There are few signs more capable of ruining a morning than the words: “Closed due to staff shortages.” The offending note was sticky taped to the window of our local cafe on Mother’s Day weekend. One of the busiest of the year. There should have been queues out the door.
The owner later explained they just couldn’t get enough of their casual staff to work. They had a variety of social and family commitments. He was understanding. I tried to be but I couldn’t shake the thought: Back in my day.
Back then, if you had a job, you worked. You made yourself available. If you’d gone out the night before, you still turned up to your shift.
I can recall some belting hangovers behind the coffee machine at my local Cibo, counting down the minutes to my break, when I’d nap in my car for 20 minutes.
What I remember most though is this: in the six years I was there, we never closed because nobody could work.
Another favourite spot couldn’t open on election day in March, facing the same dilemma. Election day! They were next door to a polling booth.
The line for coffees would’ve been around the block. Instead, there was another sign stuck to the window.
It’s not just hospitality. A friend whose family runs an accountancy firm told me they recently interviewed a graduate applicant who requested a four-day week – on a full-time salary – before she’d even started.
Whether that’s audacious or just savvy probably depends which side of 30 you sit on.
But the days of arriving at a job interview, CV in hand, desperate to impress and willing to start immediately are fading.
Gen Z is increasingly clear about when they want to work and under what conditions – and increasingly unapologetic about saying so.
On an episode of SBS’s Insight, a Gen Z woman explained she finishes work at 1pm every Friday because it’s good for her mental health.
Around her sat a panel of baby boomers staring in mild disbelief.
But the more she spoke, the more some started to nod.
This generation has grown up watching work creep into every facet of life.
They’ve experienced parents answering emails at 10pm.
They’ve seen millennials hustling endlessly, working through burnout, missing family dinners, skipping holidays and still finding themselves unable to afford a home.
It seems they’ve looked at that and thought, no thanks.
A viral Wall Street Journal article labelled gen Z potentially “unemployable”.
They’ve been derided as lazy, entitled and unreliable – the same slights once levelled at millennials.
Doesn’t every generation think the one that comes after it has got it better?
Perhaps what unsettles older generations is that young people are questioning workplace norms many of us accepted without complaint, choosing flexibility and their own wellbeing over promotions and overtime.
How many of us have worked while sick, exhausted or miserable because we were terrified of losing shifts or respect?
Employers held all the power and young workers were expected to be endlessly grateful for the opportunity.
But as more businesses struggle to find staff willing to work weekends, public holidays and peak trading days, has the pendulum swung too far the other way?
There’s something unsettling about walking past thriving businesses on what should be their busiest days … only to find the lights off.
Somewhere between “your job comes before everything” and “sorry, I’ve got a party” feels like the balance we’re still trying to find.