We've come a long way from the Greatest Generation, when Americans fought a world war, then returned home to work 40-50 hours a week to support families. These days, it's all about 'work-life balance,' the buzz phrase for not wanting to work as much. A new survey out of Singapore shows a majority of people are more concerned with work-life balance than salary. At the same time, some Apple employees in the U.S. are revolting over having to return to the office three days a week after two years of remote work.
The erosion of the old-fashioned American work ethic has been happening for awhile, with new pushes for things like unlimited vacation time, more office perks like game rooms and lounges, and even cutting the traditional 40-hour work week. "Employees have never had more leverage than they do right now," says Joel Patterson, workplace culture expert with the business consulting firm The Vested Group. "They really do have the ability not only to set their days, but in a lot of situations they can even set their hours."
"A lot of people are talking about four-day work weeks," he continues. "And there are a lot of companies that are trying to pilot four-day, eight-hour-a-day work weeks, not the traditional four 10s."
The main complaint of this generation? Work is hard. The Singapore survey found 63% of respondents felt moderately stressed at work, and 28% were highly stressed on the job. More than a third cited their job as the primary source of stress.
Whether we like it or not, Patterson believes this new mindset among workers is here to stay, as opposed to the old days of chasing the almighty dollar at all costs. "There's that initial wave of look how much money you can make, but once that passes it gets down to the substance of what you're really there for," he tells KTRH. "Do you really like this job, do you respect the people you're with, do you feel valued?"
On the other hand, companies have to know when to put their foot down and push back on entitled employees. "Sometimes I think people get a little emboldened or empowered by what they've read or seen elsewhere, and don't necessarily apply it to their own employment situation," says Patterson. "I would say, just make sure you're ready for a 'no' if you're going in there and demanding things."