Employers, hiring managers, recruiters, talent development professionals, trainers and instructional designers have a lot on their hands with The Great Resignation/Reshuffling. Let’s add something else: the tweet #IDon’tDreamOfLabor.
If you have been on the internet lately, you may have heard someone post or tweet or say “I don’t dream of labor.” This phrase has sparked what sounds like an anti-work movement. Digging into it, “I don’t dream of labor”, it is far from it. “I don’t dream of labor” is not about not working; it’s about not letting work be your life. It’s the opposite of hustle culture with its emphasis on working and climbing the corporate ladder or launching your own business. “I don’t dream of labor” isn’t a movement of people who don’t want to work but still want to live a lavish, or at least middle-class, lifestyle. People who don’t dream of labor want to reduce their need for material possessions therefore not needing to work as long or as hard to obtain them. They are people who are concerned that as they progress in their career, other, lower-wage workers may have very little hope of escaping their own poor working conditions.
First, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room. Yes, those who don’t dream of labor are coming from a privileged position. They are mostly university educated and have dependable internet access. They have the leisure time to contemplate that status in life. Let’s sit this aside, because, HOT TAKE, I’m not a fan of privilege arguments (queue the pearl clutching). Arguing privilege ends up being very circular and hypocritical. I’m not here to point out everyone’s privilege.
Coming from this background can make those who don’t dream of labor sound entitled or lazy compared to their lower-wage counterparts. However, those who don’t dream of labor claim to speak on behalf of burned out workers of all wage levels, exhausted by trying to live through a global pandemic. They use their privilege to draw attention to the downsides of hustling and career advancement. Overwork is nothing new. Those of previous generations dealt with this problem differently, but often in unhealthy ways (at least this is what movies portrayed: excessive drinking, illicit drug use, etc.). At least those who don’t dream of labor want to handle burnout and the demands of working in healthy ways.
Many businesses have learned and are learning that their employees, for the large part, don’t want to go back to business as usual. Employees expect their employers to be flexible and accommodating.
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