How Gen Z Deals With Stress 

Right there in the audience is the main problem when they applauded at "Why are you burnt out". The dopamine rush of belittling a generation for its shortcomings is of more importance than understanding how it came to be and offering a better solution.

I love how everyone claps when he says “why are you burnt out???” Then they hear the answer the person has and it’s legitimate…and they suddenly realize they probably should have not clapped…

“Why are you burnt out?” *intense clapping followed by intense regret* As someone in Gen-Z, I would say you hit many of the spots, but not all of it. One the main factors is that the second we get off of social media, we’re left wondering what the fuck we’re supposed to do with our lives. Previous generations practically left a burning world for us to fix (just as their generation has done, and the generations before that generation, and so on and so on), and proceed to complain about how sensitive we are. We are a very globally connected generation due to technology and social media. We have access to so many perspectives, and we have to compute ALL OF IT before making any decision instead of mindlessly parroting what propaganda is being delivered. We’re expected by our peers and our elders to be better, but no one knows exactly what “better” is anymore. We’re constantly trying to put our voices out there, to make ourselves heard so that progressive change CAN happen, but are then pushed down by some guy in their 50s for being “young, ignorant, inexperienced and uneducated”. (Edit: oh goodness this was not an attack on people in their 50s. I’m so sorry, I adore my parents and they’re in their 50s. This was supposed to be an attack on people who believe that older means better and say stuff like “youth is wasted on the young”.) It’s not ONLY because we aren’t equipped to deal with stress. The wide-spread acceptance of mental health barely even existed until recently, so I doubt the older generations were better than us at stress-managing either. We simply no longer chose to deal with it by drinking it away and pretending it doesn’t exist (edit: we chose to deal with it by drowning ourselves in the lives of others and are overly aware of it’s existence instead. Both cases are terrible choices I would say). Edit: This is all from my personal experience and observations from those around me. It is a select sample, but certainly a sample that exists. You can’t blame social media for everything. It plays a roles in the ever degrading mental health of the general population, but please stop tunnel visioning on one issue that makes up a much, much larger issue that can’t easily be fixed with “just take their phones away”. I don’t have a solution as much as I wish I did.

I don’t think personal life has gotten worse and infected the workplace, work has taken up more and more space and taken over and hollowed out personal life. None of the “good old days” people had email at all, let alone dealing with email after hours and being expected to be permanently on call

It's funny cause before the pandemic I think a lot of people accepted that they might spend the rest of their lives in the corporate world or in a job they don't particularly like but pays the bills. However, after the pandemic a lot of people are realizing how fragile life is and how short our time on earth is that sometimes staying in a job you hate and being loyal to it when it isn't to you is just not worth it anymore.

I think he’s confusing actual societal failure. We’re stressed because our rent is higher, wages lower, school debt, actual tangibly is a worse position.

As i grow older, i realize that the newer generations are not worse than the ones before. He's right, the world IS different now. They have to deal with it differently from the way we did before. We as the older ones have to be able to realize, adapt, and nurture them to their true potential. They don't suck, if you feel they do, that means you failed as a leader.

Allow me to present my Gen Z work experience: I go to my boss first and stay emotionally professional. I am the one who takes responsibility for myself, goes to therapy, and has other sources of fulfillment. The millennials and Gen Xers on my team are the ones who bring their problems to the workplace, immaturely impose their emotions, and suppress my potential for their own gain. I’m tired of other generations blaming Gen Z for their own bs. They need to accept that they too might be the problem, and that they might not know what’s right for everyone.

30 Seconds in: “Gen Z are so aggressive that as an intern they’ll email the CEO about issues” 3 minutes in: “Gen Z are so conflict avoidant that they’ll ghost someone instead of breaking up with them”

Gen Z doesn’t deal with stress. We overwork ourselves and try to be the best versions of ourselves at whatever cost until we burn out and give up. Social media only adds to this idea that we have to be perfect and extraordinary. Which I think is why mental illness is on the rise personally. Perfectionism causing eating disorders, the pressure to be the best version of yourself and to not fail causing anxiety and the realisation that this perfect version of life isn’t possible, causing depression. And all the causes of this mental illness are hidden in our subconscious because we don’t know how to deal with the stress, and we push the problems to the back of our mind because that’s all we know.

I also really think part of our generation being so non-confrontational is because of our parents. Every time a lot of us asked something small of our parents it became getting screamed at, or seeing our parents argue to the point of domestic abuse or divorce, so we're hardwired to be afraid of speaking up.

In my opinion ( I'm a 28 year old male with a child due in December) we really need to limit social media at a young age. I'm a huge advocate for tech being used in education and moving with the times but apps like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and tinder should be limited to 18+. Giving teens and even worse children the freedom to dopamine enhancing apps at a young age is dangerous and what's crippling society as a whole.

After working retail for 20 years (Gen X/Y bi-cuspal here) and dealing with mostly young people, Gen Z is no more conflict avoidant then Millennials were as I've worked with both. Teenagers and younger 20 somethings are just coming out of their adolescence which is the time in your life when you're told what to do by those older than you be it parents or teachers. Young people are expected to follow the rules and not push back, that goes for all generations. It takes time to build up one's professional confidence no matter the cohort. As for communication, I think older generations often overlook how connected GenZ are to their friends at all times. That's what always shocked me about young people and social media compared to when I was young. All the people I chatted with online back in the 90's where from all over the world, none of them were my friends irl. All my school friends and childhood friends either didn't have access to computers or didn't use the internet like we did. While kids might not be seeing their friends psychically as much as we did, they are connected at all times via text and social media by a phone they carry with them everywhere. That level of connection gives me anxiety even as a 43 year old.

I am one of the senior guys at work who comes in to speak to the new employees during orientation. The last thought I always leave them with is to say that, "in my experience, everyone in the company is willing to be helpful, but you have to ask. No one is going to beg you for the right to help you out." They all seem to appreciate that bit of advice.

I think he has it backwards. It's the millenials and gen z that get calls and emails at home late at night and thus can never switch off. It is the workplaces that intentionally create "in between" spaces to hang out with your coworkers (pool tables, breakfast bars, company gyms) so you spend all your time with coworkers and are "nudged" into work talk there, too. At the weekend and in the evenings you end up so tired that church and voluntary work just seem like more stress. And you get paid so little and have so much job insecurity that you can't push back. And even with an academic degree and two jobs we won't be able to afford a house.

I think it’s funny when he brings up emotional immaturity. Most of us are teenagers- obviously we’re emotionally immature lol

The other thing about us Gen Z is that our sense of purpose has been completely diminished, you see as a kid you’re told “you can do anything if you work hard” guess what? I took that very advice and year after year I work double or triple the amount of my peers and I can only ever accomplish half of what they could, why is this? Because all systems set in place aren’t here to help you they’re here to weed out those who cannot endure the system I’ve worked hard for 12 years and I just started university this year as a science student and I am more depressed and angry than ever, I was screwed over from the beginning and now I want to switch majors. We need a better system. I digress

As you point out, the nature of work is changing. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that Gen Z is expecting more from their workplace. We’ve learned the nature of the 9-5, 40 hour workweek, isn’t working great for folks -especially during the pandemic. I absolutely love that Gen Z is demanding more. I agree that they could use more skills around emotional regulation, but I’m not sure that’s generationally unique and think it’s more due to age. I think the empathic response/overextension you mention from older gens is a personal issue with emotional regulation, boundary setting, and codependence -rather than an issue with Gen Z.

As a Gen Z (early 20s atm), I notice what contribute to my stress in daily life is the easy accessibility of news (especially bad news). We are connected to the world 24/7 and it's easy to stumble upon many demotivating info (war, accident, crime), no matter how hard I try to ignore. It's really shaping a bleak view of the world. Dumping away these negative thoughts are another issue because of a fast-paced environment around me, so we didn't really stop, talk, and decompress the negative thoughts we accumulate.

So I understand the point he is making, but there is a significant problem with the way people address gen z. They talk about us, instead of talking to us. Which is why so much misscommunication occurs. And as far as the willingness to quit/resign, rather than ask for a raise; that has a lot more to do with markets and math than confrontation avoidance. People who change jobs often make between 15-20 percent more depending on the field. And I usually ask for a raise after getting job offers for higher pay to bargain, but it's almost always turned down. Most bosses, unfortunately, are not like Simon Sinek. They won't just give you a raise because you need it and have worked there a while. We also work longer hours, in jobs that are more multifaceted than ever before, for less money, and less buying power than our parents and grandparents did. Part of the reason we switch jobs so often is that we find better jobs, in terms of both pay, and work environment. We have the ability to find work at a much faster rate than the generations that came before us, because of the internet, and we use this to our advantage. Meaning we have less incentive to stick with a job we don't enjoy because we have drastically more financial costs, and access to more career opportunities. It doesn't make financial sense to be at a job where those needs aren't being met. What we, as a society need to be asking is, what is it our companies, especially large corporations, are doing or not doing, that causes such low employee retention rates among gen z. Examples include, low pay, hostile work environment, abusing employee time, harassment, lack of benefits, impromptu schedule changes without notification, no tuition reimbursement/matching, hostility towards disability accommodation. All of these are contributing factors to why we switch jobs often. I do agree that we need more emotional professionalism, but that's not a gen Z exclusive thing.

I love that the world is legitimately and quantifiably just harder and we're being blamed for recognizing it and reacting.

What an enlightening platitude. It's depth and inertia will certainly propel our kind to greatness. "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households." - Socrates. Mid life crisis has sounded the same for at least two thousand years by my account. Things weren't better when you were younger, and you didn't know what you know now, and your elders said the same stuff about you. You know this.

Some good points here, and the data probably supports the generalities. But if you think GenX and Millenials are "emotionally stable" or professional at work, you haven't been in enough offices. They're better at suppressing things, or being passive aggressive for longer, but they blow up spectacularly.

All of gen z is children who simultaneously never grew up and are already grown- Children who were forced to be mature younger in this rapidly changing world, but because of this, they didn’t have time to actually grow up. They never learned how to deal with their stress or control their emotions because their schedules were booked for the next 18 years, without them even knowing it. This is why they turned to social media. It was a constant throughout their life, and they knew they could depend on it. It brought a sense of security to their lives- a sense of childhood. That same childhood that they had been deprived of. Finally, there was a place where they could be children, not young adults. Still, social media was not the perfect solution. Sure, it granted them a childhood-like experience, but did it teach them how to better deal with their stress/emotions? No, yet a lot of gen z uses social media as a buffer. It is their comfort tool, which is why they prefer to email bosses and break up through text and/or ghost rather than something more confrontational. Meeting up with your boss may make you feel overwhelmed with emotions or stressed, something that gen z is not good at dealing with. So using social media as a buffer between you and the person you’re confronting makes it so much easier. If only they had had that time to grow up and actually be a child instead of using social media as their childhood, maybe then we would not have to experience this. Again, social media is not the perfect solution. You might think social media would care of their inability to deal withemotions/stress by providing them with a clearly temporary buffer, but you’d be wrong. In fact, all of that emotions and stress starts to build up inside of them. With no healthy way to relieve it, they start traveling down the unhealthy route- unloading their life’s problems onto a friend/acquaintance/coworker/anyone who would listen. Obviously this causes the trauma-dump receiver to feel overwhelmed and eventually leads them to dump their stress onto someone else, who will eventually do the same to another. It creates a cycle that will never end unless we do something about it, but no one will speak up on the issue. It definitely won’t be gen z, and all of the older generations think that we are stupid, young twats, so I guess this will just remain one of the worlds unsolvable problems. At least until a later date. Sorry this is kind of a long rant. I just needed to add my thoughts on what was touched upon in the video.

I have a friend that works at a print shop. He works 6 days a week and gets Sundays off. That's one day. One day for himself. What's he gonna do during that one day? Rest. There's no time to "barbecue with the neighbours" and that kinda stuff. What these older generations don't understand about the modern work place is that employees are essentially just batteries for one man at the top to profit. Work IS your life now, and if you don't like it, you die hungry on the street.

I manage a business. Business is easy, the individual emotions and daily personal drama from each employee is the hardest part.

“They don’t recognize when we’re doing the right thing for them” maybe what’s right for you is not right for them

I am sorry but the stress at work has killed my self confidence and most part of my nerves for over 18 years. Despite confronting workplace bullying head on and being told point blank by the bully that he is a racist, the guy is still there and I am still working because I have to pay the bills. Don’t put it all on the younger generations. If they feel empowered to take this brave actions quickly let them. The older generation needs to stop being such an ass.

I like when he said it’s not good or bad, it’s just is. If we only learn that it just is, we’ll understand each other more.

i have to thank you. I am one of those empaths and get a lot of shit dumped upon me. I realized that the easiest to deal with it, is to give the amount of emotional stress back to the people that unload with me. Tell them about 'I have a friend who...' and one of the problems I got dumped upon me. that way you spread the burden out again. everyone then carries a bit of someone else, without knowing who it is. the funny thing is, that it even makes everyone feel better, because they are not alone with their problems but can also think about problems of other people and often, the person I told about someone else's problem comes up with the solution.

I see a lot of people talking about the tech side of things, but not a lot of discussion about this generation’s lack of community. That, I think, is the main culprit here. As our bonds to one another grow weaker, so too will our sense of purpose and meaning. We’ve reduced our idea of community to what happens at the office, which makes for one dimensional relationships and a one dimensional life. My suggestion? Make some form of mentorship part of the school curriculum. We spend a ton of time on academia, but hardly any on emotional development. Ideally, this would fall on the parents, but as someone who works in the school system I can say firsthand that a large percentage of them are ill equipped to provide anything of the sort. We should teach kids how to start conversations, maintain relationships and navigate confrontation. That’s what will really result in a fulfilling life. But we just keep obsessing over SAT scores and college admissions.

As a millenial empath who quit to work for myself, it was actually the baby boomers and gen x unloading their fears on me rather than gen z who were more self-aware of their emotions to begin with. Also, to everyone who laughed when he said "I know what you do and you don't do enough to burn out," check yourself. You probably go through life unaware of how much emotional labor you require that others do on your behalf. Look to what you require of your family, if not your coworkers or friends.

Corporates got us here. They want us to be in office 24x7, look at all the big companies and their little towns they call offices. So let's not blame the new kids on the block, I'm 27 and I'm happy for them to start changing the scene

As a junior, it's nice to hear this. Although I'm connected to the internet, the only social media service that I use is Discord and RU-vid. I was always a hard worker, but transitions from middle school to high school is really poorly done, because you go from doing no work to only work real quickly. It was even worse for me because with Covid-19, when teachers change the way that they do things every 3 weeks, it's really hard to keep up. A combination of many things definitely gathers up a lot of stress for Gen Z, especially when we're in a time that we are told (even though it's only slightly true) that everything that we do as 14-17 year olds decides our entire future. That's really scary, especially for someone that's being told "we don't know everything, you aren't expected to know everything and do everything perfect", telling us that for a good future we need to be perfect is just not consistent, but the future overpowers the proven brain science. This confusion as well as the previous mentioned stress really piles up, and we try many different things to release it. Although I may be a little biased, I believe that the dopamine problem with the internet and social media is more of an effect of this stress building up, being used to help release it, and THEN the cycle of more dopamine, less work happens, instead of the dopamine addiction happening first (at least, that's how I see it for those currently in high school, but younger kids that are 5-12 years old are a different case). But, when these dopamine items get taken away, they may have a good effect of making us actually work for something to do, though now we have no idea when to take out these stresses, and just do it on instinct at the moment that the barrier loosens, which, as Simon stated, is when they talk to the more empathetic people that they spend time with during work or school.

Gen Z or not - I don't think I should have to ask for what I'm worth or quit to be valued. If you love me and I'm worth so much...pay me what I'm worth. It's this sneaky game of "well you didn't ask"....companies need to pay folks what they're worth from the jump.

Going to people IS the right choice, we're supposed to connect through struggle and chaos. The problem is it's supposed to be a network of people, a life outside of work

His blanket conservative approach that "Church gave people purpose" is pithy at best and concerning at worst. It's a quick slope from there to "young people lack values" which is the catch-all for any hard conservative view that's looking to get enshrined into law.

I am one of those empaths who burned out to the point it almost cost me my life as it affected my health... doctors had to order me to stop it all!! I did and i have discovered how important it is to be for myself and how to be for others without attatching myself to their pain, burdens, etc... it takes time to get to the point where you remain that powerful empath healer without absorbing other people's pains AND make time to detox daily... because the world really is in a mess we all contributed to in some way, shape or form! Thanks for making this video!

2:43. Simon, it goes both ways. If employers thought an employee was a keeper, they should have preemptively called them into their office and given them a raise. That's how you maintain and foster loyalty. Making a stellar employee go through 6-12 months of feeling resentful and quiet quitting when you know that this is an employee you want to stick around is actually hurting you and your business more than you realize. A stellar employee is generally a leader among peers. When you know you could be paying them more based on their output (and they know you could be paying more based on their output) but you don't, you cause them to become very resentful leader among peers. Their resentful attitude spreads like a cancer because other employees who know that you, as a stellar employee, are getting taken advantage of and they then know that they have zero chance at receiving a raise. If you're going to choose to be cheap with someone and drive them to "quiet quit", then you'd be wise to make sure they're a run-of-the-mill wage slave with no ambition. A great worker with drive can cut both ways in a business, depending on how you treat them.

I've literally had teachers basically telling class "...and now you guys gotta fix these problems thr older generations has caused". I clearly remember this exanple from a discussion about the climate crisis.

It’s hard to be emotionally professional when you are at your absolute breaking point. Everything outside of work has become so shitty that people are so burnt out. And when you’re burnt out you have to cut out some things. I am NOT cutting out family time. I cannot possibly keep up the facade 24/7. So maybe my performance suffers at work. Work seems so insignificant when compared to saving the planet and country

21 year old zoomer here. I deal with my stress by drinking. kinda like how society has been doing for the past 100 years

I resonate with most of what he said from someone born in ‘98. Gen Z is near the forefront of the Information Age. We have a lot of burdens. With everything we learn, just from our phones in our beds, we never rest our minds. Ignorance is bliss, but in this world, you can’t afford to be in bliss anymore. Stress is inevitable, but this time it’s necessary. Competition is fierce. Ordinary is no longer acceptable, and the worries of the world will impact us to do better I hope. Our sacrifice of our constant computation is the next generations blessings. That’s what I believe anyway

People are burned out because we are not living naturally. Thank you for recognizing that this world is uncertain.

As a teacher in an American high school, I can absolutely see all of this. Cell phones and social media have fundamentally stunted the growth of our young people to a debilitating degree. That's all there is to it. I mean, of course, I'm biased, I'm a teacher who contends with TikTok for my students' attention. But I don't think there's any question--giving young people a device that enables and encourages their worst impulses is a bad idea. And now, businesses are feeling the impact of it. If you're a lobbyist for corporate America, item #1 on your agenda should be getting our representatives to work on legislation that encourages digital media literacy, regulation of social media, and youth mental health services.

As a gen z, everything you said about us, has been nothing but the previous generations in my personal experience.

I dont think it's that more expectations were/are transferred to the work place, but rather that work started to take up more and more space in peoples lifes, so it started from the workspace and not from personal life

The weight of carrying professionalism around, is an aspect of work that gets to me on a regular basis. The clean, cut aesthetic of having one’s shit together is always juxtaposed with a crumbling management team and an oblivious higher up presence. It drives me crazy, to pretend that everything is going well while mentally opposing literally everything That goes on in my place of work. Instead of venting my frustrations to my other workers, who I don’t honestly feel comfortable enough to talk to most of the time, the kind fellows on RU-vid get my rants . You are so very welcome

"all the institutions that used to meet peoples needs have collapsed or been pushed aside by financial, time, and changing culture pressures" "how are you burnt out?"

My mom and my dad are my role models for a lot of what I do. They’re both in their late 50s and they lead a completely different social and professional life from anyone else that I’ve seen even up to their 30s. It really is quite real how different everything was even 50 years ago. And honestly, I _LONG_ to be like my parents, but it’s gotten to the point that there is no way for us to do that in today’s world. I weep for when my parent’s generation dies out. It scares me beyond anything else.

I like how when he calls out about how we (as gen z) have the tendency to avoid conflict. It's unfortunately true, but it is something to deal with.

i feel lucky as a 23 year old that i do have a work/life balance and have learned to manage stress, mostly. i grew up without much of a support system so my options were either to literally die or stand up and make something good out of my life. so i have worked jobs that provide housing, so i meet my neighbors who sometimes work directly with me, sometimes not, but i have a nice little community there. i play in an orchestra for the county and make friends there and relieve stress through music. in my free time i make sure to give my body the exercise it needs and stimulate my brain with reading and video games. i dunno. i'm content.

I’m seeing a lot of comments about Gen Z having too much exposure to how screwed up the world is via the internet and social media. Struggling with things that are outside of our control is something humans have always had to deal with to one degree or another, it’s not generational. If it’s something you struggle with, I absolutely empathize because I once did too- I highly recommend learning about the sphere of influence concept! TLDR- the more you focus on things that are outside of your ability to influence (and no, posting on social media does not count as influence) the less influence you have. The more you focus on things within your sphere of influence, the more that sphere grows. If you find yourself so upset about global issues that you fail to do the smaller things that are within your control, it is a good indicator that you actually aren’t emotionally mature enough to handle the bigger issues.

2:00 We take our emotions to work because, in most cases, work comes home instead of being left at the workplace. If your boss makes you take home to work, you are more than fine taking emotions to work. If your boss wants emotions aside of work, then he/she can't make you work regularly outside of your worktime.

I am so glad this explanation exists because it feels like not enough of the older generation is trying to take care of the newer generation (Millennial here, by the way) From what I've seen, encountering people in person, they're mostly content to pass blame onto whatever else exists. The current president, the newer generation, the government as a whole, foreigners. We really need, all of us really need, to be more supportive of people who want to make a positive change in the world. To make a change in this modern day is so impossible without help! You need lots of money you can funnel to the right groups, you need lots of influence over lots of people so they'll do and learn the right things, you need lots of support from lots of people because no one person can do everything themselves, you need to know a lot more than most so you can be a competent leader all of the time, it is so impossible! I just wish we could all get on the same page and agree that we want to live longer lives full of happiness and peace, then start working together to achieve that. There's got to be at least several thousand people on the planet that are intelligent enough to agree on this, imagine what we could achieve if we all put our heads together and carefully thought about how to take care of each other and our planet. There's gotta be at least a little bit of potential there, right?

As a gen z, I am definitely guilty of that at times. Its not just the fact that they are empaths though, its the fact that they are strong and respectable individuals that have been through a lot and know how to deal with it. We want respectable people that can help us, and the world just doesn't have a ton of those people, including our parents. I've just started a new job though, and I am going to avoid doing this.

I have to imagine that there aren't enough of us fellow Empath's teaching our beloved Millennials on how to emotionally shield themselves - not to take on another's emotions as their own. I was never taught this technique and also struggled - bearing the weight of others. As a 40 year old, I get it now and wow is it life changing. Dear Fellow Empaths - listen, feel, observe, guide if needed, but remember to release the other persons energy after the conversation. It is not yours to hold. Then find a place to recharge and reground.

I'm a 53 year old Manager and I can tell you that this is correct. I'm dealing with Millennials who don't bother me because I can relate to what they are dealing with. (I didn't grow up their way but I saw it and understand it.)The Kids coming in though are a completely different breed. They live on their Phones and they are controlled by Social Media. Their attention span is almost not there and talk about thin skinned.

I really think the power of millennials is crucial in this conversation. Millennials are the perfect group to help this young generation if we continue to help ourselves. Millennials have inherited a healthy work ethic as well as empathy to be able to prioritize what's really important. We don't get caught up in dogma, status or selfishness and we care about results and are passion driven. - There are areas where we still need to strengthen ourselves, yes, such as "asking for help or saying no" etc and I don't think we are here to take the credit, no, I think we don't get to see the trophy. Most likely we are here to take a beating so that the ones who follow can do what they do best. At 31 I feel VERY responsible for helping the younger generation and I am working harder than ever so that I can help them in their hour of need.

A four day work week would solve a multitude of problems. Stress would be one of the biggest ones. It would literally save thousands of lives, as death is seemingly the only way to get away from all of the issues that the modern working environment brings. I'm currently burn out. I work 10 hours a day without a break. I don't even have the luxury of having a lunch break. It's just 10 hours straight through, and it's getting to me. The real heartbreaker for me is that I can't even remember the last job I worked at where I had regular breaks (or one where I only worked an 8 hour day). It was at least 12 years ago. Work is becoming completely unreasonable at a time when people are making less money than ever before. I no longer have any sort of a life outside of work, so I do not feel like a free man. I feel like a slave. 100% of my life (including my free time) is dictated by work. The only actual free time I get is 2 weeks of paid vacation, which is also bullshit, because by the time that rolls around I have some serious stuff to get done at home that I haven't had the time to do until I use up my vacation to do it. So I'm lucky if I have a few days per year of actual completely free time, which is utterly unacceptable. My only option is to change to another job that won't pay as much, and will almost certainly come with the exact same problems I'm facing now. It's no wonder suicides are so common. The temptation is always there for me.

I'm really glad people like him exist to understand.. and also help others understand as well

Gen X here....the world has become so different and much harder.....they need understanding and encouragement! When they are overwhelmed be there for them.

The older generations are much more stressed in my work place than the younger people. They're irritable. I find the younger are quite game for confrontation if need be. And that annoys older people. But maybe because I don't live in America it's different.

Something he did not mention is the fact that gen Z is entering a workforce where employers do not pay enough for us to afford the bare minimum; housing, food, utilities, health care ect. That is a massive contributor to how we view work. Especially if you live and work in a big city, affording housing is nearly impossible. You might be making $60K but when your rent burden is 50% of your take-home pay, that doesn't leave a lot of money for leisure activities. Not to mention, a lot of us -- much like millenials -- have insurmountable student debt. I would also like to mention that a lot of gen Zers don't want work to be their only source of fulfillment. What we want is a culture of working to live rather than living to work.

This is a very strange clip and he managed to talk the whole time without saying a thing...maybe young people just don't agree with kowtowing to the higher ups...maybe they're sick of people failing up or getting promotions because of nepotism..maybe they can't envision a life of WORKING to make someone else rich while they can't even afford to move out of their parents house (hellloooo inflation)....I mean having to deal with all that seems pretty stressful.. add to that the stresses of raising a family with TWO working parents...hopefully, there's a big shift coming...🤷🏻‍♀️

Asking for a raise is really contextual. When the environment of a company is so blatant as to not giving people promotions or raises, contract continuation is uncertain, plus youve underwent a series of lay offs- we’re not idiots, we know we wont get that raise. Ive had a colleague who got accepted for a higher position in the same company, but our boss backstabbed him by talking with his supposed new boss to take back the offer just to make my colleague stay. Our boss never gave him a raise as a counter offer-the audacity. With such an atmosphere, no way in hell are we going to ask.

Gen Z need some history. A kid I spoke to the other day thought he was working the longest hours in history. I explained historical approximations of work hours, the context of working conditions and the battles for workers hours and basic conditions. It hopefully moved his thinking to a better place.

I have to disagree with not having good stress relief tools. I'm a millennial in a Master's program dominated by gen z, and THEY are teaching ME how to set boundaries, practice self preservation, and say no. I would argue it is the older generations who have emulated poor stress coping mechanisms (alcoholism, family abuse, poor eating habits, harsh managing style, etc.) And this new generating is doing everything they can to not perpetuate (drink water more than anything else, practice empathy, exercise, equity-minded leadership, dedication to diversity, caring about the future of this planet, etc.) And I would never discourage that intern to speak out to the CEO, and instead encourage that CEO to practice empathy and remind them the intern is a person in their care, who is on the front lines and can provide perspective on how the CEO's policies and decisions are actually affecting their employees, product/ion, customers, etc.

As a millennial, in nearly any situation I''ve encountered, Gen Z keeps pace and can run circles around most of the stalwart employees from a different generation when it comes to work, social justice and school. Damn. Of course they're burned out, and they also want a work/life balance. I assume he has specific sources that run a bit deeper than his examples, but the surface only seem to encompass the info this person wanted* to find. Chin up, Gen Z. We'll help with confrontation, and you can help us with compassion ♡

THATS WHERE MUSIC COMES IN AND WITH DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT. It's been used successfully time and time again in history.

Thank you for your understanding Mr Simon. It helps to see that we are not alone.

As a 24 year old working during my gap year in college I reflect a lot on my stress and why I feel like I'm less equipped than people older than me. This video made things click and really opened my eyes. Hats off to you sir, thank you!

Excellent Simon… you are so spot on man. 👍🏾❤️

He is just making this up. I have never lived in a neighbourhood where I didn't know my neighbours, nor do I have any friends or relatives who don't know their neighbours. This includes small town, city apartment buildings, fancy neighbourhoods, and middle class neighbourhoods. There is still a bowling league on multiple nights of the week in this small town I live in, as well as many other sports leagues for all sorts of ages. Work is becoming less of a community with the rise of remote work. And do you really think people historically have not had this dynamic of similar politics at the work place? Walk into a hedge fund office, do you think they all have similar politics? What about a kitchen at a restaurant? Or a construction site? Implied political agreements have run throughout company cultures for a long time. This all sounds so cute and insightful but he's just making it all up.

These issues in the work place are beginning in classrooms. Children throwing chairs, hitting teachers, or even pepper spraying the teacher! Emotional intelligence, social emotional skills, and building resiliency in children is an urgent need. We need to look at this crisis and intervene to prevent long term issues.

On the topic of mgrs thinking they know how much they're tasking individual members of the team: I can wholeheartedly say that, "No, my mgrs NEVER knew how much they were tasking me with because they had bad communication and would rather sit in their office than to interact with people." Mind you, these were mgrs in J&J and Amazon. Part of the issue is the sheer amount of hierarchies present in big companies, it creates a situation where mgrs are the middle-man and would also rather avoid the employee for fear of confrontation in how they can't do anything about the situation.

Thanks for leveling up the conversation. We agree with you and are actioning the reality of this changing workforce at pepelwerk

Heres my short story. I was betrayed by my father and by my mother (didnt care much for me and didnt teach me anything) I was betrayed by the government (forced me to go to school to learn useless and pointless facts and assumptions) instead of preparing me for the real world. I was betrayed by the "employers" who either insulted me as their way to "manage" me into obedience or simply didnt want to PAY ME for my work. I was betrayed by my selfish "friends" who couldnt get it that i have needs too.Not just them. There you go. Now i get my money via mail every month and i am actually living my life and enjoying myself.

If you live your life moment by moment, being continuously grateful for this moment’s unique experience, all this worldly drama becomes so profoundly unimportant. However, if you live in your head, allowing your dramatic thoughts to make a big deal out of themselves (aka “climate change/global warming” - give me a break Simon), there is *never* ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever an end to the list of thoughts that could cause a person stress. Take a deep breath people. Whatever “uncertainty” there is in life will *never* go away, so just learn how to center yourself and enjoy your time here.

The root reason is so excess of information on the internet and even the smallest and silliest stress in life becomes the moto of their bad day bcz they get their satisfying answers and wrong judgement supporters on internet easily.Bunch of folks are freely expressing their wrong ideas and spreading it which is done by this social media ! 12 y/o peeps following all sorts of depression pages and deep thinking pages on Instagram late night,whereas that was the time we would hear stories from our parents or sleep watching cartoons!

The framing here seems to be off..."they don't know how to deal with stress"...the proper framing should be "there's no other outlet for stress and emotional regulation." Simon talked about how church attendance is down, attendance at social clubs is down, we don't socialize with our neighbors anymore...those are all places to make a community and release stress, that's where people used to have the space to regulate their emotions. If business wants everyone to spend as much time as possible at the office, then people will need to have space and community at work to regulate their emotions. Expecting people to just not have to release stress anymore simply because they're spending all their time at work is completely unrealistic and frankly inhumane.

As a 24-year-old, I tend to find the older managers I work with mainly older Millennials or gen z are more conflict-avoidant than the younger generations of workers. When presenting issues with the business's operations or ideas on how to solve work-related issues many just up and walk away while I'm mid-sentence. This has happened to me at several jobs. I've seen managers do this to those younger than them in several workplaces. To me, that's extremely unprofessional and avoidant especially when they are the ones to come and start the hard conversation. They can start the "conflict" but can't fully engage with it or follow through. Many managers from older generations want to talk at employees rather than with them. Once they've said their peace they don't care about the employee's thoughts or suggestions to what is being said. Much of this (the employee's thoughts) is to inform management on how the day-to-day is on the floor and how it can be improved. I find many managers sticking rigidly to top-down control and not allowing any bottom-up processes to be truly acknowledged in large corporate jobs even though many put on a facade of listening to employees through yearly or biquarterly suverys. So, many workers from my generation get sick of being ignored by way of age and lower position especially when they are overqualified for the jobs they have. It's as if any conversation from a younger, lower-rung employee is considered whining or excuses regardless of what is being said or presented, even if they are bringing up a clear-cut, widely seen issue like understaffing in a department as a reason for not exceeding or meeting department goals. It comes to a point where you're not being heard, well compensated, or appreciated so all loyalty is lost. Finding a new higher paying job makes far more sense than staying underpaid, overworked, and unappreciated. You do that or just coast by making your money and stop actually caring about work while slowing down your production to the bare minimum, stopping all the extra work you did to help out based on a presumption of loyalty and respect going both ways. Now, this doesn't apply to all older management or workers it's just a tendency I've seen in several of the places I've worked in different industries across the country.

This narrative around the “world being soooo crazy right now” reflects our short historical memory. When was the world not crazy?

As a gen Z, I think a huge contributor to the overwhelming amount of stress is the introduction of social media and the internet in general. In a drastic contrast from older generations, we have access to thoughts of people all around the world. We can interact in ways we never could before. We can also offend much more easily. Before, you could make a touchy joke with ease. But now, one slip up can get you “canceled”. Thousands of people can see if you make one bad comment. There’s strict rules of what is acceptable and what is not, and something that could’ve been innocent in its meaning could be interpreted as something much different. People are more harsh and say things they’d never say in real life. These days, there’s so much more need to be “perfect” and not mess up what you say.

Maybe the reason we can't deal with stress is because of how stupid the previous generations were and now we have to deal with a messed up world and try to fix it.

You hit most of the points here. Because I have decried the collapse of social structures in living memory. People don't get out and interact nearly as much as they used to and it's having a negative effect on us. The big issue though is that many of us are realizing the pointlessness of working a wage job. We have terms like wage slaves because we feel like people's lives are boiled down to how much energy we can expend to further the ambitions of a huge company. We are finding fundamental issue in our lives being fuel for a furnace and feeling as though when we die we won't have left a lasting legacy. Some never find their way. Others like me decide to take an independent path. I only work for mom and pop businesses where I know the owner personally now. I choose to spend my energy on my projects and ambitions, my goals in life, rather than chasing what society deems markers of success. Why become a debt slave, forever requiring stable income to pay off debt from college, a car, and a house. I'd rather live impoverished but be pursuing my dreams than forever putting them on hold so I can chase the purple dragon that is money and fortune. That is the fundamental struggle we are having as a generation. The realization that we are a tiny cog in an incomprehensibly large machine and that our epitaph will be interchangeable with a million others. And we want to change that.

I love this and still want to learn why we have to be empathetic for younger professionals that are like this and it just makes my job more difficult to support them and hire them. If there is so much uncertainty, why come into a working environment and off the bat complain and challenge the places they work because they want to control how much "stress" they believe they are having.

Beautifully said ! So so good Simon

I stay to myself at work. I’m not your friend nor enemy. Coworkers can wear you out with their personal BS.

As a gen z, I can confirm just hearing the word confrontation sends a shiver down my spine. But all jokes aside, this is a serious problem.

bro, it was harder for us because was no internet or social media to go to and discharge, but with each generation it gets easier and easier. Ik what you trying to say, they still have to face challenges and stress, but with each generation things get better

"they don't even recognise when we're doing the right thing for them" - who does this guy think he is? Such a condescending, reductive "they do this, they do that" analysis. Good job, Freud, you figured it all out. 😂

I am 17 years old and really bad with dealing stress, he is totally right..😌😓😓

I think they keystone to the whole thing that Simon Sinek has been missing for years is how Millenials and Gen Z have been put on a pedestal by marketing companies and schooling. Most media and products are aimed at younger people. Schools and others push the whole "You're the future." "Find your voice." "Make a difference." "Make a stand." We're all looking to be heroes and previously Simon lightly touched on it with Millenials being disapointed and thinking of leaving a job because they feel like they're not making an impact after 8 months. There's this idea that if we could just find our niche cause everything will fall in to place and we'll have a victory march. On the other end of the spectrum. Shareholder supremacy philosophy and with everyone more isolated despite social media there's an existential question of why bother. I've worked at a couple massive companies and they don't want employees beyond someone who can follow a script or read a spreadsheet depending on your level.

Some people will just need to learn the hard way, and some will not be able to recover. The world is changing so fast it won't be easy for those who are already behind.

I can't believe how out of touch this guy is. All of the things that he's talking about have been part of office culture for decades. I'm a millenial, and I see all of the gen z-ers dealing with stress in extremely healthy ways (talking to someone, sublimation, self care, etc). Most of the older colleagues I have seem to let stress out with alcoholism and screaming at clients/colleagues. This video is total "these kids today are doomed" boomer energy. All of these things have been said about every young upcoming generation forever. A video like this is not an indication of a new generation's struggles as much as it's an indication of the precise moment in an intellectual's career that they have become out of touch and obsolete.

As a 30 year old man, I am turning 31 next year.

We need to disconnect from the internet and watch over a couple of years how 3/4ths of our problems just magically disappear.

When our society treats everything outside workplace as laziness and luxury that's what happens...People used to work to earn a living now they are supposed to live to work

You are missing the point… bad management is an epidemic. Low pay is an epidemic. Lack of upward mobility is an epidemic. Lack of respect is an epidemic. Believing that millennials and Gen Z are weak is an epidemic. Believing that things that you choked down and had to deal with, that were wrong back then, are somehow ok, because you endured it, is a significant problem that doesn’t allow our world to change for the better…