From 70-hour work week to quiet quitting, this is how work culture evolved in 2023

From quiet quitting, quiet firing (and even quiet cutting) and the 70-hour work week debate brought on by some comments Infosys CEO and founder Narayana Murthy made, 2023 has been a convoluted roller coaster year for India’s work culture. This has been exacerbated even more so with another generation in the mix — Gen Z.

As of 2022, the share of millennials and Gen Z in the country’s population stood at 52 per cent, higher than the global average of 47 per cent, according to a report published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in partnership with jobs site Indeed, titled Gen Z and Millennials: Reshaping the Future of Workforce. This trend is expected to maintain momentum till 2030 when the share of India’s Gen Z and Millennial population will be 50 per cent, higher than the world average of 46 per cent.

Due to various reasons, the older generations have been critical of Gen Z’s work ethics, particularly when discussing their desire for better working conditions and income. According to Lokesh Nigam, co-founder and director, Kognoz, “older generations may regard their outspoken advocacy for change on issues such as diversity, mental health, and work-life balance as pushy.”

Mohit Verghese, a 42-year-old who works in the IT industry, tells indianexpress.com in an interaction how Gen Z is “spoilt with choices and a lot of career options”. “The current generation feels that by doing their jobs for fixed shifts; they are entitled to higher enumerations. What they need to understand is that you get growth when you add new skills and learn management. This would not come without extra time and working on niche problems.”

TK Rajiv, a 55-year-old who has worked in the tech industry his entire career, agreed, saying that Gen Z is more obsessed with money than enhancing their skill set.

According to the HP Work Relationship Index report published in 2023, 97 per cent of Gen Z and millenial employees are willing to sacrifice a portion of their salary for a more satisfying work relationship. (Representational: A still from Band Baaja Baarat)

Younger generations are often stereotyped. Like Millennials before them, Gen Z has been stereotyped as entitled, lazy, and lacking work ethic, believes 42-year-old Saurabh Kale, who is the Head of People at TALENT500, adding that stereotypes like that create biases and negative perceptions.

Kale’s belief stands true; with Instagram’s latest #TrendTalkReport about Gen Z trends for 2024 finding that Gen Zs in India exhibit a stronger focus on their career pursuits. As compared to other countries, Indian Gen Zs also believe starting your own business is the best way to achieve wealth, the report noted.

A 26-year-old journalist who wanted to remain anonymous told indianexpress.com that she and many of her cohorts would be open to working long hours for their own businesses. “For myself, I would do it. It seems futile to work 70 hours for someone else. You’re not being paid hourly to work but only fuelling the capitalist dreams of your employers.”

Priyanka Pani, a 42-year-old journalist turned PR entrepreneur, believes Gen Z doesn’t have the financial difficulties that the generations before them did. “They come from relatively cushy backgrounds, ranging from middle class to upper middle class, and have no financial baggage like we did so they have more space to make better choices.” Verghese agreed, adding that “most of us were hunting for paying jobs, let alone building or understanding the concept of a career.”

Many of the Gen Zs I talked to for this story had a lot of contention about not facing any financial difficulties. “Most of us cannot afford to buy houses, let alone have children and rear them. We’ve grown up in a pandemic, multiple financial crises, and an almost total collapse of the health care system so why shouldn’t we ask for better working conditions and wages?”, questioned a 24-year-old media professional.

According to the HP Work Relationship Index report published in 2023, 97 per cent of Gen Z and millennial employees are willing to sacrifice a portion of their salary for a more satisfying work relationship.

On top of this, a 2023 report by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) noted that India has the highest weekly working hours and unfortunately, the lowest per-capita GDP. This difference in the number of working hours has been so worrying that ILO decided to conduct an India-specific study about the effects of these long working hours on the employees.

The collective state of the world currently have shaped these wants and needs in Gen Z (Source: Freepik)

Pani appreciated the fact that Gen Z has learned to say no when anything harms their values at the workplace. “They’re very purpose-driven and are not hesitant to ask for what they think they deserve as millennials would be.”

Sanyam Rajvanshi, 29-year-old IT professional agreed, saying, Gen Z work ethics call for flexibility. “They are comfortable to work dedicatedly when they have flexibility to do so. They don’t want to be bound by a typical 9 to 5 shift.”

It’s common for Gen Z to prefer open, direct communication, while older generations may have different communication norms, explained Kale, who is an HR. There can be misunderstandings and conflicts because of these differences.

Both Kale and Nigam, who are in leadership roles in their respective companies, believe employers should not be micromanaging Gen Z’s time but rather focus on the outcome.

Agreed, 27-year-old PR professional Ritik Jaiswal. “Gen Z believes in smart work than hard work, being one of the most tech-savvy generations yet and keen to have a good work-life balance.”

The collective state of the world currently has shaped these wants and needs in Gen Z, who “prefer to keep their mental peace than work in a job that degrades them or doesn’t align with what they believe,” as a 26-year-old media professional tells me. “What matters more: me showing I’m doing the work or me doing the work?”

What Gen Zs want now entering 2024 is room to make mistakes and learn from them, they tell me. “Trust us. We want to be heard instead of being told ‘aapne zindagi kitni dekhi hai‘ (How experienced even are you?)”

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