Gen Z win at work-life balance, while Gen X are the losers

Paying for staff to go for a long weekend to Mykonos. Then there’s team pizza and cocktail-making nights, plus two extra weeks off over Christmas. These workers have nailed it.

Opinion: Trying to get Gen Z to report for duty is almost impossible, a friend of mine who employs a team of them explained this week.

He complained that a request to actually turn up for work was rejected by a staff member with a simple: “No, I won’t be in today.”

And the advice from HR?

“It could be mental health related, so tread carefully,” they said.

I mean maybe he just needed a day to himself? We’ve all had those, but as a Gen X-er I’ve always dragged myself into work.

I think back to my first junior reporter job in the late 1990s, and whatever the boss said – or often shouted in those days – went.

If they needed me to work extra hours – unpaid, of course – I’d do it.

I remember quite a few people in the 2000s having to quit work due to exhaustion. It was almost like being a workaholic was a status symbol.

Has Gen Z found a good work-life balance? Picture: iStock

So, I wonder whether Gen X has been dudded when it comes to the whole work thing, because my dad – my mum worked part-time – worked in corporate, but was home for dinner every night at 6pm on the dot.

Maybe Gen Z-ers are onto something? They want something more, like a life perhaps?

There are some companies that are adapting to this new breed.

A friend’s son has just started his first ‘proper’ job in recruitment in the UK. In his first year his employer took those who hit their targets on a four-day ski trip. Later this year they’re paying for staff to go for a long weekend to the Greek party island of Mykonos. Then there’s team pizza and cocktail-making nights, plus two extra weeks off over Christmas on top of their annual leave.

And, oh, the best bit is that they finish at 2pm every Friday.

So, Gen Z may never be able to afford a house, but work-life balance? They’ve cracked it.