Every time I scroll on social media I always see the same old story about how Gen Z is lazy and not as smart as previous generations. People from past generations look at us and see people who can’t understand a physical checkbook or how to use a rotary phone, and they think we are failing. But we are actually not lazy; we’re just playing a completely different game. The old rules of work and success don’t exist anymore in our generation, and it’s time we stop apologizing for it.

Older generations often judge us for not knowing important skills like reading paper maps or balancing physical checkbooks, but they don’t realize these have been replaced by far more advanced products that make our lives easier. The Gen Z value doesn’t come from memorizing multiplication tables, but from our ability to use advanced technology to be more efficient and not complicate simple tasks. While older generations might think that we don’t put any effort into the things we do, we see a necessary need to take the easy way out when it comes to learning new things quickly in order to adapt to new technology. We aren’t less capable of doing things; instead, we are the first generation to prioritize quick learning and high understanding of technological advancements, which is what the modern economy demands now.

In addition, people from older generations still believe you aren’t really working unless you’re sitting in an office for eight hours. We are often called lazy because we reject this old way of thinking, but instead we choose to try something different, which in the long run can even be more efficient. It’s actually smarter to use tools like AI to get our work done faster so we can focus on the important things such as spending time with our families, our health, etc. We aren’t trying to avoid work; we’re just changing the concept of living for work to working toward living a healthy life. 

But even though we work smarter than older generations, I also have to admit Gen Z is obviously not perfect. We’re great at being efficient, but sometimes we struggle with the patience and focus which was something the older generations were much better at. Because we are used to getting information and results instantly, we can get frustrated when things take time or when we have to deal with slow things like trusting processes, which is something life is full of — long processes that take tons of patience and time. Admitting our flaws shows we’re still growing and figuring out how to adapt to this new world.

In conclusion, Gen Z isn’t lazy at all. We’re using new technology to work more efficiently and focus on the important things in life, and even though we need to work on our patience and focus, Gen Z has proven that working smarter means adapting to the modern world instead of sticking to the same old ways of doing things. After all, when you don’t start moving forward, you begin to start moving backward.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Ignacio De Sousa at [email protected].