Millenials Aren’t Lazy: They’re Pioneers

Ian Shapira recently blogged on the Washington Post asking “Are Millenials Lazy?” Ian recapped the story of young medical residents who no longer work the 120-hour work weeks that the older doctor’s worked when they were training and that older generations are accusing Millenials of “devoting less of their energy to work.”

My response to that is this: why must our generation devote our lives to extreme working hours to be considered productive & hard-working citizens contributing to society? Why is our valuing of work and life balance translated into “lazy” by older generations?

Japan has the highest percentage (79%) of its population working more than 40 hours per week. You know which country is second? That’s right, the United States with over 67% its population working more than 40 hours per week. That’s not normal. That means that most of the world is working a lot less than the United States.

Just because Millenials don’t want to work over 40 hours per week doesn’t mean they don’t value a good work ethic. Maybe Millenials just value a work culture more in-tune with our European friends. I wouldn’t go around calling Europeans lazy by any means. What I would say about Europeans is that they know how to balance work & play–it’s OK to come home in the middle of the day for lunch and a nap, it may even be even good for you! I’m not going to argue that Millenials are the new Europeans, but I will say that maybe the Millenial generation is what Americans have been waiting for. Maybe Millenials see something practical and effective in the European work culture and are finally going to help get the American workplace back on a balanced track. Millenials aren’t lazy. They’re actively questioning the status quo work culture and asking, “Why?”

“Workaholism is sick and it’s wrenching to watch the pedestal we build for it,” wrote Rebecca Thorman in her recent post. Workaholism just isn’t cool anymore. Millenials can be just as productive as older generations in less time. So please, don’t call us lazy just because we don’t log as many hours as you!