Gen Z academics are lazy
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This new generation doesn’t work like we did. They don’t get it.
One of my post-docs took a day off for a breakup. And a heavy period. And some grief. All in the same week.
It took them two days to do a basic spreadsheet.
I did the equivalent during a bereavement. Possibly from the funeral.
They don’t answer emails in the evenings. They’re not on Slack on weekends.
They won’t move cities for a job.
They didn’t reply to my WhatsApp about the project.
I pay them £28k. Why aren’t they grateful?
We Millennials and Gen X would’ve been thrilled with that job.
We wanted to impress. We showed up early, said yes to everything, and logged back in after dinner.
We didn’t always know where we were going, but we knew we needed a good reference.
They don’t know how to deal with participants. Or with funders.
One skipped a conference because he was going to a football match.
A famous professor offered them unpaid experience and they said they didn’t have time.
Didn’t have time?
Make time.
Back then, it wasn’t “just a job.” It was a foot in the door.
I moved to the arse-end of nowhere for my first research role.
I pulled regular all-nighters. I was in the lab every day. I was always available on email.
It’s where I learned my poor boundaries.
And I’m still trying to unlearn them.
Do you know what I think?
When we moan about Gen Z, what we’re really saying is this— “How dare you have boundaries I was never allowed to have.”
And it stings.
Because we gave everything. And they… don’t.
But the truth is:
They’re not loyal to a system that was never loyal to them.
And maybe that’s not entitlement. Maybe it’s intelligence.
📊 In one global survey, 57% of Gen Z workers said they’d quit a job if it affected their mental health.
Which makes the “working through it” culture of academia look… questionable.
💸 And nearly half say they’re living month to month
So the idea that they should “go above and beyond” for 10 months fixed-term £28k contract?
You can see why that might not fly.
🏠 UK rents hit their highest-ever levels in 2024, rising 9.2% in a year.
Postdocs in places like London, Oxford, or even Manchester are spending up to 60% of their income on rent.
And you wonder why they’re not leaping at relocation?
🏠 The average UK postdoc earns £37,530. That typically gets you a mortgage between £150k and £169k, depending on the lender.
The average UK house costs £290k.
There’s no clear pay-off anymore. Permanent jobs are dwindling, job ads are being taken down, and redundancies are everywhere.
It’s not that Gen Z doesn’t care.
It’s that they don’t believe working yourself into the ground gets you what it used to.
They’re watching us. Our emails at midnight, our permanent stress faces, our martyrdom.
And they’re choosing something else.
And honestly?
Fair enough.
We cheer when our generation challenges Boomers who dismiss sexual harassment with “Well, we just got on with it.”
We say, “You shouldn’t have had to.”
We call it what it is: normalised harm disguised as resilience.
But when Gen Z sets boundaries, be it refusing unpaid labour, declining out-of-hours emails, or saying no to jobs that don’t pay enough, we roll our eyes and mutter about work ethic.
It’s the same pattern.
So the next time a Gen Z postdoc declines something and it winds you up, pause before you roll your eyes and text your friend group going “get this latest one”.
Ask yourself:
Is this about them… or is it about the version of you that never got to say no?
If you’re leading a team (or about to), these generational shifts aren’t just noise.
They’re a call to lead differently.
References
Deloitte (2024). 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey.
https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/work/content/genz-millennialsurvey.htmlUKG & Workplace Intelligence (2024). 83% of Gen Z frontline workers report burnout; over one-third may quit due to health concerns.
https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2024/10/28/One-Third-of-Gen-Z-Frontline-Workers-Consider-Quitting-Due-to-Health-Concerns-Study-Finds.aspxONS (2025). UK private rental prices, January 2025.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/privaterentandhousepricesuk/january2025Indeed (2025). Postdoctoral Research Associate Salary in United Kingdom.
https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/how-much-does-postdoc-make?utm_source=chatgpt.com
