Let’s Agree That Entitled Gen Z Is a Force for Good

Millennials have recently woken up to a tragic reality: We’re barreling toward middle age. This transition is marked not only by random shooting pains in our knees but also by our rise through the corporate ranks and the accompanying desire to utter the phrase “kids these days,” while eye rolling about the antics of Gen Z. In the last two years, it’s Gen Z that has become the much-discussed new generation and millennials are throwing around all the go-to insults of them being lazy and entitled.

After the brutal criticism millennials received, we’ve earned our stripes to engage in the time-honored tradition of disparaging the generation that comes next. Frankly, they’re making themselves easy targets with the “quiet quitting” and the “bare minimum Mondays.” Still, we shouldn’t discount what they’re saying just because of their youth — even if the message is mostly spreading on TikTok. The way Gen Z demands better boundaries and asks for more at a young age may be an affront to our sensibilities, but each generation brings a fresh perspective to how their labor should be used. Millennials, for example, normalized job hopping when it was clear employers didn’t fairly compensate or value loyalty.