to play catchup on work and housework, this mindset means you use the time to disengage from everything that feels like “work” and more fully engage in all of the other activities people enjoy – activities that promote relaxation, rejuvenation, personal fulfillment, and interpersonal connection,” they advise.

According to them, people who adopt this mindset report greater happiness and overall well-being, feeling more refreshed and motivated when returning to work on Monday.

Ways managers can embrace this among their staff include encouraging boundary setting, promoting flexibility by allowing people to adjust their work schedules when required, and leading by example. 

“However, employers must be careful about the type of flexibility they offer as remote roles come with other negative consequences, finds recent research from Gallup. The study found that employees around the world working in hybrid or remote roles experience more stress and anger than their colleagues who work onsite full-time. In such instances keeping in regular contact with remote staff, checking in on their wellbeing as well as their workloads and encouraging open communication can all help to protect staff wellbeing. And, as previous research has shown, happy, fulfilled workers produce better results.”

Finding a ‘soft life’ solution

There are several ways organisations can promote wellbeing and productivity in the workplace, explains a Harvard Business Review article exploring Gallup’s research;

• Understand your employees’ preferred work style: There are two main work styles, the study revealed: splitters and blenders. Splitters prefer to concentrate their work from 9am to 5pm, and attend life activities before and after. Blenders prefer to mix their work and personal lives throughout the day. Offer employees the flexibility to decide which they’d prefer.

• Make sure your employees feel cared for: Less than 25% of the people interviewed could strongly agree that their organisation cares about their wellbeing. Make sure you are not part of this statistic.

• Implement manager training: More than half of the managers who took part in the study said they had received zero formal or informal training on managing remote or hybrid teams. Ensure your managers get formal manager training on leading remote and hybrid teams.

Everything considered, employees shouldn’t have to quit their job to have a soft life. It’s up to the leaders of the organisation to create a flexible, caring environment, where employees feel supported and have a manageable workload.

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