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Gen Z’s workplace attitude reflects the world they entered, not a lack of motivation or work ethic.

Gen Z values meaningful work, psychological safety, flexibility, and work-life balance.

Burnout grows when workplace demands exceed the support, resources, and flexibility offered to employees.

Healthier workplaces address burnout at its source instead of relying on employees to cope.

Co-authored by Kennedy Hack-Juman & Amy Vigliotti, Ph.D.

As the newest members of the workforce, Generation Z has become the generation most often associated with burnout. Some interpret this as evidence that Gen Z "can't handle work," but there may be another explanation. What happens when an entire generation comes of age during economic uncertainty, social instability, a full-blown pandemic, and an unprecedented transfer to the remote world? Gen Z’s burnout may tell us less about their character than about the environment they have inherited.

Every generation is shaped by significant historical events, and Gen Z is no exception. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed adolescence, early adulthood, and work expectations. In particular, Gen Z learned to collaborate through breakout rooms, interview over Google Meet, and begin careers online. Beyond the pandemic, they also came of age in a time of rising political polarization and climate change, reinforcing a broader environment in which uncertainty became the norm.

These experiences had an impact. According to Karl Mannheim's theory of generations, the events people experience while coming of age shape the values and expectations they carry into adulthood (Harari et al., 2023). For Gen Z, these events also coincided with disruptions to education, work, and social development. Harari and colleagues (2023) found that although Gen Z reported lower resilience during the pandemic, they also showed more openness to change, one of the strongest predictors of resilience. That same openness to change was reflected in their........

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