WHY ON THEIR OWN TERMS

WHY GENERATION 'Z', OR THOSE BORN BETWEEN 1996 AND 2010, DON'T BELIEVE IN BEING CHAINED TO A DESK OR A JOB

- SONALI ACHARJEE, Sonal Khetarpal and M.G.Arun

RIA DASGUPTA IS ALL OF 22, BUT SHE HAS HAD THREE FULL-TIME JOBS already and is on her fourth stint now, with a publishing house. She makes no bones about the job-hopping. "I couldn't gel well with my colleagues and supervisors at the first two jobs. The third expected me to work after-hours and on weekends with no extra pay," says Ria, a graduate in English from Calcutta University. "I've seen my parents give up their entire lives and health for work. I don't want to do the same. I want opportunities that will allow me to grow." Mumbai-based Shreya Prasad, the same age as Dasgupta, has similar views on life. She remembers how her father would go to work even when he was running a fever. "He had no choice," she says. He had mortgages to pay off and a child to nurture at the age of 30. I don't want to have a child and I already own a house and car. I have the luxury to work for satisfaction and not money. If I'm not satisfied, I can quit."

The 'Baby Boomers', Gen Xers and even some Millennials (those born in 1946-1964, 1965-1980 and 1981-1996, respectively) will understandably turn up their noses at young workers like Dasgupta and Prasad, dismissing them as products of yet another 'wayward" generation. The thing is, 'Gen Z couldn't care less. That's precisely what has employers around the world scratching their heads as they try to come to terms with the shifting priorities of a workforce growing increasingly young and refusing to 'hustle' like its predecessors or to renounce everything in pursuit of corporate success. What they seek instead is meaningful, inspiring work. Which is why perhaps the recent advice to youngsters by Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, to work 70 hours a week, ended up unleashing a torrent of criticism, inviting everything from incredulity and irritation to unsparing memes and jokes.