ho can blame them? Gen Z want the lazy jobs. The generation now entering the job market is increasingly eschewing hustle culture with more focus on rest, self-care and a sense of work-life balance. Are they beating capitalism at its own game? Perhaps.

Throughout college and university, I worked for various magazines. Ambitious and go-getter, I envisioned myself as Meryl Streep straight out of The Devil Wears Prada. To be young and to think you could have it all; without fear, insecurity and inhibitions.

Every day I’d brew a couple of coffees, gossip idly with the editors and then take home a sack full of ruthless editorial tips. It smelled nice in there, too: like cedar, musk and spice — fresh off the press. Oh, the world of knowledge, entertainment and plain interesting stories; the smell and memories of print journalism.

And though I’ve worked jobs that were always suited to my genuine interests, the editorial roles were some of my favourites, entirely because of the pure leisure of it. When I finished university and moved upwards and onwards, I got paid to do what I loved. I was relaxed, nearly all of the time, and never checked my emails. Today, Gen Z seek jobs that are undemanding and well enough paid — lazy jobs — that don’t require much physical or cerebral work, as opposed to the service industry, where you will primarily witness overworked, stressed-out individuals, sending a couple of emails, with a comfortable take-home salary.

What is surprising is that the mood is prodigiously aspirational: anti-work mood, anti-ambition feel. This sentiment has been cooking among the Gen Z for a while now. They have seen high-brow, almost unreachable editors falling in their careers against the onslaught of social media “bloggers”. These editors were prey to the hustle culture that left them completely burnt out.

But Gen Z won’t have it. They want to take it easy. They aren’t content with taking home certain remuneration. Instead, they want to enjoy life.

Such chaotic times primarily dominated by creative industries are extremely hard to penetrate for the working class. It is easier to focus on what one can enjoy, while finding a purpose in life that has nothing to do with career stress.

At many workplaces, this attitude is evident. Gen Z don’t want to take up jobs if not given the hybrid option. Their work conversations are hardly about work. Their work is not central to their identity. The job no longer defines them.

This emotion is also echoed in the attitude which easily states that they do not care about building a ‘career’ or climbing the corporate ladder. All they want or are content with is making the most amount of money that requires least investment in terms of hours spent at work, so that there is more time to enjoy with family, rather than wasting away 30 years working for an organisation that pays what both think is fair.

A look around our culture and one will find that this shift is not a mistake. It didn’t happen overnight. It wasn’t an accident. Millennials were surfeited, and hence mesmerised by entertainment that popularised films and TV shows such as Sex and the City, Ugly Betty, The Devil Wears Prada, Legally Blonde and Suits — all of which are stories about ambitious and aggressive, stressed yet sexy women who gamble and take risks to have it all.

A few years down the line, the sentiment has shifted. The younger lot are more interested in Euphoria, The Last of Us, and Sex Education — stories centred around personal dynamics. The characters do have jobs but it is no longer their “only thing to talk about or what matters.” It looks as though I live in the 1950s when jobs were primarily for making money and supporting the livelihood. All the while, the actual drama revolves around the job.

Of course, the millennials enjoy jobs with a flashy appeal. Who wants to miss out on filling out a few Excel sheets for a generous pay and a paid vacation? But they are not available to all. There’s an inherent privilege in being able to land those, and sadly, these aren’t necessarily for those who do not have a higher education degree, for example, or face workplace discrimination or recruitment bias.

But the way these jobs have become aspirational has been a fascinating development. It is already tragic that one cannot earn a living out of one’s passion. Now it is all the more impossible for many. A shift away from our careers becoming our sole identity must be a relief; at least, the better of two evils.

Perhaps relatives and family asking, “So, what do you do?” might finally be over. But you are in for a disappointment if you think the questions are over. Perhaps a more tolerable one would be: “So, what do you do outside of work? What are you into?”

I would love that.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Karachi