Opinion & Insight: The Corporate Rat Race is Over for Millenials & Gen-Z

There are some people who live to work.

Then there are those who work only to live.

Now, there are those who are out here just living to live.

As the relentless demands of the modern workplace persist, Gen-Zs (54%) and Millennials (52%) report the highest levels of burnout, according to a recent survey by Eagle Hill Consulting.

If the balance requires a total reshift altogether, what does this mean for the workplace if the corporate rat race is one that #Millenials and #Gen-Z are opting out of?

When I think about my career journey and what it has taken to get here, I sometimes sit back and wonder, "If I were not doing what I love, what I'm purposed for would I even be considered as successful?"

Don't get me wrong, you can be successful in a career you absolutely have no joy in because you're ambition can make you the best in class. As you climb the corporate ladder, materialism and consumerism are embedded into your regulated self-care and well-being because your "do you know what it took me to get here" moments remind you of the pitfalls, burnouts and losses that brought you to where you are today.

However, these moments are also becoming increasingly pivotal to decisions Millenials and Gen-Z are making when it comes to their career because of this very same plight.

As we navigate the tectonic shift that is taking place across the globe, now more than ever #socialimpact and #flexability in the #workplace are changing the perceptions of Millennial and Gen-Z employees. Gone are the days when your manager could tell you something to make you feel good and that was that. Nope. After these meetings what usually happens now is employees are taking the time to sit with themselves to ask important questions about their true goals and aspirations because the reality of achieving corporate success for diverse talent in the UK does not glisten as the gold it was once claimed to be.

Within the Western world, we are guided by family and traditions, friends, loved ones, the Government and the media on navigating the world and the steps you must take to live a decent life as a citizen. But as a mother raising a 16-year-old Gen-Z daughter, who even for myself has had a total reshift of what success looks like personally as opposed to professionally for my future, if the corporate rat race is truly no longer "the goal" what is?

Living the retirement lifestyle today. Now in the moment. That is the goal.

When you look at the generations that have gone before you, there is always wisdom that they share that leaves an impact. You see them go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, climb the corporate ladder and then retire. Yet, when they reach the pinnacle to enjoy the next stage of life, the wisdom they now share with Millenials and Gen-Z is to live and not wait. And when you break that down, not only is the reality of leaving the rat race no longer scary but it has been backed by the "soft life movement" that as GQ claims everyone can achieve.

What am I saying? As leaders, we must embrace how these moments of reflection that we even have are contributing to and converting the retention of our talent and what this means for the future of the workplace.

So I will leave you with this to think about...

1. What do autonomy, flexibility and professional and personal identity truly mean to you as a leader?
2. What should the above mean to your employees?
3. How does your culture and work environment support or need to address the above?

With compromise slowly being removed from the table, navigating organisational transformation must showcase bold steps in the innovation you are willing to create.

Why?

Because the next generation are counting on you to create the balanced solutions we need to renovate and empower the new leaders of the world.