Tired after work? You must be a member of Gen Zzz...

Baby Boomers show how it’s done as younger workers moan about stress

YOUNGER employees find that a day’s work is more exhausting than wage-earners of their parents’ generation, researchers have found.

Forty-six per cent of Generation Z workers – staff aged between 18 and 25 – feel ‘fatigued’ after a day at the office, factory or shop floor, a study shows.

They complain that their workload, combined with the stresses and strains of holding down a job and the high expectations of their bosses, leaves them feeling drained.

Forty per cent of Millennials – people who are aged between 26 and 41 – echoed those complaints by reporting that their employment also left them tired out by the end of the working day.

But only 19 per cent of workers old enough to be their parents – the so-called Baby Boomer generation of 58 to 76-year-olds – said a day’s work left them shattered.

Just 27 per cent of workers in the Generation X age group, from 42 to 57, said likewise.

To compound their troubles, both Generation Z and Millennial workers reported that they suffered from feelings of helplessness and loneliness brought on by the pressures of work. For Generation Z, 61 per cent said they were so fearful of ‘burnout’ – mental and physical exhaustion caused by long-term job stress – that it has compromised their aspirations. Business advisory firm Trachet discovered the extent of workplace fatigue by polling 2,071 UK adults. The firm’s spokesman, Claire Trachet, said: ‘The findings show younger people are under overwhelming stress at work, with almost half of them reporting fatigue brought on by its pressures and demands.

‘Surprisingly, older workers, often old enough to be the parents of young staff, are less likely to report this level of stress and fatigue, probably because they are more conditioned to the demands of working life.’

Ms Trachet added: ‘With proper support and guidance this can be corrected, while preserving the mental health of the leaders of the business and their teams.

‘A burnt-out workforce is one of the biggest barriers that inhibits businesses from growing effectively.’

The study, which was conducted by the British Polling Council on behalf of Trachet, also found that 28 per cent of Generation Z workers could not remember the last time that they spent ‘quality’ time with their families because of the demands of work.

Almost three-quarters of workers in that age bracket said that they wanted to find a new job that leaves them less tired.

A total of 65 per cent would consider starting their own business in order to improve their work-life balance.

‘Almost half report fatigue brought on by pressure’