It’s no secret that Millennials feel burnt out at work, and in life. In a notable poll by global talent services firm Seramount, 77% of Millennials reported feeling workplace burnout. Millennials also have more expectations at home, caring for both their own children and aging parents.
As Wes Burke, chief human resources officer at Care.com, told Fortune, “The mental load [of caregiving] permeates the workplace; it goes just beyond the four walls of your home, especially in a more interconnected world. [It] has an impact on attendance, productivity, and overall quality of life for the employee, [while also having] a lot of impact for the employer.”
Now, Millennials have been given the nickname the “Just Push Through It” generation. Tara Kermeit of YourTango explained, “That ‘pick yourself up and just push through’ mentality was a staple of millennial childhood. For better or worse, we were taught that no matter how tough things got, we were supposed to push through, brush ourselves off, and keep going.”
It’s a stark contrast to Gen Z, who have notably taken an opposing approach to hustle culture, as noted by Upwork, an online freelance worker marketplace. Upwork writer Cassie Moorhead explained that Gen Z is “rebelling against constant grind, avoiding burnout, and prioritizing their well-being,” adding that “Gen Z is entering the workforce with different values, behaviors, and expectations.”
In a discussion amongst Millennials on Reddit, they reacted to the generational “Just Push Through It” label in an honest (and humorous) manner. This is what they had to say:
“Hahaha yep, I ignored neck pain for like two weeks and when it finally got loose enough for me to crack it, I gave myself a stroke at the ripe old age of 38. I had somehow dissected an artery, probably by sneezing like an idiot or something stupid, but I had overtime that had to be done.” – stefiscool
“Big on the ‘life goes on, I’ll figure it out’ mentality.” – MagicVonSwanson
“‘Welcome to real life’ is one I’ve gotten from family members… sigh…” – Virtual_Pitch_3820
“Lmao that’s why we’re all disabled in our 30s in some cognitive fashion. And these mothatruckas want grandkids. Y’all are getting grand cats and grand dogs.” – FluffyLucious
“For real. I was telling this to my husband the other day bc he asked why our generation is having less kids. I said honey we have been through it our whole lives. So much instability and just trying to weather the storm. We are all tired! Don’t get me wrong, it could be worse. But I’ve learned that what’s easiest for me is to keep my life simple bc nothing lasts forever.” – User Unknown
“It’s so much more expensive to have kids today and parenting is definitely harder. A freaking mailman or factory worker could have a 4 bedroom home and a stay at home wife 40 years ago. Now it takes 2 working professionals to afford that in the same neighborhood. Plus add $15k-$20k for childcare… for one kid!” – White_eagle32rep “I think people are misinterpreting this, encouraging perseverance isn’t a bad thing. Screwing your kid over and telling them to just get over it is a bad thing. I can’t speak for all millennials but our circumstances are certainly unique in terms of our coming of age and our boomer parents who lived radically different lives and had 0 concern or empathy for us.” – SnooGoats5767
“My parents don’t care nor understand.” – User Unknown
“Every generation prior and current has been told this. What makes Millennials different than the previous generations is that we’re stopping to say “this isn’t right” and actually doing something about it. We’re putting more focus on mental health than ever before. We’re creating a work-life balance as best we can. Though, we’re also in a much worse position relative to the previous generations in wealth and purchasing power making that a difficult proposition at best. This is what make us “difficult” for the previous generations. We’re calling them out on their bullshit, we’re pushing back, and they don’t like it.” – spiffariffic
“Can’t be burnt out if you’re just numb to it all!” – qsdlthethird
“Its so funny because a few years ago there was a receptionist at the company I worked for that said that all Millennials do is complain. She said so many don’t want to work, just want to stay living with their parents. I was so offended but instead of flying off the handle I said- let me ask you, how much was your home that you bought in the 90s? How much was a college education in 80s/90s? How hard was it to get a decent job at that time? All she could say was that Millennials need to figure it out. We had a major recession in 2008 to approx 2012 and everything is super expensive. So yea that’s delayed our lives quite a bit. Also said I think that people that complain about Millennials should talk to the people that raised us. For her that was particularly poignant because her 2 children are Millennials. What hypocrites!” – Saveus1008
“Yep, I’ve been through 3 recessions , the world has ended 4 or 5 times and I went bald at 19. Burnt out is an understatement.” – Thin_Baker5838
“This was my moral code for the longest time. ‘Work hard, finish things through, don’t quit things early just because it got hard.’ it leads to more exploitation.” – Pikapetey
“That and ‘Figure It Out’. My parents barely taught me life skills but kept telling me to figure it out. Now they can’t understand why I don’t plan much. I legit approach my life as ‘I’ll figure it out. I always do.’” – PhoenixCore96
“The time spent multitasking is a big issue. You used to be either at work or home. Maybe you had to make a phone call or get called into the office, but you’re still not really multitasking. A cheat code to do well at work was to not have children. Now our expectation is to parent our 2.5 kids and succeed at work despite dramatically dwindling benefits, so much so that even the DINKs are struggling too. We need a dramatic paradigm shift.” – Evan_802Vines
