07/11/2025

A Day in the Life of the Gen Z Worker

Consider these new workplace trends they're embracing

That’s it! I loud quit! I have had it with these so-called workplace trends. First there was “quiet quitting,” when an employee... works only during work hours and puts in only the precise amount of work required to keep their job. And now there’s “micro-retirement,” a new trend of not working for a week or two weeks every 18 months, sometimes while employed, sometimes between jobs. Are you sure these are new workplace trends? Are you sure you aren’t just describing a routine phenomenon in an alarmed way? I took the liberty of recounting a typical workday in the language of workplace-trend pieces.

The Gen Z worker awakes in the morning from her Microdeath (a new workforce trend where workers deliberately close their screens, repose horizontally and are unavailable to respond to emails for up to eight hours) and dons her Whimsical Cloth Sheath (a new Gen Z trend where workers cover their body in colorful fabrics rather than sensible gray flannel).

Before arriving at her shared work location, the worker enters a crowded underground car to engage in a Tiny Detox, a new workforce trend where the worker’s phone or laptop fails to stay connected to the internet for the entire ride, giving the worker a refreshing break for sometimes the whole length of a tunnel! Many bosses frown on this trend, suggesting that it doesn't really offer any mental-health benefits and the loss of productivity can be costly—as can its companion trend, the Mile High Detox (no internet on a plane). For the course of her Tiny Detox, the worker stares out the window.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Atlantic.