‘Why would I want that?’: Here’s why millennials and Gen-Z workers are choosing not to become managers
It seems like millennials and Gen Z just can't win when it comes to the workplace. Pre-pandemic millennials were stereotyped as entitled and disloyal. Gen Y is still perceived by many higher-ups in the corporate world as flighty and overly image-conscious.
And management is now saying the so-called younger generations aren't stepping up to take their place as supervisors in the post-pandemic world. They may be right about that, but there are some very good reasons for it.
TikToker @littlemisstrena attempted to address the question as to why generations Y through Z seem less than enthusiastic about taking up leadership in the workplace in a video posted on Friday. The video currently stands at 301,000 views and counting as of Monday.
"Realistically," Trena asks her viewers, "Why would you want to become a manager?"
"I absolutely fell for this," she confesses. "This was like two jobs ago and I still believed in like career advance meant and like wanting to work my way up, so I became a supervisor."
@littlemisstrena A dollar pay raise was honestly such a joke #managers ♬ original sound - littlemisstrena
However, the position did not come with much in the way of rewards other than an increased workload. Trena claims the promotion only came with, "a dollar pay bump."
"I went from just doing my own thing to having to manage six people for a dollar extra an hour," she says. "I can 100% guarantee you that that was not worth it at all."
In addition to the extra work for very little increased pay, Trena claims that the supervisory position hasn't even helped her resume very much, if at all.
"I don't think at any point that was even brought up in any of my interviews. I don't talk about it with people I work with now," she continues.
"I'm like, it didn't give me the bump I thought it was going to for all the extra stress."
"Managing people is f*cking terrible," she concludes.
In an interview with CNBC, marketing executive Jayde Young, 33, expressed similar frustration at the lack of rewards for mid-level management in today's workplace.
“Being a manager, it’s OK. But it affords me nothing. I don’t have any real additional perks that my direct reports don’t have. My salary is a little higher, fine, but I have to work a lot longer. Honestly, the title is all fluff at the end of the day,” Young said.
According to Navalent, much of the situation comes down to basic income for younger workers, many of whom possess far less buying power from their pay than the generations before them.
"This is especially the case in areas with high costs of living, where salaries for all but the highest echelons of an organization may not fully cover expenses and savings," the article states. "Many millennials and Gen Zers just aren’t that impressed with a fancy title—unless it comes with a (big) salary bump, that is."
"Double the responsibility, double the daily tasks, no appreciation, lectures when the store didn't make money, all for a 1% raise," KTSpeedruns (@ktspeedruns) writes in the TikTok's comments, commiserating with Trena.
"I spent so long watching my managers be stressed out and hate their jobs and life. Why would I want that? Not a great incentive," another viewer points out.
"I worked so hard to be a manager. I was then in charge of 20+ people on call 24/7, worked 26 days straight and they paid me $19 an hour," another added.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Trena via TikTok for further comment.
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