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Gen Z is notoriously known as the job-hopping generation, and according to the latest research, they are only staying in jobs for about a year before moving on to something better. But does that mean they don’t want to work hard?

According to Gen Z employee Peyton, that’s absolutely the case, and he shamed a Gen Z co-worker who quit when tasked with a tedious project. But not everyone was on board with the criticism.

Because Gen Z entered the workforce during the global pandemic, they are adaptable, value flexibility, and aren’t afraid of a career change. They are also the generation shaped by speaking up against social injustice, which explains why they don’t fear leaving a job they feel disrespected at for a new one. So maybe refusing to do a tedious task just means the Gen Zer knew his worth and wasn’t willing to put up with his employer taking advantage of him.

A Gen Z worker was shamed for quitting at the first sign of hard work.

While some think quitting jobs relates to Gen Z employees knowing their worth, others believe they flee at the first sign of hard work. In a since-deleted TikTok video, Peyton showed the tedious job that an employee decided simply not to do. The video showed tiny pieces of wrap on a car that the 24-year-old employee was asked to scrape off with a metal blade.

Dikushin Dmitry | Shutterstock

“Our generation has to get a little better,” Peyton said in the video. “We just had a 24-year-old walk out cause he didn’t wanna take all this leftover crash wrap off. He didn’t wanna remove any of this.” He went on to say, “I’m not saying it’s the easiest job in the world, but it’s surely not the [expletive] hardest.” 

Allegedly, the employee walked out and told Peyton he would rather work at McDonald’s than take the wrap off.

: Gen Z Worker Has An Accommodation At Her Job That Says She Cannot Interact With One Of Her Co-Workers

Many people stuck up for the Gen Z worker, saying they didn’t blame the 24-year-old for walking out.

The comment section questioned how much he was getting paid and applauded him for not doing something he didn’t want to do. They thought the issue was that the employee wasn’t getting compensated enough to do a mindless job.

One said, “Yea, skip over the pay and blame his age.” Another asked, “Yeah [I don’t care] how old he is, how much are you paying him? Is there room for promotion and advancement? What are you doing for his future?” 

Most people assumed this was an issue of knowing your own value and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. “He didn’t want to because he wasn’t paid anything worth that time. It’s not ‘kids don’t want to work!’ It’s ‘people don’t want to be exploited.'”

: Worker Asks Advice For Handling Their Wildly Inappropriate Gen Z Trainee Who ‘Overshares’ & Is ‘A Bust’

Gen Z wants a society that works to live, not lives to work.

Girts Ragelis | Shutterstock

We are currently in an employer-driven market amid economic uncertainty. That means employers hold all the cards, and employees are doing everything they can to keep themselves employed because the prospect of finding something new is abysmal. When employers know they hold all the cards, salary, raises, promotions, benefits, and even workload take on a whole new meaning.  

A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that despair among young workers has been rising in the United States for about a decade. In analyzing the data, New York Times journalist Jessica Grose wrote, “workers under 25, mental health is now so poor that they are generally as unhappy as their unemployed counterparts, which is new in the past several years. The rise in despair is particularly pronounced among women and the less educated. Last year, job satisfaction for people under 25 was about 15 points lower than it was for people over 55.”

In a nutshell, this Gen Z worker, who walked out of his job because he felt undervalued, is probably better off from a mental health perspective than had he stayed and suffered through what he perceived as an exploitative working environment.

As one person noted, “I love that this generation has a working to live, not living to work, mindset.” That might be a simplistic view of Gen Z’s approach to work, but the truth is, why be more miserable working when you can be less miserable not working? And pay doesn’t really factor in because today’s economy is such that inflation has outpaced stagnant earnings for most employees, so even those with jobs can’t exactly afford to live.

Working hard and even taking on tedious tasks isn’t a bad thing. It’s part of learning how a business is run and getting experience. Being expected to work hard and take on tedious tasks without the hope of career growth or a living wage? That’s a job that’s worth quitting. 

We don’t have both sides of the story when it comes to this Gen Z worker, but just because a young person leaves a job where he doesn’t feel valued does not mean he doesn’t want to work hard. That’s quite a leap.

: Almost Half Of Gen Z Is Willing To Quit Their Job For This One Thing — And It’s Not More Money

Maddie Haley is a writer and contributor to YourTango. She covers pop culture, celebrity news, and lifestyle stories.