“New generations don’t want to work anymore.”I hear this often, and I disagree.
What I observe is that this is not a problem of engagement.It is a profound transformation in the relationship to work.
Two models are facing each other.
Ours: Gen X and part of the millennials.We grew up in the shadow of our parents’ unemployment.The implicit message was simple: find a job, hold on to it.
We learned loyalty, endurance, and the acceptance of pressure.And gradually, work became a central part of our identity.Engagement was measured by our ability to take the hit.
Theirs: late millennials and Gen Z.They grew up in the shadow of their parents’ burnout.They saw what overcommitment produces.And they decided it would not be their model.
So they set boundaries.They look for meaning, balance, and autonomy.
But they are not refusing effort.
I see them.When the stakes are real, they show up.Present. Engaged. Capable of intensity.
What they refuse is not effort.It is a system that demands it constantly.
And I find that remarkable.
Because deep down, what they are questioning is not their limits.It is our excesses.
Normalized overcommitment.Pressure that has become structural.A confusion between involvement and exhaustion.
In the organizations I support, I see this systemic fatigue.Pressure that never really drops.A difficulty prioritizing what truly matters.
This generation acts as a mirror.
We learned to hold on.They are learning to protect themselves.
Of course, like every generation, they also have their excesses.But on this point, they bring something precious.
They are not running away from work.They refuse to lose themselves in it.
What if their relationship to work was less of a problem… and more of an opportunity to rethink our own?