Woman expertly debunks the myth that 'Gen Z doesn’t want to work' and it makes perfect sense

Times have changed and so has people's opinion on work culture. Employees are increasingly prioritizing value and purpose at their jobs. The work must serve its purpose, otherwise, Gen Z will likely quit. They no longer are working just to work. The job has to fulfill its objectives for it to be a functional setup for them. It is what Ajla–who goes by @ajla_talks–is explaining in her TikTok video. She is hitting back at the criticism levied on Gen Z that they do not have any love for work or will to learn on the job. She explains why this generation does not have the privilege to approach work like the people of the 80s.

The format of the video has one version of Ajla throwing questions at Gen Z while the other one represents them answering on their behalf. She begins the video by throwing out the typical criticism, "Kids these days, they don't want a hard day's work at all." After that, she shares the popular misconception that all Gen Z people want to do is leave their jobs and rant on social media. It is followed by a carefully constructed answer, in which the woman begins by describing the reason for this attitude as a bit more 'complicated' than people give it credit for.

Her first argument is, "We want to quit because we're being taken advantage of, put in huge amounts of debt and not paid properly." She added that, unlike the previous generation, they cannot afford this manipulation. In the 80s, salary was enough to give people a decent lifestyle. To back up her claims, she showed a chart that revealed inflation-adjusted US home prices since 1900. The data showed that home price has been up 1,608% in comparison to what they were in 1970. On the other hand, "minimum wage is 40% lower than what it should be, compared to 1970."

The same home that cost people $100,000 in 1970 now is priced at $710,000. Unfortunately, wages have not increased at a similar rate. They have remained stagnant. It was followed by another criticism, that they are not the first generation to have problems so they must learn to "live with it." To this, she responds that there is literally no way to "live with it."

The best way to progress in life is through college and that itself has increased by 2,000%. Wages used to be $1,700 in 1970 and now they are $38,000 a year. Wages are not covering the increase in cost, in terms of education and living conditions. People are struggling to maintain their present lifestyle and move to a higher station. Therefore, there is so much rage against the present job market.

The comment section agreed with Ajla's points. @andrewsampson4 shared how the criticism from other generations does not make sense and wrote, "Funny how they say 'live with it' but won't offer a salary that affords you the opportunities they had." @theantiwarvet believes that the negative attitude to work is mainly because there is no benefit to working and commented, "There is zero incentive to work. This isn't limited to Gen Z. Millennials have it bad too."