Gen Z, millennials call out dangerous workplace habit bosses need to stamp out

Young Australians don’t always get the best wrap when it comes to their work ethic, but there is a cohort of Gen Z and millennial workers who are burning out at work thanks to a myth perpetuated by their older bosses.“I had to lie on my floor for 20 minutes this morning and remind myself to breathe deeply, just to get up and catch the train into work,” explains Mia*, a 35-year-old government executive from Melbourne.“I started nearly a year ago and over the past six months, things have become really bad.It’s a very ‘bums in seats’ workplace.

My boss works through his lunch break and the unspoken agreement is that we’re all supposed to as well.“As a result, he has slowly been winding back our ability to work from home, and booking meetings at the beginning and end of most workdays to make sure people are there throughout the day as well.”New research from Subway has found that four in five Australians are either skipping their lunch break entirely or not taking the full amount of time allowed to them.And worryingly, it’s bosses that are encouraging this habit, and younger Australians feel the most pressure to work through their breaks, leaving them exposed to the risk of anxiety and burnout.The research showed Gen Z and Millennials are more likely than Gen X and Baby Boomers to believe their bosses will think they are more dedicated to their work if they skip their lunch break — with 10 percent of the younger cohort believing this problematic myth, compared to 4 percent and 1 percent respectively.Younger Australians were also most likely to say that condensing, skipping, or working through their lunch break has negative impacts on them overall.Sixty-seven percent of Gen Z respondents said the practice led to negative overall effects, compared to 53 percent of millennials, 48 percent of Gen X, and only 28 percent of Baby Boomers.The new research aligns with data released earlier this year by global workplace wellbeing leader TELUS.Its Mental H...