Is it just me, or is there an unspoken agreement among older workers to dial it back at work? When I started my career, I was that eager grad who thought hard work and long hours would lead to success. 😅 Now, at 31, I feel like I’m part of a different club—one that’s all about doing the bare minimum and embracing the “work to live” mantra.
Honestly, after years of seeing mismanagement and constant restructuring, my enthusiasm for going above and beyond has shriveled up like last week’s lunch in the fridge. I see many colleagues around my age and older doing the same thing—there seems to be this unspoken code that our work doesn’t really matter, so why stress ourselves out over it? Here are a few thoughts on this:
- Burnout is REAL – Years of overworking can lead to a serious burnout. Many of us have hit that wall and opted for a more chill approach.
- Work Culture Shift – As the workforce evolves, there’s a growing sentiment that hustle culture is toxic. It’s like we’ve collectively agreed to find joy outside of work.
- Visibility vs. Reality – Have you ever exaggerated your workload to seem busy? I can’t be the only one! It’s like a game we’re playing, and I often find it amusing to watch new grads pour their hearts into it.
What’s wild is that while we may be doing less, we’re still *very* good at our jobs. 🎯 Our skills didn’t vanish; we just learned to manage our energy and prioritize our well-being.
So, how do we navigate this subtle shift? Here are a few ideas:
- Embrace Efficiency – Focus on quality over quantity. Make every hour count without overextending yourself.
- Set Boundaries – Don’t be afraid to say no or delegate tasks. Remember, your mental health matters!
- Find Meaning Outside of Work – Engage in interests or hobbies that make you feel fulfilled. There’s more to life than meetings and deadlines. 🌟
But hey, I’m curious: Anyone else notice this trend among older workers? What do you think of the “secret” consensus to avoid work? 🤔
Share your thoughts, experiences, or any tips you have for balancing ambition with reality. Let’s chat! 💬
Hashtags: #WorkCulture, #Burnout, #WorkLifeBalance, #CorporateLife, #CareerGrowth
Being too available means you get rewarded with more work. If you’ve been round long enough you understand working to burnout is only exploited, rather than resulting in promotions etc.
I try to just get my job done, always talk up my wins, but never expose when I have a little capacity free. Rather use that time to research trends, work admin to catch up on a million emails etc.
> It’s like a hidden code that our jobs are all bullshit and mean nothing.
Yes. You should read Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber.
You don’t get rewarded for being a good worker anymore. You just get lumped with more work. Being mediocre or average is way better for reducing stress and work/life balance.
I think also as you gain more experience you start seeing the “bigger picture”, the long-term view of work, and have a better sense of what level of work is sustainable vs the short bursts of overwork to get stuff over the line.
Also, as they approach their late 30s people will get married and start a family, so their priorities and energy levels change, and will pace themselves at work accordingly.
This is not saying you should be avoiding work and exaggerating your busyness though. In a good workplace culture you should be comfortable to be transparent about your ability and capacity so the team can plan accordingly.
When I was younger, I worked my arse off and pushed hard for the best result for my employer which was met with little appreciation and a measure of disdain from my coworkers. These days I take things far more casually and slack off a fair bit yet my career has never been so successful.
Your observation is largely observably correct. I was one of those who went above and beyond all day every day person, regardless of the role I was in, most of all were petty ones, no rewards, no pay increases, but more work, 10-11hr work days (in an office) was not outside of the norm for <$60K.
Nowadays I cruise along in an easy job, minimal effort, better pay than before, 99% of the business have no idea what I even do and always assumes I’m busy, people rarely book a meeting with me longer than 20mins, because, well, I’m busy. I’m happy with the income, plus I have my side gig and investments to make bank. Wish I did this 20yrs ago.
It entirely depends on where one wants to go in life of course.
When you’re more junior it’s generally easier to get promoted. For me, the prospect of promotion would motivate to maximise my effort at work. I am now at the level where realistically I would have to work a lot harder to get promoted and the chances are slim. Hence I do the minimum.
the path of least resistance
You, poor, young little thing. YOU spend years doing extra work for no rewards and then finally realize that management just screwed you over and took advantage of your youthful enthusiasm. At that point you finally realize the grumpy old bugger was right and you make the decision to just stick to your PD.
When moderate effort suffices, use moderate effort.
>Anyone feel like there’s hidden general consensus among older workers to avoid work?Anyone feel like there’s hidden general consensus among older workers to avoid work?
Showing any type of competence without management aspirations means they will use you up until there’s nothing left. And the way companies are cutting back on resources, it gets worse and worse the more competent you are. There are many important phrases to learn:
* I don’t know what that is.
* I don’t know how to do that.
* That is not part of the scope of my role.
* No.
* Let me look at that later *delete email*.
* Its in the backlog.
* That sounds like a you problem.
* A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Weaponise your incompetence at work and you will actually be rewarded. Doing less but talking more, management love that shit because they understand gums flapping, not what you actually do.
[https://youtu.be/OwfNjGxa_D4?t=129](https://youtu.be/OwfNjGxa_D4?t=129)
So true.
I think the teaching profession is going to be in for a shock once it’s predominantly Gen Z lol. A big chunk of the new graduates I’ve spoken to refuse to do additional work or take on extra responsibilities in a industry that traditionally has a culture of working beyond your pay grade. I feel the growing sentiment due to circumstances like global cost of living crisis is along the lines of why give more than you need to a society, company, or job that doesn’t value you.
Is there an element of we start to work smarter i.e applying that knowledge and muscle memory.
In the beginning we suck up knowledge, learn and party with the troops. We’re learning what corporate life looks like, the norms and what boundaries we can push. We learn what tasks we like and dislike.
As we gain knowledge we become more productive, less error rates and have an ability to go “I haven’t seen that exact situation but based on based experience we need to be aware of …”.
Combined with life starts to show up with commitments such as kids, aging family, health needs etc. We adjust our time splits.
“Work smarter… not harder”
Amongst unionised workers? 100%
As a young manager this annoyed me a lot. As an older manager, I kind of get their point. There’s a middle ground for sure.
I still work my arse off, if it is necessary.
I’m not going to spend hours on something that my boss will never look at or even care about. I’m also not working overtime unless I get it back 1:1.
Don’t think I’d ever make up work to look busy.
You’ll get your turn.
If you were in a position to give someone a raise/promotion, would you choose the grad who busted his ass and showed heaps of initiative? Or the grad that did the bare minimum?
welcome to the club
Yep. That’s natural and normal. As you get older. you realise you don’t want to bust your gut for work. You have more then just work to do with your life.
You also realise that generally? Bosses and companies don’t give a shit about you and you are putting in all that extra work for not much benefit, if any!
But it’s also part of the enthusiasm of youth. I wanted to work that hard and bust myself for work in my 20s. Loved it! That’s what being young is all about.
Because the society doesn’t reward it.
Unless you have your own business you will always be exploited to a certain degree. It usually takes age to figure that out.
“..years of mismanagement and restructures..”, it’s soul destroying.
Even if people care about their roles and helping people etc., you do need to be efficient with your time and stay in your lane to an extent. Otherwise you’ll be “taken advantage of” or create the expectation that you will do tasks that are not part of your role.
An example in my prior role was with monitoring a high volume mailbox. People would regularly ask for help or for stuff to be done that was not relevant to our department. We COULD help them out but if we did, they’d be coming right back to us when they need help next time when they aren’t really supposed to
Yeah, I’ve been at my current job ten years. First three years I really went above and beyond. Made the ten person shortlist for employee of the year three years in a row in a 2000 person company. Never won it but I’ve never seen anyone else make the shortlist even twice in a row.
To be honest, after the honeymoon period was up, it just caused me problems for nothing in return. Tall poppy syndrome, ending up doing other people’s jobs for them because I was involved in a huge amount of different things then when things inevitably went wrong I was dragged into the pain.
It just wasn’t sustainable. I changed role internally and very deliberately stopped going above and beyond. Same salary, massively less work and totally on top of my workload (but only mine). First few years in the new role I spent a lot of time saying no. Now I don’t even have to because people just don’t try it on. I bump into people sometimes and they “are surprised I still work here – haven’t heard anything about you in ages”.
This year I’m top of the leaderboard for KPIs out of my 20 person team. That’s not even a good thing – I’m trying to manage that down a bit to be in the middle.
Yes definitely!! I’ve worked in the private and public sector and I can say my colleagues in the public sector (mid 30s – 40s) do not show any initiative at all.
One colleague of mine permanently set their teams status as Away so we never know if he’s actually doing any work or not, which then results in all queries from other teams to flow to me. He also takes multiple sickies in a month.
Manager obviously also doesn’t give a rats ass and also does the bare minimum.
The culture in the public sector rewards underachievers with less work, while overachievers get more work with the same pay.
lol company loyalty isn’t rewarded and hard work isn’t rewarded. There is zero incentive to do anything other than the bare minimum and people tend to work that out.
It took you longer than it should have. Glad you’ve finally arrived.
In general, you are but a number to your employer, and should you resign or die, you’ll be forgotten in a matter of weeks.
Treat them as they treat you. A means to an end.
Taking on more work is just confirming that you’re not busy.
Therefore lazy.
Taking on no work and overstating current tasks shows you’re hard working
Not lazy.
Psychology is weird and those at the top got their either through nepotism or bullshit, so they generally have 0 clue what’s actually going on.
I was the complete opposite.
I started off this way, and at thirty, was only slightly behind my peers. I also shifted sideways a lot getting broader experience, rather than promotion. I also had a great social life. Good times…with a bit of overseas travel in the mix. It was a cruise. I also part timed in jobs I liked. (I worked in a gym, for example, healthy, fit, free workouts etc).
Then, at about thirty when my peers were burning out, I changed focus somewhat. I’d had a range of jobs within my profession (civil engineer), and knew what I liked, and had a knack for. At that point, I kicked the effort up a knotch, and was soon outperforming my burnt out peers at a series of jobs I liked and had a knack for anyway.
I’ve been in the same job for almost 10 years. Early on I did anything without question, extra work and never asked for more money. Once I had the skills to be virtually irreplaceable I asked for a 40% increase and got it. I’ve also scaled back the extra duties I was taking on and have worked less than ever. This is somewhat due to my efficiency in the role.
I was drastically underpaid and pressured when I was younger. I realise now that going the extra mile at work means nothing. You are just going to be used and abused. The corporation doesn’t care.
The faith is gone.
Congrats young whipper snapper! That’s called “Growth”! 😃
Enjoy your new found life experience!