Over the last 20 years, the current generation, Generation Z, has felt immense pressure due to their busy schedules with school, work, sports, extracurriculars and more. Students believe they work harder than previous generations did at this age. As a result, many young people express feeling higher levels of stress, anxiety and burnout at increasingly younger ages. Older generations did not feel the same stress level because their schedules were often less packed, and they did not grow up in a world of constant pressure from social media.
Students who work during the school year typically work about 10 to 20 hours per week. This allows students to gain valuable work experience and develop time management skills while still balancing school as well.
Sophomore Mason Braun said he works at Windmill Marina three to four days a week and occasionally five days a week.
However, even with the gained work experience and better time management skills, students also express that it can add a lot of stress to their already busy schedules. If students do not properly manage their schedule, it can lead to poor mental health and academic performance. In a survey done by the World Economic Forum, it was found that 11% of all Americans said the busy pace of their life was harming their mental health. There is a growing divide between students on whether balancing school, work and sports helps or hurts their work ethic.
“If everything with school and work is balanced, then I see a busy schedule as good stress that helps motivate me, but if it’s unbalanced, it can definitely be very stressful and overwhelming in a bad way,” junior Charlotte Donar said.
Teachers are divided on whether students of this generation have a better or worse work ethic than them and their parents’ generation. Some teachers argue that while students today may appear less focused in school, they actually demonstrate a different kind of work ethic by multitasking so many different priorities and commitments.
“I feel like it really depends on the student because I see students who have a job while in school, and they put too much emphasis on work and then their academics fall behind because of it, because they’re so focused on making money,” science teacher Claire Turro said.
Many students are driven by a range of motivations when it comes to having a job. These can be practical needs or they can be personal development goals.
Braun said his main motivation for his job is “money, but I also want to meet new people and improve my social skills”, which is why he works at Windmill Marina.
Students believe there may be some similarities between Gen Z and their parents’ generation. For example, both generations value hard work and personal growth.
“I feel like my dad’s motivations for having a job were definitely similar to mine. I know my dad had poor social skills, just like I do, and so I think he wanted to meet people and work on his social skills, and of course, he needed money too,” Braun said.
Students today face unique challenges that their parents did not face, such as balancing academics, part-time jobs and social pressures in an increasingly digital world because of social media and technology. Previous generations did not have these same pressures because social media had not been created yet.
“I have a belief that social media is a problem for students, and it’s not their fault they were born into this age of technology, but I think it definitely takes time away from them because they spend more time on virtual endeavors and not enough on real endeavors,” Turro said.
Work ethic is a key factor in students’ success both academically and professionally. Work ethic is typically associated with a person’s reliability, responsibility and commitment to what they are doing. In a study, the results showed that 74% of managers stated that Gen Z is the most challenging generation to work with.
“I see work ethic as someone’s willingness to work and do a good job at it, but also if you’re on time and dedicated to your work and going above and beyond,” junior Henry Collyard said.
Students think they have a better work ethic than older generations because they have more responsibilities, such as school, part-time jobs and extracurricular activities. Students also believe that today’s environment requires them to work harder and manage more stress than previous generations.
Braun said he thinks Gen Z has a better work ethic than our parents generation because we have more physically demanding jobs and we have more going on in our lives than they did.
On the other hand, teachers believe they have a better work ethic because they see firsthand how much students rely on technology to complete tasks. Teachers argue that older generations had to rely more on hard work and self-discipline because they did not have the same technology to use as a resource.
“My dad worked very hard, got a full scholarship to college and graduate school and then got a Ph.D. in chemistry. He had a very strong work ethic, and my mom did as well. Seeing them work so hard all the time definitely influenced me and my work ethic today, and is my motivation to work harder,” Turro said.
People believe that the true meaning of “work ethic” has been interpreted differently between generations. Older generations worked harder to survive and get to a state of being financially comfortable, whereas the current generation has already been born into a more comfortable financial status. Therefore, Gen Z’s motivations tend to be more focused towards having spending money, saving for a car and saving up for college.
