What It's Like to Work for a Gen Z Boss (It's Different): If the early managers are any indication, the workplace will be less hierarchical, more informal and a lot more focused on mental health

"At a New York startup company called August, employees enjoy "mindfulness Fridays" -- a more-relaxed workday for deep focus without meetings. The company, which makes menstrual-care products, also has manager-driven quarterly "heart checks" to see how direct reports are feeling about how hard they are working and how much they are paid.

It's a work style introduced by Gen Z co-founders Nadya Okamoto, 26, and Nick Jain, 24, who graduated from Harvard and Princeton, respectively, during the pandemic.

"We talk a lot more than most places about how to prevent burnout," says Okamoto, who says she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder two years ago, and speaks openly about it. "One of the things I've learned the most is to slow down." The self-described fast-paced entrepreneur, who published a book while a sophomore in college and started a global nonprofit distributing menstrual products while in high school, says that "while I may be fast moving, I appreciate a team around me to slow down."

Generation Z -- generally defined as college grads and 20-somethings born sometime between 1997 and 2012 -- entered the workplace when there wasn't even one to go to. Those years, marked by a global health crisis and social unrest, helped shape their views about life as well as work. Many of them were home as their parents' workplaces closed, so they got a ground-floor view of what jobs really looked like, and they didn't like what they saw: a work-life balance that left little time for life, management that seemed to not care about the mental health of their employees, and an organizational structure that didn't give workers much of a voice.

Now, they have an opportunity to shape the workplace as they begin to enter the ranks of management themselves. While Gen Z's members now account for only 16.8% of the total workforce, according to data analyzed by ADP Research Institute, they are ascending rapidly: Employers promoted Gen Z workers into management 1.2 times faster in 2023 than in 2019.

Prepare for unrest.

Research shows that Gen Z workers can be challenging to work alongside. A survey of 1,344 managers by ResumeBuilder.com found that 74% believe Gen Z is more difficult to work with than other generations, due in part to lacking skills as well as motivation. In another ResumeBuilder survey that interviewed hiring managers who assessed a Gen Z candidate, 58% said Gen Zers didn't dress appropriately, 57% said they struggled with eye contact and 47% said they asked for unreasonable compensation.

But those "weaknesses" might be in the eye of the beholder. What older workers see as workplace liabilities, others see as signs of potential leadership strengths. "It's not that they don't want to work," says executive coach Scott De Long, 64, who consults workplace leaders on how to manage increasingly younger teams. "They don't want to work for people who treat them the way that we were treated when we grew up." That sometimes translates into a desire to cut through hierarchy, dress codes and the chain of command.

As a generation struck by a crisis that upended norms and made burnout a kitchen-table term, they are known for normalizing mental-health care. Gen Z has openly made mental health a touchpoint in their lives: 37% of Gen Zers report having received therapy from a mental-health professional compared with 22% of baby boomers, 26% of Gen Xers (who followed boomers) and 35% of millennials (who preceded Gen Z). And male and female Gen Zers are equally likely to report having received treatment.

Erin Burk, vice president of business development at August who describes herself as a 30s millennial, says some of the startup's eight employees include therapy appointments on their shared work calendar. That's in large part due to the tone set by the 20-something co-founders, she says, and it feels different from her more button-down past workplaces. Work and personal lives move fluidly from one to the other: It isn't unusual for August employees to dash in and out of the office in sneakers and workout clothes and curse freely and openly.

"The idea of your authentic self and your professional self as two separate things is three or four generations off," she says.

When she joined the company two years ago, she recalls being struck by the liberal use of the heart emoji in reaction to Slack messages. "I do remember thinking, 'That's very emotional, is that appropriate for work?' " she says. "And then, I was just like, 'You know what, you can still bust your ass all day and be emotionally available. What's the harm in that?' "

That feeling is a hallmark of Gen Z, which exhibits high emotional intelligence and is unafraid of introspection, researchers say. According to a report published last year by Deloitte, Gen Z workers consider "empathy" the second most important trait in a boss; their managers, on the other hand, rank it a distant fifth. (The No. 1 value for Gen Z: patience.)

Taylor Fulton-Girgis, a 25-year old marketing manager for Othership, a chain of bathhouses based out of Toronto, says managing a team of eight people, including videographers and graphic designers, prompted her to attend an "emotional wisdom retreat" recently to learn more about her strengths and weaknesses as a manager.

She has learned that managing different individuals means understanding their unique work styles and ways of communicating -- and to try to meet them where they are, she says, rather than making them follow her own standard.

"You have to make time for individuals and learn different personalities," Fulton-Girgis says.

That kind of introspection caused 29-year-old Connor Trombley, a senior vice president at speaker training and development company ImpactEleven, to rethink his management style when several team members weren't making deadlines on a six-week timeline for postproduction videos, which became frustrating.

In discussing the situation with his own boss, Trombley realized that the friction wasn't rooted in their lack of ability. "I realized that the expectations you set for yourself cannot be the same expectations that you set for your team," he says.

He retooled the production cycle to give the employees a little more time, while also providing the clients a raw edit earlier in the process, so they had an idea for what the finished video might look like without feeling like it was taking too long.

By listening to and working with his employees, he says, "in the end, it ended up being a better client experience."

He has also learned to give his employees the space they need to do the best work they can. "I now try to think about the human I'm talking to," he says.

One of his direct reports is Sharon Fenton, a 33-year-old creative-services manager, who says when she started the job eight months ago, she came in every day, but has more recently asked to come in twice a week, which she appreciates since she has a 2-year-old son who she likes to spend time with during the day. Trombley agreed, and used the opportunity to discuss communication style, whether she wanted to have weekly check-ins and how much detail coming out of meetings she felt she needed to have.

She says she told him she appreciates details. "I told him the more feedback I get, the better job I'll do," she says. "I've just never had a manager like that."" [1]

1. The New Workplace (A Special Report) --- What It's Like to Work for a Gen Z Boss (It's Different): If the early managers are any indication, the workplace will be less hierarchical, more informal and a lot more focused on mental health. Chaker, Anne Marie.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 11 Mar 2024: R.4.

 

Nauja darbo vieta (speciali ataskaita) --- Amerikiečiams darbas taip labai, kaip anksčiau, nerūpi. Ir tai ne tik Z karta: dėl to daugiausia kalta pandemija, kuri susilpnino darbo vietos galimybę kontroliuoti žmonių psichiką

   „Pagal išorę darbo rinka šiandien atrodo panašiai, kaip prieš pandemiją. Nedarbo lygis toks pat žemas, suaugusiųjų dalis darbo jėgoje tokia pat didelė, o atlyginimai po infliacijos auga maždaug tokiu pat tempu. .

 

     Tačiau po paviršiumi darbo pobūdis iš esmės pasikeitė. Karjera ir darbas nėra tokie svarbūs amerikiečių gyvenime. Jie nori daugiau laiko skirti jų šeimoms ir sau bei daugiau lankstumo, kada, kur ir kaip dirba.

 

     Šio pokyčio įtaka jau matoma tiek atskirose įmonėse, tiek visoje ekonomikoje. Dėl to nuolat trūksta darbuotojų, ypač tuose darbuose, kurie atrodo mažiau pageidaujami, nes, pavyzdžiui, jiems reikia dirbti asmeniškai arba nustatytomis valandomis. Tai savo ruožtu pakeitė darbdavių ir darbuotojų derybinę poziciją – privertė darbdavius prisitaikyti, ne tik mokant daugiau, bet ir teikiant darbo pasiūlymų prioritetą gyvenimo kokybei.

 

     Be abejo, kai kurie iš šių pokyčių kyla dėl ypač įtemptos darbo rinkos. Jei nedarbas padidės, dalis darbuotojų naujai atrastų svertų gali išgaruoti.

 

     Bet kai kurie ištvers. Istoriškai ekonomikos augimo vaisiai yra padalinti į kapitalą ir darbą, o darbas gauna dalį patogumų: mažiau valandų, daugiau išmokų, saugesnės ir malonesnės darbo sąlygos. Šie patogumai tampa vis svarbesni šių dienų darbo rinkoje, atsižvelgiant į tai, ko darbuotojai tikisi ir ką darbdaviai turi pasiūlyti.

 

     Kaip ir karai, kuriuos išgyveno ankstesnės kartos, pandemija buvo svarbus darbo vietos raidos įvykis, suformavęs ir dabartinės kartos gyvenimą, ir pragyvenimo šaltinius.

 

     Pirma, „Covid-19“ paveikė milijonų žmonių gebėjimą dirbti, juos nužudydamas ar susargdindamas arba priversdamas palikti darbo jėgą, kad išvengtų viruso ar prižiūrėtų šeimos narius. Antra, dešimtys milijonų darbuotojų perėjo iš fizinių į virtualias darbo vietas. Kai kurie jautėsi laisvi ir pamėgo tai; kai kurie jautėsi izoliuoti ir to nekentė. Kai kurie jautė abu. Bet kuriuo atveju poveikis susilpnino jų psichikos užimtumą darbu.

 

     2017 metais 24 % Pew apklausos respondentų teigė, kad jų darbas ar profesija yra labai svarbūs jų tapatybei. 2021 metais tai padarė vos 17 proc. Vėlesnės apklausos patvirtina šią išvadą.

 

     Tai ne tai, kad žmonės nekenčia jų darbo ar viršininkų; bendras pasitenkinimas darbu išlieka gana aukštas. Tiesiog kiti dalykai yra svarbesni, o tai pasireiškia įvairiais būdais. Darbuotojai tapo labiau linkę pasinaudoti atostogų dienomis, kurias jiems turi apmokėti, ligos dieną, kai jie serga, psichikos sveikatos dieną, kai patiria stresą, ir visomis vaiko priežiūros atostogomis, kurias siūlo jų (vis labiau prisitaikantys) darbdaviai.

 

     Populiarūs posakiai, tokie, kaip „tyliai mesti“ arba „dirbk už savo atlyginimą“, atspindi šiuos naujus požiūrius, dažnai nukreiptus į Z kartą – gimusius nuo 1990-ųjų pabaigos iki 2010-ųjų pradžios. „Jie tikrai erzina, ypač darbo vietoje“, – „The Guardian“ sakė aktorė Jodie Foster. „Jie sako: „Ne, aš šiandien to nejaučiu, aš ateisiu 10.30 val.““

 

     Tai tikrai nėra sąžininga. Senoliai pradėjo skųstis nerimta jaunyste nuo Aristotelio ir nuo to laiko nenuleido rankų. Kita vertus, Z karta susiduria su našta, kurios jų tėvai niekada neturėjo, pavyzdžiui, su Covid vargais. Daugelis jaunų tėvų buvo priversti likti namuose su karščiuojančiu mažyliu dėl nulinės tolerancijos politikos mokyklose ir darželiuose.

 

     Dar svarbiau, kad ši tendencija beveik neapsiriboja jaunimu. 54 metų senatorius Johnas Fettermanas (D., Pa.) skandalizavo didžiausią pasaulyje diskutuojančią organizaciją, pasirodydamas su gobtuvu ir šortais JAV senate.

 

     Ekonomistas Yongseokas Shinas iš Vašingtono universiteto Sent Luise ir du kolegos nustatė, kad po pandemijos darbo jėgos pasiūla smarkiai sumažėjo dėl mažesnio darbo jėgos dalyvavimo, o vis dar dirbantys asmenys dirba mažiau valandų. Darbo jėgos dalyvavimas dabar iš esmės atsigavo, kaip ir moterų darbo valandos. Tačiau vyrai pernai dirbo 30 valandų mažiau, nei 2019 m., o sumažėjimas buvo sutelktas tarp aukštesnes pajamas gaunančių kolegijų absolventų.

 

     Shin turi teoriją, kodėl. Šie vyrai dažniausiai yra darboholikai, dirba ilgiau ir gauna didesnį atlyginimą, nei dauguma. Staiga nuotolinis darbas leido jiems skambinti iš namų be baudos.

 

     „Pandemijos metu supranti: „Aš perdegsiu, noriu geresnės darbo ir asmeninio gyvenimo pusiausvyros“, – sakė Shinas. „Jei tu vienintelis bandai tai padaryti, nerimauji, kad būsi be paaukštinimo ir premijų. Tačiau ištikus pandemijos šokui, kai supranti, kad visi aplinkui daro tą patį, įskaitant tavo viršininką, jausiesi labiau patogiai sutrumpinti valandas ir atkurti darbo ir asmeninio gyvenimo pusiausvyrą."

 

     Darbuotojai pirmiausia suprato, kad nuotolinis darbas yra būtinybė, vėliau – patogumas, o dabar – teisė. Kai kurie pasitraukė, o ne pasidavė. Vienas banko vadovas prisimena, kaip jis surašė daugybę atmintinių, įpareigojančių darbuotojus grįžti į biurą, tik tam surašė, kad žmogiškųjų išteklių skyrius jas vetuotų.

 

     Naujai atrastas darbuotojų įžvalgumas apie tai, ar ir kur jie dirba, palieka savo pėdsaką visai ekonomikai. Gruodžio mėn. buvo laisvų 5,4 % darbo vietų, o sausį 40 % smulkiųjų įmonių turėjo bent vieną neužpildytą darbo vietą – abu skaičiai buvo didesni, nei bet kada prieš pandemiją.

 

     Ypač sunku užpildyti asmeninius darbus su fiksuotomis pamainomis. Laisvalaikio ir svetingumo srityse atlyginimas ne vadovams nuo 2019 m. padidėjo 8%, palyginti su privataus sektoriaus vidurkiu, o tai gali būti laikoma priemoka, mokama žmonėms, kurie turi dirbti asmeniškai nustatytu laiku. Nuotolinio darbo paplitimas akivaizdus pustuščiuose biurų bokštuose, kurie vis dar yra miesto centruose.

 

     Įmonės iš esmės susitaikė su nuotoliniu darbu, atvirai žiūrėdamos į kompromisus. Sausio mėn. Davose duodamas interviu „The Wall Street Journal“ nekilnojamojo turto vystytojo ir vadybininko JLL vadovas Christianas Ulbrichas sakė, kad bendrovė nori, kad visi darbuotojai jaustųsi, kaip komandos nariai, nesvarbu, kur jie dirbtų. Nepaisant to, jis mano, kad fizinis buvimas yra svarbus darbuose, kurių produktyvumas nėra lengvai išmatuojamas. Karjeros pradžioje „man buvo leista sėdėti šalia mano viršininko, klausytis jo pokalbių telefonu – tai, ką per tą laiką sužinojau, buvo nuostabu“.

 

     Ir atvirkščiai, jei fizinis buvimas nebėra svarbus, yra svarbesnis pagrindas iš viso perduoti darbą žmogui iš išorės. „Jei turite finansų srityje dirbantį asmenį, kuris neateina į biurą, kodėl nesamdžius to paties žmogaus Indijoje ar Filipinuose?" pasakė Ulbrichas.

 

     Anksčiau šiais metais „United Parcel Service“ paskelbė, kad visame pasaulyje atleidžia 12 000 daugiausia valdymo darbuotojų, o likusius užsisako atgal į biurą penkias dienas per savaitę. Ateinančiais metais tikimasi daugiau tokio nesentimentalaus išlaidų mažinimo. Maži pastarųjų metų atleidimai iš darbo buvo neįprasti.

 

     Tačiau atleidimo grėsmė greičiausiai nesukels darbuotojų paklusnumo vadovų reikalavimams, kaip kadaise. Daugelis darbuotojų padarė išvadą, kad kai kurie dalykai yra svarbesni, nei jų darbas, ir, norėdami juos turėti, turės su daug kuo taikstytis, įskaitant grėsmę darbo netekti." [1]

 

1. The New Workplace (A Special Report) --- Americans Don't Care as Much About Work. And It Isn't Just Gen Z: Blame it largely on the pandemic, which weakened the workplace's hold on people's psyches. Ip, Greg.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 11 Mar 2024: R.1.

The New Workplace (A Special Report) --- Americans Don't Care as Much About Work. And It Isn't Just Gen Z: Blame it largely on the pandemic, which weakened the workplace's hold on people's psyches.

"By outward appearances, the labor market today looks much as it did before the pandemic. The unemployment rate is just as low, the share of adults in the labor force is just as high, and wages are growing at roughly the same pace after inflation.

But beneath the surface, the nature of labor has changed profoundly. Career and work aren't nearly as central to the lives of Americans. They want more time for their families and themselves, and more flexibility about when, where and how they work.

The impact of this change can already be seen in both individual companies and the broader economy. It has led to a persistent shortage of workers, especially in jobs that seem less desirable because, for example, they require in-person work or fixed hours. That, in turn, has altered the bargaining position of employers and employees -- forcing employers to adapt, not just by paying more but giving priority to quality of life in job offers.

To be sure, some of these changes arise from an exceptionally tight labor market. If unemployment rises, some of employees' newfound leverage may evaporate.

But some will endure. Historically, the fruits of economic growth are split between capital and labor, with labor taking some of its share in the form of amenities: less hours, more benefits, safer, more-pleasant work conditions. Those amenities are increasingly central to the labor market of today, in what employees expect and what employers must offer.

Like the wars that previous generations lived through, the pandemic was a milestone in the evolution of the workplace, shaping both the lives and livelihoods of today's generation.

First, Covid-19 affected the ability of millions to work, by killing or sickening them or forcing them out of the labor force to avoid the virus or care for family members. Second, it shifted tens of millions of workers from physical to virtual workplaces. Some felt free, and loved it; some felt isolated, and hated it. Some felt both. Either way, the effect was to weaken the hold jobs held on their psyches.

In 2017, 24% of respondents to a Pew survey said their job or occupation was very important to their identity. In 2021, just 17% did. Later surveys corroborate this finding.

It isn't that people hate their jobs or bosses; overall job satisfaction remains pretty high. It is just that other things are more important, which manifests itself in a number of ways. Workers have become more willing to take vacation days they are owed, a sick day when they are sick, a mental-health day when they are stressed, and all the parental leave their (increasingly accommodating) employers offer.

Popular expressions like "quiet quitting" or "work your wage" capture these new attitudes, often directed at Generation Z -- those born between the late 1990s and early 2010s. "They're really annoying, especially in the workplace," actress Jodie Foster told the Guardian. "They're like, 'Nah, I'm not feeling it today, I'm gonna come in at 10:30 a.m.' "

This isn't really fair. Oldsters started complaining about entitled, unserious youth with Aristotle, and haven't let up since. For another, Gen Z faces burdens their parents never did, such as the hassles of Covid. Many a young parent has been forced to stay home with a feverish toddler because of zero-tolerance policies at schools and daycares.

More important, this trend is hardly restricted to the young. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), aged 54, scandalized the world's greatest deliberative body by showing up in hoodie and shorts.

Economist Yongseok Shin at Washington University in St. Louis and two colleagues found that labor supply dropped sharply after the pandemic through lower participation in the labor force, and those still in the labor force working less hours. Labor-force participation has now largely recovered, as have hours for women. Men, however, worked 30 hours less last year than in 2019, and the drop was concentrated among upper-income college graduates.

Shin has a theory why. These men, for the most part, are workaholics, working longer hours and drawing a bigger paycheck than most. Suddenly, remote work let them dial back without penalty.

"With the pandemic, you realize, 'I'm getting burned out, I want better work-life balance,'" Shin said. "If you're the only one trying to do this, you worry about being left out of promotions and bonuses. But with the common shock of the pandemic, if you realize everyone around is doing the same thing including your boss, you feel more comfortable about reducing hours, and restoring work-life balance."

Employees first saw remote work as an exigency, then an amenity, and now a right. Some have quit rather than give it up. One bank chief recalls drafting countless memos ordering employees back to the office only to have them vetoed by the human-resources department.

Workers' newfound discernment about whether and where they work leaves its imprint on the economy at large. In December, 5.4% of jobs were vacant and in January, 40% of small business had at least one unfilled opening -- both numbers higher than any time before the pandemic.

In-person jobs with fixed shifts are especially hard to fill. In leisure and hospitality, nonmanagerial pay is up 8% relative to the private sector average since 2019, which can be seen as the premium paid to people who have to work in person at fixed times. The prevalence of remote work is apparent in the half-empty office towers that still dot downtowns.

Companies have, by and large, made their peace with remote work, while being frank about the trade-offs. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in Davos in January, Christian Ulbrich, chief executive of property developer and manager JLL, said the company wants all workers to feel like they are part of a team no matter where they work. Nonetheless, he thinks physical presence is important in jobs where productivity isn't easily measured. Early in his career, "I was allowed to sit next to my boss, listen in on his phone conversations -- what I learned in that time was amazing."

Conversely, if physical presence no longer matters, there's a stronger case for outsourcing the job altogether. "If you have a person working in finance who's not coming to the office, why wouldn't you hire that same person in India or in the Philippines?" Ulbrich said.

Earlier this year, United Parcel Service announced it was cutting 12,000 mostly management employees worldwide, and ordering the remainder back to the office five days a week. Expect more such unsentimental cost cutting in the coming year. The low layoffs of recent years were anomalous.

But the threat of layoff isn't likely to elicit the submission from employees to managers' demands that it once did. Many employees have concluded that some things are more important than their job, and will put up with a lot -- including the threat of losing it -- to have them." [1]

1. The New Workplace (A Special Report) --- Americans Don't Care as Much About Work. And It Isn't Just Gen Z: Blame it largely on the pandemic, which weakened the workplace's hold on people's psyches. Ip, Greg.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 11 Mar 2024: R.1.

How to steal 40 million?

Do you remember Šarūnas Stepukonis, who was lucky enough to steal 40 million euros from all of our pensions? All the time, the question of how he did it bothered me. After all, the government of Lithuania is the government that spies on people the most in the world (remember President Paksas': "I defecated and  slapped on the ass"? After all, they wrote it down secretly and reported it to all of us). Banks follow our every move as well. And 40 million euros? This is fiction.

 

Turns out not. First, the Landsbergis family came up with the idea of extracting money from Sodra. To do this, they pushed through our political system under their control an arrangement that made Sodra's money a bait. You see, this is free money that the government gives us to encourage us to save for our old age in pension funds. Encouraged. They extracted even more money from us this way. They put people loyal to them in charge of these pension funds, including Šarūnas Stepukonis.

 

In return, Šarūnas Stepukonis started to finance Gabrielius Landsbergis's wife's businesses with our money. The Landsbergis family men don't do anything suspicious themselves, they manage everything through their wives. Gabrielius Landsbergis's wife became a millionaire [1]. Our pensions, current and future, have been reduced to starvation levels. And when Šarūnas Stepukonis started stealing millions, no one dared to touch him. After all, a man from Landsbergis circle. He used it, took the money, until he stole that outrageous amount.

 

I want to ask the Lithuanian elite. What do you expect to receive from your children, whom you send to Landsbergis schools and kindergartens? Who is educating them? After all, the Landsbergis family are a criminal mafia. They won't be here forever. What will you do with your children when they grow up and the Landsbergis family members are gone? Will you carry dry bread to prison?

 

Why is Šarūnas Stepukonis already behind bars, and his roof, Gabrielius Landsbergis, not yet? Naive question you say?

  

   1. "The private business of the Gabrielius and Austėja Landsbergiai family is financed by the venture capital fund Baltcap, which very recently sold the wind power plant it owned in the Jurbarkas district to UAB Lietuvos Energija, controlled by the Landsbergis family, at a very high price."

 

     But the Lansbergis were more lucky. Before the needle was out of the bag, the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund led by Šarūnas Stepukonis managed to create a fabulous infrastructure for the business of the Lansbergis family. In 2020, in Vilnius, Kalnėnai, a new luxury school and kindergarten was built on a plot of land owned by the Lansbergis, with the funds of the foundation headed by Šarūnas Stepukonis.

 

     Mrs. Austėja is happy that the new Queen Martha school is the most modern not only in Lithuania, but also in all of Europe. And how can you not be happy when Šarūnas Stepukonis invested even 11 million euro in the construction of her school from entrusted to him funds. The Lansbergis family are happy not only with the school, but also with the cost of education, which is a burden for an ordinary Lithuanian, but a huge fortune for their family."