A love letter to Gen Z

I’m getting soft in my old age

I love Gen Z so much. They’re dealing with the same garbage Gen X did when we were that age. But with way more effective tools for addressing it.

Gen X entered the workplace at the end of an era. The time period when a “good company” meant you made enough to buy a home, car, maybe take a few vacations. And you could stay parked there forever.

The bar was low. Work was less complicated. But also ripe for exploitation.

Toxic environments? It’s work. It wasn’t supposed to be fun.

There weren’t as many options either. Start ups were less common. Neither was solopreneurship. Boomers held the cards. Because they were born first.

Gen X said “F this” the same way Gen Z is now. Except we didn’t have the endlessly amusing megaphone that is TikTok. When we Quiet Quit, we were just slackers. Not viral superstars starting global conversations.

Times changed. But the realization that the world isn’t what the older generations said it was remains the same.

I’m thankful that what makes a “good company” evolved. Employee engagement, low turnover, pay transparency, work-life balance, however you define it. These were not even talking points a few decades ago. 

The bright side for Gen X: when we found out our college degrees didn’t actually prep us for the working world, we didn’t mortgage our entire future getting them. (We also had better music but that’s another rant entirely).

Older generations tend to say younger generations need to “suck it up” and “pay your dues.” Like a weird “misery loves company” in hindsight.

Not me. Keep memeing. Keep making us laugh. Keep calling out the B.S.

Talking about it matters.

James Hornick

Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.