Career Minimalism

Why Gen Z is rejecting the traditional idea of climbing the corporate ladder.

Its Origins

As Gen Z continues to enter the workforce, there has been a noticeable shift in how they approach career growth. Their job tenures are shorter compared to other generations. They are rejecting workplace politics and have less tolerance for unreasonable policies. And they are starting side hustles to diversify their income and creating their own businesses. These combined actions are being labeled as career minimalism. Career minimalism is when a job is just seen as a means of financial stability, and ambition and passion are found outside a traditional 9-5.

Trust between Gen Z and corporate America has severely decreased due to job instability, burnout, long hours, delayed promotions, minimal salary increases, and the utter lack of work-life balance. The idea that you can stay in one job for your entire career is nonexistent in this generation. And with the hundreds of thousands of layoffs that have happened across multiple industries over the past few years, they probably can’t stay that long even if they wanted to. Gen Z is also rejecting the notion that the only way to get a significant bump in pay and in title is if you become a manager. After seeing their parents’ increased stress from managing employees with very little additional compensation, many Gen Z have decided management is not for them.

And the proliferation of dry promotions—when you get a new title and more responsibility but no pay increase—has a lot of Gen Z running for the hills. They’ve been told for years that if they get a college degree, they are almost guaranteed a job that will allow them to sustain their lifestyles, while also paying off debt and building savings. Now over the past several years, they realize that this isn’t the case anymore. The return is not matching the investment. So they’re shifting strategies.

Now why is career minimalism so appealing to Gen Z?

The Freedom Of Title Detachment

When someone asks you to tell them about yourself, what is the first thing out of your mouth? Does it have anything to do with your day job? If so, why is that? There’s nothing wrong with being proud of where you work or how far you’ve come in terms of title. The concern comes when you start to think that what you do for a living is the only thing that makes you interesting. It’s a problem when you feel that your self-worth is attached to a job title. People can get so wrapped up in their corporate personas that it ends up becoming their only persona. But you are not your title. And Gen Z has started to realize that and is therefore trying to find their identities through other means.

There is also a specific type of freedom that comes with detaching your identity from your work. If you make a mistake and get reprimanded, it’s not the end of the world because you know this isn’t a reflection of who you are as a person. If you get laid off, you are less likely to see it as an indicator of your lack of expertise and skills. This is because you have other passions and interests that make up who you are. All of your eggs aren’t in one basket, so it’s less of a blow if one basket gets thrown out a window. Gen Z is finding their purpose and managing their mental health through side hustles and community—and generating more passive income in the process.

Now what does this say about the future of work?

The Future is Fluid

Adaptability, flexibility, and empathy are the main tenets of the future workplace. When Gen Z steps into more senior roles and Gen Alpha enters the workforce, the old ways of working won’t cut it anymore. There will need to be a stricter emphasis on psychological safety and humans over profit. Humans have been and always will be a company’s greatest resource and they need to be treated as such. There’s already a higher demand for mental health resources, hybrid/remote work, stipends for professional development, transparency, career progression planning, and general work culture improvements. It will just be table-stakes over the next few decades.

However, it already is table-stakes for Gen Z so if companies want to stay relevant, stay afloat, and stay profitable, they need to listen to what their potential future employees are trying to tell them. If they heed Gen Z’s warnings and take their actions seriously, they’ll flourish. If they decide to ignore them, it’s just a matter of time before they’re filing for bankruptcy. It won’t be easy to change centuries of workplace traditions but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. And Gen Z seems to be up to the challenge.

Now what can brands take away from this?

Growth Is A Two-Way Street

Invest in your audience and they’ll invest in you - You will only attract the most loyal consumers if you take the time to get to know them. Be proactive about offering them solutions to their problems. Reduce their cognitive load so they can focus on what really matters to them. You won’t grow unless your audience grows—figuratively and literally.

Stay curious, my friends.