“We’re Just Not Stupid” — Woman Explains Why Gen Z Is Rejecting the 40-Hour Work Week

A Gen-Z woman argued in a 2-minute TikTok rant that her generation isn't lazy as so many people claim, but that they instead realize the value of their time.

Mike (@thatginger4567) argued against the 40-hour work week in her clip stating that both she and fellow Gen Z-ers realize that they can more than likely earn the same amount of money punching in a time card for someone else as they could going into business for themselves instead while earning money from home; all while working fewer hours to boot.

Mik begins her video by averring: "Gen Z isn't lazy for not wanting to work 40 hours a week. Let me repeat that for the people in the back — Gen Z isn't lazy for not wanting to work 40 hours a week."

The TikToker then goes on to explain why a generation of individuals wanting to spend less time at work per week aren't lazy, "Answer me this: why would I work 40 hours a week when I can make the same amount of money working for myself in ten hours?"

According to Mik, she says that Gen Z-ers are more focused on launching their own businesses and brands than worrying about being employed by companies that do not compensate them as much as folks can compensate themselves by launching their own employment ventures.

"If anything, that would would be stupid to continue to work forty hours a week when I could make the same amount of money, in ten hours. Would that not be stupid? Would that not be dumb? I posted a video talking about how I didn't wanna work 40 hours a week at my full-time job anymore and a bunch of people commented that I was lazy, entitled, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Mik continued, "And I feel like this is just a common sentiment among, like, boomers that my generation is just lazy and like the worst generation ever and doesn't have work ethic and doesn't, all of this yadda, yadda. But the thing is, that's not the case, my generation just isn't stupid."

Mik goes on to say that Gen Z us ultimately smarter than previous generations because they tend to eschew working longer hours for a company or a boss and would rather put in fewer hours working on their own ventures instead.

"We're not stupid. We're very money savvy, we're good at making money online, and we're good at working for ourselves, so why would we go and work for someone else for 40, 60, 80 hours a week to make the same amount that we could make for ourselves in like 10-30 hours a week?"

According to USA Today, Gen-Z's debt has "ballooned" to the highest levels it has ever been in the summer of 2023. According to the outlet, nearly 77% of Gen-Z-ers carry credit card debt.

Mik went on to highlight just how little money she receives as part of her job: "I worked a 10-hour shift this past weekend because I'm still finishing up at my job that I resigned from and the whole time I was working all I could think is I could make the same amount of money I'm gonna make here in 10 hours in like 2 hours at home."

Mik didn't specify how she makes money at home or what type of work tasks she's referring to in her clip. "That's all I could think the whole time. So if you think that makes me and my generation lazy, entitled, yadda, yadda, yadda, you're entitled to your opinion but I think it just makes us not f----- stupid."

However, in the comments section of the video she highlighted some of the ways she earns extra cash in response to an inquisitive fellow TikTok user: "Petsitting, online personal assisting and online marketing," she penned.

The TikToker went on to praise her generation's valuation of their time: "We know our time is valuable so why would we trade our time in for less money? Why would I trade more of my time for less money? That would be stupid. So we're not lazy, not entitled, just not stupid."

In many of her videos, Mik discusses financial inequities that are disproportionately affecting her generation, like in this clip where she states that the buying power of the country's national minimum wage is the lowest it's been in 66 years — and it appears that these metrics have been supported by the Economic Policy Institute as well.