{"id":146790,"date":"2026-07-24T07:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=146790"},"modified":"2026-07-24T12:01:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:01:58","slug":"nyt-emi-nietfeld-gen-z-fell-out-of-love-with-work-i-dont-blame-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=146790","title":{"rendered":"(NYT) Emi Nietfeld–Gen Z Fell Out of Love With Work. I Don\u2019t Blame Them."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I admire these students\u2019 Zen-like ability to enjoy today in spite of tomorrow. But their powerlessness saddens me. In 2024, an Emory University professor, Stephen Nowicki, observed that<\/a> his college seminar students felt less control over their lives than the average prisoner felt in 1966. The belief that you shape your own destiny strongly tracks with health, income and happiness. People who feel they have agency tend to eat better, apply for more jobs and recover more easily from setbacks. It\u2019s true that in times of uncertainty, despair is a rational response. But when young people stop believing that long-term effort will improve their lives, something larger is lost: the capacity to imagine a meaningful future….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ms. Perez and Mx. Durhal<\/strong> have a lot in common. Neither cares about prestige or job titles. Both want the income and flexibility to live according to their personal values. Timothy Judge, a professor at Ohio State University and an author of the foundational ambition study, told me that compared with previous generations, his current students think harder about what they want out of life. \u201cNow\u2019s the time to question it \u2014 early in your career, when you\u2019re in the formative stage,\u201d Dr. Judge said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot for us still to learn from the way Gen Z approaches work. Years of research have shown that extrinsic motivators like money and fame make people miserable while intrinsic motivators like enjoyment or self-mastery fuel satisfaction. In Dr. Judge\u2019s study, the most ambitious people died slightly younger than those with less drive. He thinks it\u2019s because those who focused on accomplishment experienced more stress and neglected their health and relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While talking to students, I found myself questioning my own choice to worship at the altar of work. I wrote much of this article on weekends, sometimes while my toddler begged for me; I have chronic pain triggered by sitting too long; I don\u2019t know how to turn off my drive. Before talking to these students, I never really considered what \u201csuccess at any cost\u201d actually cost me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, ambition isn\u2019t just about personal accomplishments. It\u2019s also about having faith in our ability to shape the future. Speaking to Mx. Durhal and other young adults for whom tomorrow seems uncertain, I see a generation that\u2019s learning not to hope too hard. Humans are future-oriented creatures. Not being able to look ahead deprives us of what matters most. Data collected in an ongoing study<\/a> on people\u2019s well-being showed that young adults across the world score low not just on happiness but on eudaemonistic well-being, including meaning, purpose and fulfilling relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an adolescent, I took solace in the saying \u201cEven if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.\u201d This aphorism, often attributed to Martin Luther, wasn\u2019t about the joy of digging holes. It represented defiant optimism in the face of uncertainty. In the hardest moments of my youth, my goals gave me dignity and agency. When the present felt unbearable, my aspirations allowed me to transcend my surroundings. I think about sitting in the back seat of my rusty car, clutching an SAT book. I still bear the scars of my work ethic; I wish I\u2019d known, like today\u2019s youth, how to give myself more grace. But I also wish they understood how the dream itself illuminated the path a few feet ahead of me, until I stood on solid ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

Fascintating piece by @eminietfeld<\/a> about GenZ views on success and work: Gen Z Has Lost Its Ambition. Maybe It\u2019s Found Something Better. https:\/\/t.co\/BX1nigICFX<\/a><\/p>— Jason Ryan (@jasonryanmd) July 23, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>