Gen Z workers are bringing fresh perspectives to the professional world and embracing new approaches to success and happiness. They are using platforms like TikTok to share their insights and experiences. The younger generation has witnessed significant disruptions in the workplace, such as the widespread adoption of remote work during the pandemic and a surge in layoffs as the economy slowed down. Major companies like Meta, Alphabet, Salesforce, JP Morgan, and Deloitte have implemented extensive job cuts, affecting incoming college graduates and long-time employees alike. Additionally, several companies have reversed their remote work policies and mandated a return to the office. Witnessing these challenges and limited rewards for loyalty, Gen Z workers, aged 18 to 25, are opting to prioritize their own well-being over work. They are embracing a work-life balance and prioritizing their personal lives. On TikTok, these trends have gained traction, and here are five notable workplace trends that have emerged this year.
There's no better example than the viral "Lazy Girl Jobs" trend that's racked up millions of views on TikTok this year. It's referring to roles that have little stress but still pay well and was first popularized by TikToker Gabrielle Judge in a video in May.
"There's a lot of jobs out there where you could make like 60 to 80k, so like pretty comfortable salaries, and not do that much work and be remote," Judge says in the video, giving examples like non-technical roles at tech firms or an account manager role.
She explained that "lazy girl" jobs have better work-life balance and can benefit women with childcare or other commitments.
"I really want people to understand our time is so valuable and should be focused on efforts that are most aligned with their individual priorities, not a company," Judge told Insider previously.
The "snail-girl era" is the latest example of Gen Z choosing work-life balance over hustle culture. It refers to women who are slowing down and prioritizing self-care and happiness over endlessly chasing success.
It was first coined by designer Sienna Ludbey who wrote in Fashion Journal: "Hot take for the week, my inner girlboss is dead and my 'snail girl' era has begun."
One video shared by Fashion Journal on TikTok about the term has received more than 33,000 views and there's been plenty more videos about the term since. Tiktokers are even sharing their snail-girl lifestyles including relaxing mornings, going for walks, and doing their skincare.
"The snail girl trend is another example of employees wanting to push back on hustle culture or toxic workplace cultures that encourage working long hours, always being on and putting up with poor managers," Michelle P. King, Netflix's former director of diversity and inclusion, previously told Insider.
Digital content creator and startup founder Marisa Jo Mayes went viral on TikTok after posting about her "Bare Minimum Mondays," in which she says she does as little work as possible on the first day of the week to minimize stress.
In the video, which has been viewed 170,000 times, Mayes said she would previously spend her Mondays feeling extremely stressed, making unrealistic to-do lists, and being burnt out by the end of the day.
After incorporating Bare Minimum Mondays into her life, she said "Everything felt different."
It's another example of some Gen Zers rejecting the notion of being an ideal employee and focusing on their health and well-being instead.
Mayes told Insider previously: "It's really a way to start the week prioritizing yourself as a person over yourself as an employee. It's radically changed my life, not because of the productivity, but because of that self-compassion."
"Managing up" is an age-old hack that recently gained popularity with Gen Z and notched up 5.9 million views on TikTok.
Andy Molinsky, a professor of organizational behavior at Brandeis International Business School, previously told Insider that the strategy is about "managing the relationship that you have with your boss" to make a job suit your needs.
For Gen Z, managing up is key to attaining work-life balance and making sure they're not being overworked or asked to do things outside their remit.
One TikToker @cecexie posted a video about how managing up is one of the "invisible rules of starting your first corporate job." It's had more than 500,000 views.
She says in the video: "Managing upwards will make your life infinitely easier and also help make sure you don't cancel things because of work."
The hashtag #boredatwork had some 470 million views on TikTok with Gen Zers sharing the realization that their dream job is more mundane and repetitive than they expected.
One TikToker posted a video in which she's spinning around in a chair in an office saying: "When you get your first corporate job and you're progressing at a faster pace than expected and constantly have nothing to do for half the day. I'm bored."
Gen Z's disenchantment with work is actually a concept called "boreout" and can be just as harmful as burnout, Andrew Brodsky, a management professor at The University of Texas, previously told Insider previously.
He said Brodsky boreout happened when workers aren't stimulated by their role, creating negative feelings about their job.
Gen Z posting about boredom at work is another warning to employers that they should take notice of the needs of the next generation of workers.