“What would it take for you to quit your job?”
The answer for Generation Z is not that much.
Aussie creator Hannah Elliot, 26, has amassed over 200,000 views by telling fellow young people to quit their jobs because employees are seen as replaceable.
In true Generation Z fashion, she turned her theory into an online skit. She pointed out that if you died tomorrow, while the people you work with would be sad, ultimately, the company would immediately need to find your replacement.
“Let me remind you what is going to happen if you die tomorrow at your job,” she said.
Ms Elliot said that after your boss briefly expressed their condolences, they would immediately call a meeting to launch a plan of action on who can cover your work and then, within six months, you’d mostly be forgotten.
What is the moral of the story?
According to Ms Elliot, it is a reminder that you’re ultimately a cog in the wheel and shouldn’t stay in a job you don’t enjoy.
“If you are an employee, you are replaceable. Do not spend your life in a job you hate for the sake of pleasing other people because you’ll live one of the saddest lives for no literally no reason,” she said.
People immediately shared their stories of feeling replaceable in jobs to which they’ve dedicated so much time.
“I was in a major car accident, notified boss, his literal first words ‘how soon can you get into work’,” one person commented.
“I was taken from work in an ambulance, ended up a month in a psych hospital. They sacked me on day 10 because they had nothing in place to work around my mental health. (Which was a result of my work),” another shared.
“My appendix burst and I called my boss from the hospital and he said, ‘it’s not a very convenient time. We have others out this week’,” one person wrote.
Ms Elliot told news.com.au that she used to have so much “anxiety” about leaving a job but now she focuses on her own happiness.
“I used to get so much anxiety about the thought of leaving a job because I was scared to disappoint my colleagues or add to their workload,” she said.
“Then I remember thinking one day, ‘If this company was told they needed to make staff cuts, it wouldn’t matter how hard I’ve worked, how many years I’ve been here or how good my rapport is with my colleagues – business is business.”
Eventually she came to the conclusion she needed to focus on her own needs.
She questioned why she was sacrificing her happiness “to please people who cannot guarantee the same loyalty and selflessness in return”.
Now, Ms Elliot said quitting jobs has just become normal for her.
“I’ve lost count of how many jobs I’ve quit. I’ve lived in three different cities with multiple jobs in each. There is that mentality of ‘job hopping will look bad on your resume’, but I have never had a problem getting a job,” she said.
Ms Elliot’s perspective taps into a culture in which Generation Z is far keener to quit than previous generations.
No one understands that better than Aussie recruitment specialist Roxanne Calder, who has become used to the youth with their quirks and working deal breakers.
“A candidate was offered a job on Friday, only to call on Monday and decline. They had just got a puppy on the weekend, and that had to be their priority for the next three months,” Ms Calder told news.com.au.
When it comes to quitting, she has seen some pretty unique reasons from the youngest working generation. In fact, she has a list that she can rattle off.
“Quit because they couldn’t get home in time for their football training on a Thursday night. Quit because they wanted to take a four-week holiday and enjoy it fully they couldn’t have the pressure of thinking about the job they were returning back to. It would ruin the holiday experience,” she said.
So why are they quitting? Do they fear turning into Millennials who famously made work their personalities and then experienced mass burnout? Well, Generation Z doesn’t see work the same way previous generations did.
“The job is not central to their identity. Rather, they see the job as a must to support their already well-established view on life and might look for more affirmation regarding the authenticity of workplace culture,” she said.
Ms Calder said this means that the younger generation expect their working culture to suit them, and if it doesn’t … well, see ya.
“This means that the culture should reaffirm and align with their beliefs and ideals, much more than with other generations. If the job doesn’t meet the criteria or live up to what the values pertained to at the interview, they are more likely to leave the job,” she said.
Hande Akman, research director at Youth Insight, said that Generation Z are simply more willing to walk away from a job that isn’t serving them.
“Some reasons include not getting enough pay, transport issues (it being too far, not having good public transport or a way to get there, having to relocate), and not getting enough hours,” Dr Akman said.
She has also experienced Generation Z calling it quits because they found a co-worker too “annoying” or the job “boring”, or even there just being too much “outside noise” at the office.
Dr Akman said that Generation Z isn’t interested in sticking it out at work and won’t wait around for things to get better.
“If they feel like there isn’t enough support or the leadership at a company isn’t up to standard/what that person is looking for, Gen Z has no issue leaving the job,” she said.
