Young people are discovering that many workplaces are nothing more than psychic prisons and it’s better to go one’s own way.
What’s fuelling this? Toxic work culture, wage theft, bullying, sexism, minimal flexibility, meaningless work, no work/life balance and the pandemic. What better example than a Prime Minister who appoints himself head of five ministries.
Deloitte’s Global 2022 Gen Z & Millennial Survey revealed four in 10 Gen Zs and nearly a quarter of Millennials would like to leave their jobs in two years. Roughly a third would do so without another job lined up, the report found.
Juliette, 22, from Victoria, landed her first white-collar in the public service.
“I was 20, had no qualifications past a mediocre ATAR, and was now working full-time and getting paid a decent wage. It was a job that my family could gloat about,” she said.
After nine months into the job, Juliette quit.
“I spent months toying with the idea of whether money or my mental health was more important,” she said.
Four months after she quit, Juliette traded full-time work for a casual job in hospitality and she has never been happier.
“My job isn’t who I am. I don’t base my worth on my productivity within capitalism. As bad as things are economically, it’s just a cycle. There are bigger problems than my wallet.”
Ishara Sahama, 23, graduated with a major in geography. She has spent the past few years volunteering and working part-time in the social enterprise field.
“Pushing young people to pick a dream job — or will it into existence — can be detrimental to their personal growth,” she said.
“The past two years have changed the way work is conducted. A 9-to-5 job, five days a week can be condensed to four days,” she said.