Has Gen Z lost the will to work?

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's the newest generation to enter the workforce, in their late teens and twenties, but many say they already feel burned out.

From fears about AI taking their jobs, to lower pay and clashing values with older colleagues, we hear what’s driving Gen Z’s discontent in the workplace, speak to the bosses trying a new approach, and get tips on how to recruit and keep them.

Produced by Sam Gruet Presented by Megan Lawton

(Image: A young person looking tired and stressed out. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Business Daily on the BBC Wild Service.
0:05.0	I'm Megan Lawton.
0:06.0	Today, we grew up watching our parents live a comfortable life,
0:12.0	and that's just not a reality for us anymore.
0:15.0	In this new era in the market, it's really hard to get a full-time position.
0:21.9	Has Gen Z lost the will to work?
0:25.1	Younger Americans are experiencing what they call peak stress, and they're experiencing
0:29.5	earlier than anyone.
0:31.3	People think, oh, these kids are so burned out.
0:33.0	They're just lazy.
0:33.6	It's like, no, they're working 40 hours a week, but at the end of the month, they have
0:36.7	nothing to show for it. There's been a lot said recently about Gen Zed feeling burned out
0:41.1	in the workplace. On this edition, we're trying to find out why. From differing approaches to careers,
0:47.9	Gen Zee's going to ask questions, and they're going to ask why. To why those in this generation,
0:53.4	born in the late 1990s to early 2000s, are feeling
0:57.2	the threat of technology.
0:59.0	We need, despite what AI enthusiasts tell you, we need people more than ever.
1:04.3	And hearing from the bosses trying to motivate a generation.
1:08.3	Businesses need to harness the power of Gen Zed.
1:10.7	They're an incredibly inspired and ready to go generation. Businesses need to harness the power of Gen Zed. They're an incredibly inspired and ready to go generation.
1:14.8	That's coming up on Business Daily.
1:19.4	We're starting with a scroll through TikTok.
	...

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