Imagine you are at Bagan Lalang beach in Sepang, Selangor, during low tide, watching the wet shoreline stretching so far out it almost feels like you are walking into the horizon.
That feeling says a lot about what many young people want from work today: not less responsibility, but a better way to do it – a sense of space and openness, possibility and the freedom to explore.
Gen Z is often painted as difficult, lazy or too soft for the working world.
But that is an outdated way to view something that has changed.
Young workers are not rejecting work itself.
They are actually pushing back against a work culture that mistakes exhaustion for discipline and constant availability for commitment.
Many of them grew up watching older generations push through stress as if it were normal.
Long hours, endless messages, skipped rest and burnout worn almost like a badge of honour.
The 2024 Wellness at Work report found that burnout was highest among Millennials at 69%, followed closely by Gen Z at 64%, with work-life balance being the biggest contributor to burnout.
So it is no surprise that many are now asking a simple question: Is this really the only way to build a career?
That pressure is not just anecdotal.
In Malaysia, work often does not stay in the office.
It follows people through their phones, laptops and constant notifications.
Having studied childhood psychology, I have come to see how stress often shows up in ways people do not always name, including at work.
Naluri’s 2024 State of Employee Mental Health research found that 61% of Gen Z employees in Asia are at high risk of mental health challenges, while Randstad’s Workmonitor 2025 survey reported that 59% of Malaysian employees had resigned to leave a toxic workplace.
I have seen that restlessness among my own peers too.
It is no longer unusual to see young people change jobs every year or two, sometimes three or four times in a short span.
Older employers may see that as a lack of loyalty.
However, for many young workers, it is often a search for something more sustainable, with better management, healthier boundaries, growth – or simply a workplace that does not leave them feeling depleted.
Part of the friction lies in how success is defined.
Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found only 6% of Gen Z saying their main career goal was to reach leadership positions with nearly nine in 10 saying purpose mattered to their job satisfaction and well-being.
In other words, many young workers are not rejecting ambition. They are redefining it.
I can relate to this. Some of the work that gave me deep satisfaction came from being out in the field, meeting experts or the common man whose everyday life is worth telling.
Young workers are not asking to be babied; they are asking to be led by people who understand that good work is not built on fear, fatigue and endless access.
Respect their time, give their work meaning and stop confusing burnout with commitment.
Better support matters too, whether through proper benefits, healthier workplace activities or mental health initiatives proving that employees are seen as people, not just output.
Senior leaders still have a vital role to play.
Their experience matters, and it should help shape younger workers, not box them in.
The youth are the future, and the workplace of tomorrow will not be defined by those who resist change, but by people who understand it.
