Work hard, live hard is officially over. For anyone under 40, the so-called soft life is where it’s at: more time spent with friends and family, increased devotion to hobbies and developing new interests, fewer professional responsibilities, and a lot less stress.
Gen-Z and millennial employees are not—contrary to popular memes and hashtags like quiet quitting, lazy-girl jobs, bare-minimum Mondays and weekend Wednesdays—actually feckless. They’re anti-burnout. They’re willing to work, and do it well, but they’re uninterested in handing over the bulk of their waking hours to bosses or subordinates. Ultimately, they’re prioritizing pleasure over profit.
The 20- and 30-something workers featured below want to dismantle long-held beliefs and vaunted attitudes about ambition, money and what constitutes a productive life. In short, they are committed to taking on less—and cool with making less—if it means they can live more.
Previous job: Manager at a tech start-up
Current job: Bookkeeper and retail worker
Lives in: Pickering
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Booksmart
I dropped out of high school because of a learning disability and depression. Public libraries saved my life
Top Shelf
Four drool-worthy home libraries
The Giver
Media mogul Gary Slaight donates a lot of money$15 million to this, $30 million to that-and he's not above shaming his wealthy friends into doing the same
TRAIN WRECK
Toronto residents in the path of Ontario Line construction are living in a bone-rattling, foundation-cracking, rat-infested hellscape. True tales from the epicentre
TURF WAR
For 148 years, the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club was an ivy-covered bastion of civility with a roster of like-minded, blue-blooded members. Then an old-money-versus-new-money clash erupted
The Cult of Wellness
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CLOSE TO HOME
A new inpatient mental health unit for children and youth will provide community-level support at Oak Valley Health's Markham Stouffville Hospital.
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Marital Arts
Three Toronto couples who celebrated their nuptials in spectacular fashion
Strings Attached
Country music's barrier-busting cowboy Orville Peck is tearing through 2024 with a new album, new collabs and a new outlook on life