How much work is too much work? It all begins from here, where millennials do not mind going the extra mile for their work and spending an extra hour, Gen Z will call it employee exploitation. Why is it that a millennial will prioritise their work but a Gen Z will try to balance both work and personal life? 

Millennials often find Gen Z very offensive and extremely straightforward while the latter think that the other party has just accepted that life is a monotonous loop and have set a mental constraint for themselves which they cannot free themselves from. Gen Z is just glad about the freedom of speech they have in this country or they sure would have started a world war!

Work-life balance

Both seek a good life balance. “I am 47 years old and I spent all my life in a monotonous manner. I pursued a good education, secured a good job, got married, had kids and I am still working towards doing my best for my kids. I do not think I realised how time passed by. In recent years, I’ve come to realise that my time away from work is also important. I decided to work for limited hours in the day and spend the remaining with my family. This allows me to focus effectively on both parts of my life,” said Mangesh, an IT employee from Mumbai.

As much as Gen Z tries to balance their work and life, they end up over-exhausting themselves. Of course, there is no doubt that the young generation has not had years of work experience yet to be able to manage it efficiently, but they do feel the need to have some time off from their schedule to spend on building themselves.

While talking to an intern at a publishing house, he said, “No matter what time I reach the office, I end up working more than my shift only because the manager and others have this perception that I am only an intern and I am supposed to exhaust myself at work. Not that I do not enjoy my work but I would also like to spend some time for myself, doing the things I like. I’d like to go for a walk and cook myself some nice and warm dinner and not order food late at night because I get too exhausted.”

Remote work

Since they have worked from the office for years and then worked from home for two years during the pandemic, millennials think working from home is more chaotic. In addition, these adults also think that when people work from home, there is no evident proof that they truly are working.

“I run my own public relations agency. Though I do not doubt my team’s efficiency, I believe in working from the office because that provides me stability at work. It gets easier for me to communicate with my team and work together more effectively. I also believe working from the office helps you set a healthy routine and gets you going every morning,” said Siya.

On the contrary, youngsters like the freedom to work remotely. They do not like being constrained to a cubicle or a building. They condemn the idea of living a monotonous life where you follow the same routine every day and go to the same building every day. Shedding light on the same, 23-year-old Spurti, a copywriter said, “I enjoy the luxury of working remotely. Not only does it help me balance my work and personal life but it also boosts my creativity since my mind does not have to worry about time constraints and travel stress.”

Work values

If you ask a millennial at work about what they think of a young employee who has recently joined, you surely won’t hear praise since their style of working does not match with that of Gen Z. Both generations have

different beliefs and none of them wish to change or compromise on their thoughts. While the younger generation often values work-life balance and personal time more than previous generations, millennials might see this as a lack of dedication or willingness to work extra hours. Gen Z might prioritise job flexibility, meaningful work, and personal well-being over traditional career progression. Millennials might view this as less commitment compared to their focus on climbing the corporate ladder.

Youth may prefer to work smarter, not harder, using technology and efficiency whereas millennials might interpret this as laziness or a lack of effort. 

Blending generations

Millennials often try to blend with Gen Z by adopting trends popular with the younger generation. While some millennials genuinely enjoy these trends, others do so to feel relevant or connected to younger people, especially in digital spaces where both generations interact frequently. 

 “I never imagined myself being friends with someone who is 13 years younger than me and then I met Rudra. He joined our workplace roughly a year ago and I admit I had my assumptions about having a young co-worker in the team,” said Devesh, a sales manager at an MNC. “I assumed the work would only get difficult but Rudra is a force. His ways of working might be different from what I am accustomed to but they are innovative and helpful to the team. I appreciate how he treats every single co-worker with the same respect. I learned so much from him.”  

Spiral of silence

The "spiral of silence" theory suggests that individuals are less likely to express their opinions if they believe they are in the minority, fearing social isolation. At the workplace, millennials and Gen Z exhibit different reactions to this theory. Millennials do not like getting involved in unnecessary feuds and would rather choose to not speak up.

On the other hand, the youth tends to be more open about voicing opinions, even if they are in the minority. This generation values authenticity and social justice. Gen Z is often driven by a desire for transparency and is more likely to use digital platforms or informal channels to express their views.

Though the two generations have views that are poles apart, most often they do see eye-to-eye on some things and manage to sail through together in the same organisation.

Having said that, the fact remains that they keep smirking at each others’ values! And each has its own pluses and minuse