Millennial woman shares how a chat with a Gen Z co-worker made her 'respect' their work ethics

The Gen Z generation is getting praise for their fresh perspective on life and work. Many individuals from this generation have defied norms in the workplace that have caught the attention of many people. TikTok influencer Jess Michelle (@jesss.michelle) recently shared a video where she talks about a fellow Gen Z employee who was being bold at work. The video has got 60.8K likes and 1136 comments on the platform.

She begins by stating how Gen Z workers were very courageous in the workplace and that she had a story to showcase that. Michelle says, "There is a new Gen Z person on my team and asked if they could have a one-on-one conversation with me." She explains how she was not his "direct manager" but still agreed to it. The woman told him that she would find time to arrange a meeting.

Michelle finds a suitable time and sends him an invitation to the meeting. Interestingly, the coworker replied saying, "I have a lot of meetings that day, I might be feeling really depleted. Could you send it for a different day?" The woman was initially shocked and told her viewers that she was doing the meeting as a favor for him since he requested it. But she immediately commends the individual for being so professionally blunt.

She says, "But also, respect for knowing your boundaries and knowing what you want and what you like and how to prevent yourself from feeling burnt out." The woman concluded by saying that the individual's request was very bold but that she respected it. People shared their thoughts about Gen Z in the comments section. @martyna_bie said, "For me, it's not bold. I think it's communication. And it's good. I love Gen Z."

Another user, @randomshytfromrandomguy, said, "I'm a millennial and I think deep down, Gen Z are doing things I never had the courage to do but wanted to." @jean9976 appreciated the woman's response, saying, "Respect to you. Some people would get mad and call it off. That's why most of us have to find tons of excuses and lies to just say no."

This is just one of many things older generations can learn from Gen Z. Many people from this generation are embracing the concept of "soft saving" or "soft money," which basically involves making decisions to live life easily. Sales engineer Hosanna Hali (@thetechcornr on TikTok) has been taking part in this emerging trend and posting videos about it. The woman also shared a video about how she was only obsessed with "the life" on Instagram.

She spoke about "soft saving" to news.com.au, saying, "It is picking an activity that you know makes you feel so much better about yourself and having a monetary value attached to it." In one of her videos, the woman extensively gives out her views on the topic through a text overlay while she opens a bottle of wine. She mentions how she "desperately" wanted to climb the corporate ladder but had changed her mindset.

The woman states how she would be happy so long as she could pay her bills, go on holidays and afford a good bottle of wine. According to Hali, doing all these things would make her "successful enough." People agreed with her in the comments section. @itsmecarolync said, "I have no desire to be a supervisor. I just want to be a successful individual contributor."