What has generated more than 21 million views on Tik Tok?

By Mimi Lee, Founder - Meiava

The answer - the term #LazyGirlJob which went viral on Tik Tok[i] earlier this year and continues to stir discussion. Coined by influencer Gabrielle Judge, she says that the term “lazy” is meant in jest to challenge traditional workplace expectations. Judge describes a #LazyGirlJob as a flexible remote position that is non-technical, well-paid, and does not require extreme efforts to go above and beyond or has difficult performance goals. She cited examples of jobs such as “customer success manager” and “marketing associate”.

Decoding the views on #LazyGirlJobs

Those in support of the concept relate to the underlining mindset to gain work-life balance and the strong desire to avoid the feeling of burnout, a state of chronic stress that impacts both physical and mental health.

Yet, the #LazyGirlJob term also has its share of critics with views that it undermines hard-won efforts for gender equality in the workplace, and that aspiring to a #LazyGirlJob is the wrong attitude for building a meaningful career.[ii]

My personal take on the #LazyGirlJob term is that the unfortunate label distracts from its intent of what many women want – greater work life integration that enhances their wellbeing. And it may seed bias for Gen Z women (those born 1997 to 2012), stereotyping them as not ambitious or hard workers to further exacerbate the broken female talent pipeline which starts early in the career from the first step to Manager.

Wellbeing at work

According to Gallup, Career Wellbeing -- liking what you do every day -- has the strongest impact on overall wellbeing. People with high career wellbeing are more than twice as likely to be thriving in their life overall.[iii]

Burnout is still on the rise globally. In fact, 42% of workers feel burnout based on a quarterly survey recently conducted by Future Forum of more than 10,000 people in the U.S., Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the U.K., a slight uptick of 2%. Three segments reported higher levels of burnout - Gen Z, Gen Y (born 1981 to 1996), and women. Nearly half (48%) of 18-to-29-year-olds said they feel drained compared with 40% of their peers aged 30 and up, while women (46%) reported higher levels of burnout than men (37%).[iv]

It is perhaps no surprise that #LazyGirlJob term is catching the attention of Gen Z women who have heard from the three generations of women before them share countless stories of burnout and the negative impact on their wellbeing. They may be thinking “is it all worth it?”

What three generations of women have been told

Gen X women (born 1965 to 1980) and Gen Y women (1981 to 1996) were immersed in conversations and influenced by concepts around “LeanIn” and how to be a #girlboss, which originated back in 2013 and 2014. LeanIn advocated for women to empower themselves at work and home, take a seat at the table, fight imposter syndrome, and encourage employers to create more equitable workplaces. The empowerment idea was further echoed by the idea of #girlboss which is a woman that forges her own path to success despite adversity. For Baby Boomer women (born 1946 to 1964) theirs was being “SuperMom” which in the 1970s and 1980s, a working mother who has and does it all was popularly represented as the epitome of women’s liberation.[v]

The SuperMom, LeanIn, and #girlboss concepts faced detractors from the start and over time more negative connotations, so it is likely that #LazyGirlJob will face the same.

Share your comments

What do you think about the #LazyGirlJob idea (which by the way is not a gender specific trend)? How have the concepts over the generations influenced your work life approach? Please share your comments on Meiava’s LinkedIn page.

Endnotes:

[i] Morningstar. 'Lazy-girl jobs' creator hits back at allegations of elitism — others disagree. 20 August 2023.

[ii] Wall Street Journal. The ‘Lazy-Girl Job’ Is In Right Now. Here’s Why. 25 July 2023.

[iii] Gallup. Employee Wellbeing Starts at Work. 20 July 2022.

[iv] Future Forum. Future Forum Pulse. February 2023.

[v] American Progress. 4 Generations of American Women: Great Progress, Persistent Challenges. 12 May 2015.