Nobody loves the current generation! They have less attention span, are very impulsive, always looking for shortcuts, and the list just goes on. Not that any of this is false or the one to take sides, but there is a different side to this coin, pun intended.
The current generation is burdened with prejudices. Judged at every walking step. Bombarded with options for the smallest of things and to make matters worse given plenty of opportunities to distract itself from the task at hand. They just have to do all of this in the same 24 hours each one of us gets. This can be at the expense of sleep, socialising, health, you name it. All this makes sympathizing with this generation a nerve wrecking task.
But it’s also a fact that the current generation is one of the most overworked lot. They have to excel at each subject in school, have to be the best at the sports they play, MUST know multiple languages and all while having a healthy appreciation for the one or more art forms like singing, dancing, acting, etc.
It almost feels as if the child had been trained right from birth to keep himself occupied every waking minute.
Does it come as a shock then to see the same generation struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Trying to juggle an over demanding work culture, high family expectations along with his social life.
The recent pandemic situation didn’t help either. While the world struggled to contain the loss of lives and limit the infection, world economies across the globe went for a toss. Jobs were lost, salaries were reduced. However, another infection kept gnawing at the workforce that was still employed in this period. With offices shut and people having to work remotely, the concept of fixed office timings was thrown out the window. Expecting an employee to be available to work if he’s awake slowly became the new normal. Study shows the amount of time an employee would spend at his work station during the pandemic rose to 20% – 25% as compared to their normal work hours. Stress levels increased; job satisfaction decreased. Controlling employment burnout slowly but surely started dropping down in the priority list of to-do things.
But things did change for the good. The hiring situation changed, salaries started increasing, employers started going out of the way to try and retain top talent. Mental health is starting to get almost the same importance as physical health. Getting counselling is no longer frowned upon.
In hindsight, it feels like the working class needed a jolt like this. While i don’t favour the loss of lives and jobs or reduction in PayScale. Atleast it made everyone sit up and take notice, the importance of mental health and a favourable work-life balance.
It sure looks like a brightly lit path going ahead and hopefully everyone realises, CHANGE IS THE NEW CONSTANT.
