From Boomers to Gen Z: How Different Generations React to Work Outside Job Description

You won't need to search too hard on social media to find posts from people who criticize employers for making unrealistic or unfair expectations of them in the workplace.

Heck, Reddit's antiwork sub has some 2.6 million subscribers and is regularly populated with content from folks who've about had it up to here with their bosses and the way they treat their workforce.

Many of these posts also appear to call out generational differences between management/workers, along with the different expectations each demographic has towards work.

It's believed that Gen Z cares more about "work life balance" as compared to previous generations, i.e. they're not about making their respective vocations the end-all-be-all of their lives.

And a recent TikTok posted by a user named Cruz (@champagnecruze) only further adds to this generational workplace debate. In the clip, he re-enacts the various reactions different generations have to be asked to perform duties and tasks outside of their job description.

He begins with boomers, who, upon receiving a message to do something outside of their description happily take on the task, but not without a bit of difficulty in locating what's being asked of him in his email inbox.

Cruz then goes to a Gen X-er who calls out the fact that the new task being assigned to them falls outside the line of his work, but that he will attempt to "move some things around" and "take a look at it" but ultimately agrees to have it sent over to him.

The Millennial is up next, who is seen wearing a snuggie and is rudely asking their manager what they want. They angrily type out an email explaining that they don't have the time to do the additional task and that they're going to immediately start looking for a new job because of the inconvenience as they dig through a bag of snacks.

The last is Gen Z, who sees the message and then closes their laptop after simply saying, "immediately no."

In 2022, a viral video showed a man re-enacting how different generations act whenever they bump shoulders with someone while simply crossing paths.

First, he starts with people born in the 1970s. The man hits his shoulder against a door jamb (which is supposed to be the person he bumps shoulders with). The '70s man simply walks on by as if nothing happened.

Next are the Gen-Xers, the folks born in the '80s. They hit shoulders with the person then look at them and give the person a bit of lip, presumably telling them to watch where they're going, or asking them what their problem is.

Next up are the '90s babies, who make a bit of a stink of the fact that this person just bumped their shoulder. They pantomime an over-exaggerated amount of pain and widen their eyes as if to say, "geez what was that person's problem."

Last up are folks born in the 2000s, they bump shoulders with the other person and crash to the ground in a dramatic sprawl that would make any novella actor proud. They pause their grimace for a second while on the floor as they get out of their smartphone, then start over-acting how in pain they are while they record themselves, probably to broadcast their victimization to the rest of the world.

There are a number of folks who've expressed that Gen-Z'ers appear to be obsessed with victimhood, but many pieces that blast "victim mentalities" are usually met with criticism and that folks who label calling out "victim mentalities" are simply refusing to acknowledge that someone is suffering or facing hardship.