A month into a summer internship last year, Ang wasn't sure she'd chosen the right career path and felt uncomfortable in her new surroundings across the country from where she'd grown up. It all made for debilitating anxiety, she said.
Ang is one of many Gen Z employees advocating for themselves on the job — whether it be over flexible schedules, mental-health support, or meaningful work. And she and her peers aren't likely to go back to a suck-it-up version of"professionalism," even as some of the touchy-feely openness that has defined pandemic-era workplaces shows signs of receding.
because they're"entitled" or oblivious to long-standing workplace norms — such as swallowing concerns about personal challenges that bleed into the office — many Gen Z workers know the risk of asking for what they need.But for Ang, it was worth it. Two weeks after her conversation, she moved home to finish the internship remotely.
Ivory's manager once told her,"The job will take whatever you give it." Ivory said she held on to that insight:"This means that you have to set boundaries and prioritize your tasks; otherwise, you will end up working endlessly and feeling overwhelmed and undervalued." "They were like, 'Wait, hang on a minute. My professional hat is on. This is going a bit deeper. I didn't know we were meant to be talking about these things,'" she said.