Gen Z crying about having to work 9-5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unbelievable. A young woman in her first job out of college is complaining that having to commute to a 9-5 job, she has to leave by 7:30am and doesn't get home to 6:15 and then doesn't even have the energy to make dinner. She laments that she doesn't have time for friends or "her life".

She should be glad that she only has an office job and not a laborer or factory job and that thanks to the way paved by labor unions in the past, that employers can only have a 40 hour work week without paying overtime (to non-salaried workers). Gen Z is so amazingly entitled.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/viral-tiktok-college-graduate-9-to-5-job-b2435504.html

How is this entitled?

People don't want a life of working long hours out of the home, and tack on long commutes to that. She's realizing that this is her life now and, for lots of us, it sucks. Maybe she envisioned something else for her life. Maybe she wishes she could afford a place closer to work. Maybe she's realizing what she went to college for was a waste and she doesn't enjoy it.

Who are you to call her entitled for feelings that are valid? We work like dogs in this country and don't enjoy good standards of work/life balance on the whole. WHat is there for her to be excited about? That she's not a day laborer in the fields? Oh, ok. I guess if you set the bar that low then you have a point. But, you don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I read about her, I thought 'big deal, everyone has to do that'. But then i gave it more thought and realized she's right. It does suck. We all just accepted that working meant commute, long hours, essentially 'donating' work to the company when we worked extra and didn't get paid extra, getting home at 6 or 7 and then jamming the rest of our lives into 4 to 6 hours at the end of the day. That allows mostly for maintenance (washing clothes, cooking, shopping, paying bills, bathing, hair cuts, doctor/dentist appointments, car maintenance, cleaning house, etc.). Oh, you want kids? Well, double up on the chores plus attending to your child.

Why did I -- or anyone -- think that was an OK way to live?

And I agree with her and thought, "this is how change happens." We shouldn't live this way.

The really funny and ironic part of this is that women in particular did NOT “have to live like this” until very recently. Society had kind of worked out a division of labor system such that young people partnered up in marriage at a fairly young age upon entering adulthood (typically 20-23) and the men did the 9-5 grind and the women took care of household matters so that money was earned and household chores were done during that same daytime stretch. And then evenings and weekends were for relaxing and enjoying the home/family you built together.
And then about 50 years ago, the feminist movement argued that women should “have the right” to live in these conditions that are being complained about here…just like the men! And then slowly the option for women to do so turned into a mandate that every person should work outside the home.
And homes got bigger and prices for those homes required dual income.
And now that some women are figuring out that this was a ridiculous “deal” to buy into, it’s too late bc the dual income is essential to maintaining the desired standard of living.
Sad really.

Yes, how dare women (the feminists! no less) want to have the choice to work outside the home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ PP and I am 49 and have a wonderful commute and full life because I can afford to take a close in job with very low pay because my spouse makes a ton.

No 24 year old has that.

A man is not a plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the rest of your life! It's a dismal future. This is why I never understand rushing to finish college, graduate early and join the rat race ASAP. Enjoy the freedom while you can.

You can’t be this dense- your privilege is showing. Plenty of people are amassing huge loans to attend even state school and the sooner they can finish, the loans stop accumulating and salary starts coming in.

Then why are they complaining and not thanking the stars above that they can start paying the debt off?

[Anonymous]

I’ve been in the workforce almost 20 years. First years out of college are the hardest when you are not yet experienced, allied and highly needed. Having to get up and go to work just to be a glorified fly on the wall and help with busy work is hard and feels pointless. It does pass when you develop expertise and look forward to going in and making an impact each day.

I have empathy for gen Z who has to learn on the job at a time when millennials and above are more stressed, less patient, more resource constrained and have less time to nurture and mentor.

[Anonymous]

*valued, not allied

[Anonymous]

Plenty of strivers are crossing the border and willing to pick up the Gen Z jobs from the coddled Gen Z youth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unbelievable. A young woman in her first job out of college is complaining that having to commute to a 9-5 job, she has to leave by 7:30am and doesn't get home to 6:15 and then doesn't even have the energy to make dinner. She laments that she doesn't have time for friends or "her life".

She should be glad that she only has an office job and not a laborer or factory job and that thanks to the way paved by labor unions in the past, that employers can only have a 40 hour work week without paying overtime (to non-salaried workers). Gen Z is so amazingly entitled.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/viral-tiktok-college-graduate-9-to-5-job-b2435504.html

How is this entitled?

People don't want a life of working long hours out of the home, and tack on long commutes to that. She's realizing that this is her life now and, for lots of us, it sucks. Maybe she envisioned something else for her life. Maybe she wishes she could afford a place closer to work. Maybe she's realizing what she went to college for was a waste and she doesn't enjoy it.

Who are you to call her entitled for feelings that are valid? We work like dogs in this country and don't enjoy good standards of work/life balance on the whole. WHat is there for her to be excited about? That she's not a day laborer in the fields? Oh, ok. I guess if you set the bar that low then you have a point. But, you don't.

dp.. she does sound a bit entitled. She doesn't have to join the rat race. There are many people who choose to not work 9 to 5 type jobs, and instead, do something else. They are willing to give up the modern boogie lifestyle for their freedom.

I like my boogie life, and so do my kids. So, they'll have to get those 9 to 5 type jobs to pay for their creature comforts.

Europeans may work less than 40 hours, but they also have less stuff, smaller homes, tiny closets, don't go shopping or eat out that frequently. Their lifestyle supports working less hours.

I think the girl wants her nice American lifestyle with the European work hours, and that doesn't equate.

[Anonymous]

I don't get the point of moving to NYC if you don't have the salary to support yourself as you want to - there are other places to live with better quality of life. Maybe she should try that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I read about her, I thought 'big deal, everyone has to do that'. But then i gave it more thought and realized she's right. It does suck. We all just accepted that working meant commute, long hours, essentially 'donating' work to the company when we worked extra and didn't get paid extra, getting home at 6 or 7 and then jamming the rest of our lives into 4 to 6 hours at the end of the day. That allows mostly for maintenance (washing clothes, cooking, shopping, paying bills, bathing, hair cuts, doctor/dentist appointments, car maintenance, cleaning house, etc.). Oh, you want kids? Well, double up on the chores plus attending to your child.

Why did I -- or anyone -- think that was an OK way to live?

And I agree with her and thought, "this is how change happens." We shouldn't live this way.

The really funny and ironic part of this is that women in particular did NOT “have to live like this” until very recently. Society had kind of worked out a division of labor system such that young people partnered up in marriage at a fairly young age upon entering adulthood (typically 20-23) and the men did the 9-5 grind and the women took care of household matters so that money was earned and household chores were done during that same daytime stretch. And then evenings and weekends were for relaxing and enjoying the home/family you built together.
And then about 50 years ago, the feminist movement argued that women should “have the right” to live in these conditions that are being complained about here…just like the men! And then slowly the option for women to do so turned into a mandate that every person should work outside the home.
And homes got bigger and prices for those homes required dual income.
And now that some women are figuring out that this was a ridiculous “deal” to buy into, it’s too late bc the dual income is essential to maintaining the desired standard of living.
Sad really.

So, you think that up until 50 years ago, married women didn't work? Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I read about her, I thought 'big deal, everyone has to do that'. But then i gave it more thought and realized she's right. It does suck. We all just accepted that working meant commute, long hours, essentially 'donating' work to the company when we worked extra and didn't get paid extra, getting home at 6 or 7 and then jamming the rest of our lives into 4 to 6 hours at the end of the day. That allows mostly for maintenance (washing clothes, cooking, shopping, paying bills, bathing, hair cuts, doctor/dentist appointments, car maintenance, cleaning house, etc.). Oh, you want kids? Well, double up on the chores plus attending to your child.

Why did I -- or anyone -- think that was an OK way to live?

And I agree with her and thought, "this is how change happens." We shouldn't live this way.

The really funny and ironic part of this is that women in particular did NOT “have to live like this” until very recently. Society had kind of worked out a division of labor system such that young people partnered up in marriage at a fairly young age upon entering adulthood (typically 20-23) and the men did the 9-5 grind and the women took care of household matters so that money was earned and household chores were done during that same daytime stretch. And then evenings and weekends were for relaxing and enjoying the home/family you built together.
And then about 50 years ago, the feminist movement argued that women should “have the right” to live in these conditions that are being complained about here…just like the men! And then slowly the option for women to do so turned into a mandate that every person should work outside the home.
And homes got bigger and prices for those homes required dual income.
And now that some women are figuring out that this was a ridiculous “deal” to buy into, it’s too late bc the dual income is essential to maintaining the desired standard of living.
Sad really.

So, you think that up until 50 years ago, married women didn't work? Seriously?

Also, LOL that weekends and evenings were for "relaxing." The weekend and 40-hour work week didn't even exist until the labor movement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the point of moving to NYC if you don't have the salary to support yourself as you want to - there are other places to live with better quality of life. Maybe she should try that.

My daughter is working and living in NYC now. She thinks about other options sometimes. She doesn’t want to live in the South or Midwest. She hated LA. She only wants a city. It leaves Boston, NYC and DC. Some people’s idea of a better quality of life is in a loud noisy city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the point of moving to NYC if you don't have the salary to support yourself as you want to - there are other places to live with better quality of life. Maybe she should try that.

My daughter is working and living in NYC now. She thinks about other options sometimes. She doesn’t want to live in the South or Midwest. She hated LA. She only wants a city. It leaves Boston, NYC and DC. Some people’s idea of a better quality of life is in a loud noisy city.

Okay, this is nonsensical. There are plenty of other cities besides Boston, NYC and DC that are not in the South of Midwest. Just on the East Coast, there are Buffalo, Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore. Portland and Seattle in the Pacific Northwest are wonderful cities. San Francisco, Sacramento are in California, but not LA.

The criteria she specifies and your short list of cities do not match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I read about her, I thought 'big deal, everyone has to do that'. But then i gave it more thought and realized she's right. It does suck. We all just accepted that working meant commute, long hours, essentially 'donating' work to the company when we worked extra and didn't get paid extra, getting home at 6 or 7 and then jamming the rest of our lives into 4 to 6 hours at the end of the day. That allows mostly for maintenance (washing clothes, cooking, shopping, paying bills, bathing, hair cuts, doctor/dentist appointments, car maintenance, cleaning house, etc.). Oh, you want kids? Well, double up on the chores plus attending to your child.

Why did I -- or anyone -- think that was an OK way to live?

And I agree with her and thought, "this is how change happens." We shouldn't live this way.

The really funny and ironic part of this is that women in particular did NOT “have to live like this” until very recently. Society had kind of worked out a division of labor system such that young people partnered up in marriage at a fairly young age upon entering adulthood (typically 20-23) and the men did the 9-5 grind and the women took care of household matters so that money was earned and household chores were done during that same daytime stretch. And then evenings and weekends were for relaxing and enjoying the home/family you built together.
And then about 50 years ago, the feminist movement argued that women should “have the right” to live in these conditions that are being complained about here…just like the men! And then slowly the option for women to do so turned into a mandate that every person should work outside the home.
And homes got bigger and prices for those homes required dual income.
And now that some women are figuring out that this was a ridiculous “deal” to buy into, it’s too late bc the dual income is essential to maintaining the desired standard of living.
Sad really.

So, you think that up until 50 years ago, married women didn't work? Seriously?

I’m thinking of Ma Ingalls who worked her ass off from the minute she woke up to the minute she went to bed. 9-5 would have felt like a vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a bit unfair - her main complaint is being unable to afford living closer to her job. Housing unaffordablity is a big deal.

Do we know where she lives, where she works and how much she makes? I can’t comment without knowing those details. But I watched about 5 seconds of that video with the sound turned down, and I can’t believe we’re giving this person more and more attention.

She works in New York and commutes in from outside the city.

So, like millions of people who have come before her. And continue to do so, on purpose.

In the past, young office workers in NY could afford shared apartments and live in the city. They only moved to the suburbs when they got married and had families. Now they can’t afford to live in the city, and instead live in their childhood bedrooms and spend an hour or more commuting in. I’ve done it. It’s soul-sucking and I would have been beyond miserable if I had to do it as a twenty-something.

How long in the past was this magical affordable Manhattan? I was commuting an hour on a standing-room-only bus 25 years ago to get back to my shared apartment. Yes it sucked, but we barely had cell phones then let alone noise-cancelling headphones. I remember thinking my commute life has changed forever when I got a skip-proof discman to listen to on my ride!

I lived in Manhattan from 2010-2012 and paid no more than $1k/month to live in doorman buildings in Fidi. Granted, they were 1-beds that were subdivided into 4 rooms, but it was safe, walkable to work, and left me plenty of money on my entry level salary of $45k (+OT).

Ah, got it. I am the PP you replied to. I remember all of those buildings- I longed to be in one like my friends. I’m guessing you had a guarantor? My salary circa 2000-2008 never went past $45k but fortunately my rent never went past $850. I couldn’t rent most “nice” places because I didn’t have a guarantor.