Is Gen Z showing "poor work ethic," or are they just refusing to play a game they perceive as “rigged”?

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Last week, I asked a question on LinkedIn: What's worse for your career: job hopping or staying in the same role at the same company for 5 years or longer?

The results? 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲.

From a LinkedIn Poll: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/loganmcknight_last-night-at-our-stripes-wine-down-wednesday-activity-7377010393522692096-TMsv?

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I found the results really interesting…

We spend so much time criticizing Gen Z for not sticking around.

"No Work ethic." "No commitment." "They leave at the first sign of difficulty."

But here's what that poll revealed to me:

Most of us don't believe loyalty pays off anymore, either.

We just stayed anyway.

For years, we tolerated things we told ourselves were "normal":

· Managers/companies who don’t invest in our growth

· Being told 𝘵𝘰 "pay our dues" while promotions went elsewhere

· Watching colleagues get laid off after decades of dedication

· Burning out in the name of "professionalism"

We called it work ethic. We called it 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

Gen Z calls it exactly what it is: 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹.

So maybe the real question isn't: "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘎𝘦𝘯 𝘡 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦?"

Maybe it's: "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴?"

Maybe… They're not lazy. Maybe, they're just unwilling to accept what we've normalized.

Maybe they're not disloyal. Maybe they're refusing loyalty to systems that don't reciprocate.

They're not job-hopping recklessly; they're responding rationally to a workplace culture that stopped investing in people. And honestly? They're forcing us to admit something we already knew but didn't want to say out loud.

The companies complaining loudest about Gen Z's "lack of loyalty" are usually the same ones that:

· Cut development budgets first

· Promote based on politics, not performance

· Expect employees to be "grateful" for the opportunity, but are the first to jump to layoffs to appease stockholders and board members

The companies winning talent aren't asking "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳?"

They're asking: "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳?"

Admit it or not, Gen Z isn't the problem... they are the future and it’s up to companies to adjust the way they operate to survive that future.

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What do you think: Is Gen Z showing "poor work ethic" or are they just refusing to play a game they perceive as “rigged”?

Is Gen Z just "lazy" or wise to challenge the status quo... or maybe both??

• Lack of work ethic
• Wise to challenge the system
• Maybe a bit of both?