“Generation Z is 70% more likely to have difficulties pertaining to motivation and burnout issues rather than preceding generations currently at work,” according to the TELUS Mental Health Barometer. This is not only shocking, it literally upends the discussion about the ‘unmotivated’ aspects of this generation. In regard to why this generation is the way it is, it is stated: For decades, the definition of ambition was to buy your first home, get promoted to the top of the corporate ladder, or raise a family, according to a CNN news article. All such ambitions are out of reach for the ‘twentysomethings.
Thus, it is here that the wider story of Generation Z and work ethic is selectively sidestepped. Generation Z is struggling in a world of economic instability, problems of mental well-being, fear of climate change, and a world of always-on technology where the boundary between work and leisure is dissolved. It is their move to a new set of values that seek to compensate for the priority of mental well-being, integrity, and balance when appraised in the framework of the past. It is actually a shrewd response to a new set of rules when considered more closely.
Instead, it is possible to deconstruct the elements affecting the lifestyle and goals of Generation Z, and from this vision of resilience, the feeling is more about being under stress with the goal of surviving and preserving oneself than succeeding.
1. Broken Promise of Higher Education
The young generation from the millennial cohort is discovering that the old trick of a diploma equals a job does not apply any longer. Tuition costs have skyrocketed, with some in-state colleges close to $30,000 per year, and yet salaries are stagnant meanwhile. This leaves a generation with a pile of debt from the days of youth itself. In a particular survey, 35% of young graduates reported a pangs of regret in taking the particular loan with eyes shut to what the after effects would turn out to be, while 92% would alter the college experience if it would turn out the way it actually did with regard to debt.
Such is the effect of this economic anchor. Not only has the ‘taint of a loan’ been raised by discussions about loan forgiveness, but teens are actually averse to loan-taking itself a condition serious enough to forgo a college education altogether when it can actually help their economic stability. On a more internally motivated note is the problem of decreased desire to learn because more and more learning is seen as a function of a transaction process, and not as a power-forces generator.
2. Pressure Cooker Economy
“The cost of living has been driven up to such an extent that even the essentials of life appear to be a luxury itself.” Today, more than half of the Gen Z’ers live from one paycheck to another, with more than half the income spent on rent, food, and utilities. On the other hand, according to the Harvard report, “56% of young adults experience recurrent feelings of financial distress.”
This is an endless pressure, and it makes it difficult to think long-term. If the basic needs of one’s existence can be met by testing the feasibility and applicability of two or three part-time options, or if it requires relocation back home, what is there to hustle towards? This was explained by Jamie McLennan, Deputy General Manager at TELUS Health APAC.
3. Breaking Point in Mental Health
Gen Z faces an alarmingly higher level of anxiety and depression than any previous generation, with an astounding diagnosis of 42% of Gen Z for mental health problems. It’s not just feeling blue; this is an unrealistic productivity expectation with a crippling weight where productivity is already an afterthought. Nearly half of the young workforce feels as though mental health affects their productivity.
Mental and physical well-being and economic wellness interact; the absence of economic security aggravates mental suffering. Lacking support structures in the work setting, the process of burnout syndrome from acute to chronic develops, and the motivational style shifts from goal-orientated to day-to-day survival approaches.
4. Digital Burnout and the ‘Always-On’ Trap
“The smartphone generation” is socialized with regards to a lifestyle of “always being on” and “always connected” because of the pressure that is consistently applied. “The social web encourages people to strive for perfection in photos rather than life” because “the reward mechanisms are based on dopamine” and “passive use” is shown to actually decrease “subjective well-being” and “comparisons with others’ highlights are either annoying or worse”
In one detox program concerning social media, it lasted for a period of one week, leading to decreased symptoms of anxiety by 16.1% and depression by 24.8% among young individuals, making it clear about the psychological effects these media have on humans. The fact is it’s rather difficult to give up social media when it’s utilised as means of socialisation too.
5. The Vanishing Dream of Homeownership
While buying a home was a rite of passage for a previous generation, “the perception is that, more likely than not, buying a home is simply out of the question for Generation Z. ‘Down payments today are, comparatively speaking, equivalent to or exceed the purchase price that previous generations bought for the entire property,’ said financial planner Donald Rosenblum, a specialist on Millennials. ‘Wealth accumulation is actually well behind Boomers of the same age, and that puts a different emphasis on experiences.”
This is more than being indulge–this is the rational response to the market where the objective of saving for the down payment of the purchase of the house is absurd. Without the availability of long-term goals, there is an existential projection of planning.
6. The Overhanging Heavy Shadow of Climate Anxiety
For Gen Z, climate change or environmental damage is no longer an abstract idea; it is about something that is personal and emotional to them. “Seventy-three percent of Gen Z respondents say that they are ‘very worried’ about environmental damage, and nearly half say that environmental damage affects them personally.” Climate change can affect the decision of whether or not to have kids, the decision of which path to follow in choosing a career, or “the decision of where and when to invest when much of that will no longer matter because of climate change.”
“Feeling the feeling of the anxiety around climate change is an indication that you care, that you’re paying attention, that you’re an empathetic person,” says Dr. Leslie Davenport, a climate psychology educator. Empathy may be the cause of feeling demotivated.
7. The Gig Economy and the Blurring of Stability
“The gig economy replaced job paths with a variety of different income sources.” The income from driving for companies like Uber or delivering food may pay the bills, but there will be no benefits, job security, or a directional path to advancement.
“Scooping up just enough to make ends meet becomes a guessing game, with resources split between different sources of income.” Building a career may well take a secondary role when basic survival is on the line.
“Without a safety net, it becomes necessary to shift from ambition to endurance and rush towards burnout when it comes to jobs involving constant presence with little room to grow.”
8. Paralyzed by the Presence of Endless Choice
As Generation Z is brought up in a world with so much choice available, they are left with the dilemma of too much choice leading to difficulty in making a choice from the number of options available to them. The fear of taking the wrong decision, whether in matters of career, business, or investment, is causing Generation Z AWAITING the ‘perfect’ time to make the right decision.
However, “good enough” is by no means something that is acceptable within the culture of our time, where optimizing is ideal. What I mean is that anything less than optimal is considered to be a failure.
9. The Distorted Mirror of Social Comparison
Social networking sites are full of peers who have achieved enormous amounts of success at an age so tender that anything less than prodigies would be considered lacking. For many, the gap between the world around them and the world of the virtual self is so large that it is hard to cross, and before one can take action, detachment is necessarily attained.
Thus, it is probable that female members of Generation Z are also influenced by the negative consequences of social networking sites and body image, self-esteem, fear of missing out. Thereby, a culture is bred where average is considered a failure and so fosters an environment that is void of the drive to try.
10. “Redefining the Milestones Of Adulthood”
Marriage, children, and homeownership are being postponed until later in life or are being foregone altogether—within Generation Z. Being young and being employed is what being young means today, and so young adult is roughly equivalent now to temporarily employed. This is, of course, what lies at the root of what is claimed to be the lack of motivation, and it is almost certainly because of the recognition of the interpretation set by its definition being rewritten so that it might simply be interpreted. However, the trouble with the “redefinition of the milestones of adulthood” is that it’s measured in the opinion* formed by the preceding generation’s experience, discovery, and lesson-learning process. “Generation Z’s ‘Motivational Deficit’: Why Today’s Young Adults Have Lost the ‘Spark’ That Once Moved Previous Generation.”
The “motivational deficit problem in Gen Z is not a problem of lack of motivation, it’s a problem of resourcefulness in a world where the rules are different.” ISSA makes it clear that this is “not about learning how to survive and thrive in this uncertain world, it’s about learning how to survive and thrive in a new world where the stakes are different.” Gen Z is not facing “a spark,” this “spark” symbolizing “the drive and the desire that is passed on from generation to generation.” This “spark” is merely “kept alive in the fire”: The “spark” represents the essence with the potential to kindle the “fire.” The ‘fire,’ of course, self-explains “What this ‘spark’ is being talked about is the need for this,” reads the caption accompanying the image.
