HONOLULU (KHON2) — Millions of workers heading back to their 9-to-5 jobs now that the holidays are over, and younger people are introducing new work trends heading into 2024.
On social media, the latest themes emerging include what’s being called “Lazy Girl Jobs” and “Bare Minimum Mondays”.
According to various TikTok videos, a “Lazy girl job” is the term for those who want to quietly quit. That’s when employees put in the minimum amount of effort to keep their jobs.
As for “Bare Minimum Mondays”, it’s explained as someone doing the absolute bare minimum to get through a Monday.
As sexist as the term “Lazy Girl Jobs” is, KHON2.com decided to check out more about how Generation Z and Millennials are engaging and challenging the old work paradigms introduced via the Industrial Revolution 300 years ago.
These concepts reflect a paradigm shift in some young people’s attitudes towards work. These trends seem to be part of a broader conversation about work-life balance, job satisfaction and mental health in the workplace.
In researching the concept of a “Lazy Girl Job”, we found that the term appears to be used for jobs where individuals can “quietly quit”.
This means a person does just enough work to maintain their employment without going above and beyond. This is rooted in a deepening distrust for corporate entities that give little back to the worker while expecting workers to give their blood, sweat and tears for little payment in return.
The idea isn’t necessarily about being lazy, but rather about setting boundaries to prevent work from overstepping into personal life. This trend might reflect a growing sentiment amongst younger workers who are seeking to avoid burnout and maintain a healthier work-life balance.
It could also be a response to feeling underappreciated or undervalued in their roles.
The concept of “Bare Minimum Mondays” seems to involve doing the least amount required to get through a Monday, as stated above. Again, this is indicative of workers who are beginning to feel that their production is much higher than the pay they are being given for that work.
According to the EPI, workers’ wages between 1948 and 1973 rose 91.3% as worker productivity increased by 96.7% through those years. However, since 1974, workers’ wages only increased 108.9% while worker productivity has increased by 243.1%.
Hence, a BMM approach to work can be interpreted as a way to ease into the workweek without overwhelming stress, particularly following a weekend, since workers are beginning to feel pressure to work more for less compensation.
Both these trends highlight a few key themes that are starting to make their way into the workforce zeitgeist:
- Mental health and burnout are leading the growing awareness of the importance of mental health and the dangers of burnout, leading some workers to adopt these approaches as a form of self-care.
- Work-life balance for younger generations is increasingly being prioritized to create a balance between their professional and personal lives. This trend reflects a move towards setting clearer boundaries.
- Changing attitudes towards work seems to indicate a shift in how younger generations view work. They are valuing personal time and well-being over pre-socialist industrial models’ production at the expense of the workers.
- Reaction to workplace environments in which younger generations are interpreting workplace cultures that might not fully meet the needs or expectations of workers. This is particularly true in terms of flexibility, recognition and meaningful engagement.
A disclaimer to all of this is to note that while these trends are gaining attention on social media, they don’t necessarily represent the attitudes or work ethics of all young people.