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‘Lying Flat,’ ‘Antiwork’ And The ‘Great Resignation’ Spreads Worldwide As Young People Protest Against System


The_King

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There’s a growing worldwide movement led by young people. Weighed down with overwhelming college debt, unable to find decent paying jobs (leading to the inability to purchase homes), stuck in low paying jobs with no future and being forced into the gig economy made Gen-Zs and Millennials feel misled and betrayed by their elders. 

 

They were told if they went to school, followed all the rules, they’d live the American Dream—a nice large home in the suburbs with a white picket fence, or a cool New York City apartment, couple of kids, pets, fancy vacations and luxury automobiles. For many, this dream never materialized.

Reddit hosts an Antiwork subreddit with over 1.5 million self-described “idlers.” The group, which has members from across the world, is a home for “those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on antiwork ideas and want personal help with their own jobs/work-related struggles.” 

 

This movement means something different to the people on the site. If taken at face value, some members are sick and tired of working and don’t have any interest in finding a new job anytime soon. Others want to vent their frustrations. A common, unifying theme is that workers feel that they are being taken advantage of, forced to work long hours for low wages and treated rudely by their unsympathetic managers. 

 

In the Great Resignation trend, roughly 40% of the jobs that people quit were in the restaurant, hotel, travel, bars, warehouses, manufacturing and healthcare sectors. These folks contend with long, constantly changing hours, rude customer behaviors, low wages and high stress.  

 

These workers are pushing back against poor pay, unpleasant working conditions and a lack of respect from management. Once they’ve left, many take their time to seek out new types of opportunities that offer meaningful work and a path to advance. 

The younger generation may be the first group in modern history that won't do better financially than their parents. With tens or hundreds of thousands in student-loan debt, young adults find it almost impossible to purchase a home, get married and start a family. The debt burden, along with rising home prices and inflation, doesn’t leave them with sufficient funds to afford the lifestyle that Baby Boomers took for granted.

This is happening in China too. Multibillionaire Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, championed the work culture known as "996." This number refers to Ma’s belief that everyone in his company should happily work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. It's equivalent to America’s “hustle- porn,” rise-and-grind culture that resonated in the pre-pandemic time period.

The younger generation of Chinese workers are not fond of  Ma’s work code. As reported by the South China Morning Post, the Gen-Z workers are known to “slack off by refusing to work overtime, delivering medium-quality work, going to the toilet frequently and staying there for a long time, playing with their mobile phones or reading novels at work.” 

This is their way of pushing back on the demands of long hours without pay that is commensurate with their efforts. Working at a slower pace is a form of protest. It’s their way of saying, “We don’t think that we’re being treated fairly.” 

Similar to the complaints of both Millennials and Gen-Zs in America, the young Chinese people contend that their meager earnings won’t afford them a house or a financially comfortable life. As opposed to prior generations, some of the Chinese youth are not buying into the hustle culture and putting a premium on having a well-rounded lifestyle. 

 

They’ve adopted the mantra of “lying flat.” This term means “doing the bare minimum to get by, and striving for nothing more than what is absolutely essential for one’s survival.”

The mindset is that lying down is a protest against participants in a workplace and economy that they don’t believe in or feel that they are getting a fair shot. Similar to many in the U.S., the Gen-Z and Millennials are forsaking purchasing homes and starting families.  

President Xi Jinping is not too pleased with this trend, stating, “It is necessary to prevent the stagnation of the social class, unblock the channels for upward social mobility, create opportunities for more people to become rich, and form an environment for improvement in which everyone participates, avoiding involution and lying flat.” He is concerned that the lying flat is in direct conflict with the “Chinese Dream” or a “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Lying down and related trends sadly shows the discouragement and disconnection of young adults from the workplace and economy. This needs to be addressed. It’s not healthy for the young people and society when there is so much unhappiness. If our political leaders ignore this clear call for help and change, conditions will only worsen over time.

 

 

 

 

 

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