The desire to "get the most amount of money for the least amount of work" goes back to as long as people have been working — that is what Zack Morris said he wanted in the 1980s-era show "Saved by the Bell" while economist John Maynard Keynes was already decrying that the modern worker wants more for less in the 1930s.
In 2023, this has taken on the form of the "lazy girl job."
DON'T MISS: Engineer Who Made 'Quiet Quitting' Viral Just Had A Change of Heart
Coined by self-described "anti work girl boss" Gabrielle Judge, the "lazy girl job" describes a role that one can do entirely remotely and without much stress. While the stereotype usually involves someone shooting off some emails from a pool floatie, a key requirement is flexible work hours and a boss who doesn't care if you clock in at 9 a.m. or a little later.
@gabrielle_judge Career advice for women who don’t know what remote job to apply to. You can bay your bills at not feel tired at the end of the day. Women are here to collect those pay checks and move on from the work day. We have so much more fun stuff happeneing in our 5-9 that is way more important than a boss that you hate. #corporatejobs #jobsearchhacks #remoteworking #antihustleculture #9to5
♬ original sound - Gabrielle👸🏻
The Push To 'Make Like $60 To $80K And Be Remote'
"A lazy girl job is basically something you can just quiet quit," Judge says in the viral TikTok video of her sitting in a bed while wearing sweatpants. "There's lots of jobs out there where you could make, like, $60,000 to $80,000 and not do that much work and be remote."
The video has now been viewed nearly 3.5 million times while the term "lazy girl job" has taken off in the same way as its predecessor "quiet quitting" — the idea of not "going above and beyond at work" was inadvertently coined by 24-year-old software engineer Zaid Khan.
As with "quiet quitting" (Khan later actually quit his unsatisfying job and told followers that disengaging while hoping something would change wasn't the answer), the "lazy girl job" has proven controversial. Many younger workers see it as a way to take back their time and find work-life balance while more traditional employers see it as a lack of "dedication" and "commitment."
"They don't want to be lazy so much as this strong desire to avoid anxiety at any cost," Suzy Welch, a New York University professor specializing in business and the modern workforce, said during an episode of CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Not All Gen Z-ers Are Lazy
As with many of the viral terms to follow quiet quitting, their popularity does not reflect something drastically different from past generations (one Gallup study found that 59% of the global workforce is not actively engaged in what they do) but the newfound ability to put names to problems and find community around people who feel the same on social media.
While the rise of remote work is allowing some to find jobs that let them maximize their time, a worsening economy and the desire to advance generally makes "kicking back" a strategy that sounds better on social media than in real life.
According to millennial career coach Eliana Goldstein, the desire for more work-life balance has always been the same even if different generations phrase it differently — and even if the desire for "easy" jobs can seem like an antidote to the "hustle culture" era popular during the 2000s and 2010s.
"If millennials and Gen X can understand that Gen Z isn't actually being lazy, but instead acting on the shared desire for more balance, it could be a great thing for them to pay attention to," Goldstein tells BBC.
