I would say this is true but only because we learned a valuable lesson from the experiences of our parents generation - employers no longer wanted “people” they wanted “Human Resources”. Our parents, the boomers, were under the (false) impression that all they needed to do was get skills (either blue collar or white collar skills), find a job in town, and then they would have that lovely, bucolic middle class life with 40 years of uninterrupted employment culminating in a retirement party where the boss would hand them a souvenir gold Rolex watch, a plaque with their name on it and a hearty handshake for 30+ years of dedicated service …. then reality revealed that to be an utter farce.
So Gen-X’ers learned that employers are basically only out for one thing - their bottom line. That’s fine, we get that. But, as a result of that reality, if you want our skills and energy on the job, then be advised that we will be as equally uncommitted and always on the lookout for better wages and opportunities. We also demand that they respect the concept of work/life balance - I don’t exist to be a “human resource”, I exist to be a human being. Therefore my family, my health, my well being and my hobbies in life are just as important, if not more so, the “the job”. I’ll put in my 40 hours, take my paycheck on Friday and then, after that, I own the job nothing more. If you want me back on Monday morning, just make sure my keycard badge access still opens the front door. If not, give me shout on Sunday night and let me know if I need to bring a cardboard box with me to clean out my desk.
That’s the “new paradigm” that industry and business shifted to when they canned my old man decade after decade of service. Having witnessed his frustration with that, I was pretty much sold on the notion that I owe any employer of mine NOTHING but a 40 hour work week with a 41 min lunch break each day. That’s the reality of Gen-X work attitudes … at least that’s the lesson me and many of my friends learned
