9 Gen Z work trends that aren’t new but hit different now

I’m a Gen Zer who will be officially stepping into the workforce a year from now, so I’m curious about learning how the working world functions. I’ll admit I’ve gone down countless rabbit holes on TikTok to hear more about office life and the trends that surround it. What surprised me the most was that these work-related trends are really not new.

Brands’ fascination with social-media fads has devalued the rigorous practice of trend forecasting, according to Reddit’s head of global foresight Matt Klein. But it’s hard to forecast when things like quiet quitting, loud laborers, and proximity bias—all of which have circulated in the work industry for decades—are going to pop up again.

We are starting to see these old ideas manifest in new ways as the next generations enter the workplace and bring their unique perspectives. As Gen Z is expected to make up 30% of the workforce by 2030, and Gen Alpha is right behind, here are some trends and values they are reviving in the workplace.

1. Quiet cutting and quiet quitting

A surprising amount of workers label themselves as quiet quitters—more than half of U.S. employees according to a recent Gallup poll. Quiet quitters are workers who have left their jobs for many reasons, typically due to unhappiness and disengagement with their role or the company.

While this trend spread rapidly across TikTok and into the circles of young employees, the concept of quiet quitting is not novel. Similar ideas and discourse can be traced back to the 90s when Gen X (the original slackers) entered the workplace. 

Quiet cutting refers to the low-key demotion of employees from their current roles. It does not necessarily reach the severity of layoffs since complete dismissal is not a part of it. However, many workers are still deeply affected by quiet cutting as the downgrade in role can impact confidence level, emotional well-being, and sometimes career direction in the long run. This is not a new concept, unfortunately. Demotions are common and have happened throughout the decades, even when many Gen Zers were still in high school.

It is best to think of quiet cutting as a minor bump in the road career-wise. Those who’ve been quietly cut from their role can simply stick it out, negotiate new terms, or leave the company entirely to search for a new position. 

2. Rage quitting

Gen Z grew up surrounded by smartphones and social media, so it’s no surprise they’re not afraid to voice their thoughts online. They are also not afraid to up and leave a job if they feel something isn’t right. 

#QuitTok spawned a spate of videos of people’s quitting stories. The emergence of the trend dates back to 2020 when Marisa Jo Mayes shared a video of herself quitting her corporate job.

Whether it be a live-action recording of someone leaving their job or more of a sit-down debrief video, Gen Z is starting to increase transparency and further open up the conversation around resignation at work. With these videos, workplace leaders can see why people are quitting their jobs and from there they can start to amend and improve their workplace environments.  

Rage quitting has been around long enough for songs to be written about it. Take This Job and Shove It, a novel country song from 1977, depicts all the frustration that comes from working too hard for too little (a big reason why people end up rage-quitting). When workers realize they’ve been putting in the time and effort but not getting much in return, they leave on a sour note, in the words of Johnny Paycheck, “I ain’t working here no more.”

3. Loud laborers

On the other side of the fence are the loud laborers. The term originated from an article in The Guardian by André Spicer, an organizational behavior professor and dean of Bayes Business School. There’s a good chance you’ve worked with or been around a loud laborer, someone constantly talking about and self-praising their work to others, to the point where it’s distracting and difficult to tolerate. 

Remember Peter Gibbons from the 1999 comedy film Office Space? He is your classic loud laborer. In addition to being unmotivated, he says what he wants at work and doesn’t seem to care about how it lands.

Most of the time, a loud laborer doesn’t even realize it’s gotten to a stage where the majority of people would rather quit than confront them about their actions. Communicating with loud laborers in an understanding tone about their behavior is important to initiate change. It’s also helpful to self-reflect on our tendencies at work to ensure that we are not that person in the office. 

4. Bed rotting

As a Gen-Zer myself, I am certainly guilty of this one. Bed rotting has become the latest term for lounging in bed for an extended time. This could look like staying in bed and watching TikTok all day, to chilling with some food while watching TV for hours.

Despite its new name, the concept of bed rotting is not unfamiliar. “Lie abed” is the 19th-century equivalent of bed rotting describing someone who remains in bed until late hours. So in reality, we’ve actually been doing this for centuries, it has just evolved over the years.

Though the word “rotting” doesn’t have the most appealing connotation, the trend is simply a classic do-nothing day, yet the more recent and concerning development has been labeling this trend as self-care.

Workplace stress, anxiety, burnout—there are many reasons why crawling back into bed and taking a break from the world’s responsibilities can feel like self-care. It can be relieving to slow down our busy lives once in a while, but instead of bed rotting, psychology experts point to other mechanisms for self-care such as logging off and taking a break from the screen. This trend is likely to continue as we all deserve our days of doing nothing, but bed-rotting might not be the best method for combatting the constant pressures from our work and personal lives. 

5. Quiet promotion

Are you juggling and taking on more responsibilities at work without receiving a promotion or a raise? Congratulations—you have been “quietly promoted.”

This term has popped up in the last few years to describe a common frustration in the workplace: having to do more work for the same title and the same pay.  Who doesn’t remember Andy in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, consistently trying to appease her ever-demanding boss by taking on more and more work while her personal life gets left in the dust (Chanel suit and Louboutin heels notwithstanding)?

As Gen Z absorbs the age-old lesson of paying their dues as they climb the ranks, it is important to recognize some of the signs.

An indicator of a quiet promotion includes a significant increase in the amount of work on your plate, maybe you’ve even noticed it is more work than what your coworkers with the same title have. If you think you have been quietly promoted, confrontation is key, whether it is asking your employer if more staff will be hired to help with the work or flat out asking for a change in salary and title. 

6. Productivity theater

Working hard or hardly working? Productivity theater describes a behavior in which employees prioritize busy work such as quickly responding to emails over meaningful work that could push business forward.

Many of us engage in productivity theater more than we think, whether we are remote, hybrid, or in person. A common reason for doing it is to demonstrate productivity and show that we are busy. The popular sitcom The Office is a prime example of productivity theater. While the characters are seen working in an office, between the random meetings, pranks, and shenanigans, you start to wonder if they are actually working.

It can become a problem for a company though if too many people are engaging in productivity theater for prolonged amounts of time. For leaders, it is crucial to not only recognize when this is happening but also address it head-on. Sticking to company values and treating employees with trust is valuable when it comes down to overriding productivity theater.  

7. Proximity bias

Proximity bias is a term that goes back decades in the world of psychology. The phrase indicates that we are more likely to show favoritism toward or pick people who are physically closer to us, typically in the workplace. Today’s hybrid working world is a hotbed for proximity bias. A 2022 Microsoft survey found that 85% of leaders in the workplace feel that the transition to hybrid work has made it difficult to trust that employees are being productive.

This concept is clearly not ideal in the workplace and it can become even more challenging to battle in hybrid and remote settings. Dedicated programs and improving one-on-ones can help with combatting proximity bias. Disconnection is also the common enemy, so deepening connections with others in the workplace can also work to eliminate proximity bias. 

8. Bare minimum Mondays

The Bangles said it best with their 1984 song Manic Monday. The day is notorious for hesitantly getting back to the grind after a nice weekend off. However, Gen Z is starting to challenge the pressure around Mondays at work as they continue to underscore the importance of work-life balance. 

The bare minimum Monday trend was also coined by Marisa Jo Mayes on TikTok. It’s just what it sounds like—doing the bare minimum amount of work on this particular day. While this is easy for some to put the pedal to the metal as the week starts, others find it difficult, especially if they are unhappy at work. Gen Z was found to be the unhappiest generation at work, which could explain why bare minimum Mondays have become particularly attractive for this cohort.

9. Polyworking

Polyworking, or having multiple jobs at once, is becoming even more common in the workplace. We’ve seen this concept before with discussion around moonlighting, which is another buzzword used to describe working two or more jobs at the same time. What was called “moonlighting” as far back as the 1880s got a second bit of cultural relevance in a 1985 sitcom by the same name. Now, according to Deputy, the number of “poly-workers” more than doubled from 2021 to 2023, and the rise is expected to continue.

For Gen Z, prioritizing financial stability and flexibility in the workplace is important. With the stigma around having only one job starting to shift, younger employees are not as concerned with tying themselves to one employer. As they enter the workforce, one in five Gen Zers hold more than one job, overall bringing a different perspective on job security to the table.