Someone posted on LinkedIn - GenZ employees walked out of the office because the AC wasn't working. That's fine. What I found audacious was these GenZ employees bragging that Millennials don't have the courage to do this.
Yes, they don't.
Because guess what? Millennials have responsibilities.
If they get fired tomorrow - they maybe have a family, parents, kids, a house, EMIs to think about. They don't get to sit at home for 8 months while they figure out another job with "non-toxic" work culture.
That's not an excuse for toxic work culture.
That is a justified explanation for why Millennials put up with more than GenZ. Here's my take on it as a Millennial
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First and most importantly, they have more experience with real life. They know things go wrong sometimes - ACs stop working, your manager/ client is in a bad mood, or an in-person meeting is necessary. They understand and don't threaten to get up and leave at every inconvenience.
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They certainly have a higher threshold for tolerating bullshit. Because they didn't have easy access to opportunities when they were 21. If you lost a job, you couldn't become an influencer, raise funding for a vanity startup or have access to remote working jobs in the US. You had to struggle to even get a meeting. So yes, they waited 37 minutes in the lobby for the manager who was late. The manager was still an *ss for making them wait. But they had fewer options.
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There weren't real HR and POSH committees that you could legitimately complain to and be heard. You complain against your boss - you're fired.
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They didn't have "Twitter" and "LinkedIn" to make a ruckus when things didn't go their way. They could not damage the reputation of the company in question, only their own. They wouldn't get an experience letter or settlement pay if they wreaked havoc.
And you know what else?
Millennials are the ones who are willing to hire these GenZs without degrees and experience letters. Without the level of background verification that Millennials had to face. They recognise that talent is not necessarily written on a piece of paper. Millennials are more forgiving. And rather than being praised for it, they are being ostracised.
You know who created these unbiased HR and POSH committees who GenZ complain to? Millennials. Because they recognised the need to address toxic work culture. They improved the culture for the next generation.
So I think we need to stop glorifying the GenZ attitude and mental health boundaries. They "get to" have this attitude that Millennials couldn't "afford to".
