Forced to work from home, priorities changed and many began to adopt the attitude that time for themselves is just as important as getting the work done.
This new attitude was eventually given life in the #actyourwage hashtag begun by TikTok user Stephanie Hannes in 2020 that has garnered more than 110 million views.
Her ideal is that one should only do as much as she is paid to do, in short, what you are worth in the eyes of your employer.
The “acting your wage” concept was raised recently for discussion by Aisling Group founder and managing director Melissa Norman in her observation that as the first digital natives, young people have different expectations than their older colleagues.
“They grow up in an uncertain world where climate change is a reality, not a myth,” she wrote in a report on the emergence and increasing attraction of the “act your wage” phenomenon.
However, clinical psychologist Joel Low said the same attitudes towards work run across every generation of employees.
Young and old, there are as many industrious ones as there are those who watch the clock, Low, who specialises in cognitive behavioural therapy, told FMT Business.
In both the young and old, you will find an equal spread of resilience or grit among individuals, he said.
Similarly, he added, there are as many “strawberries” among the old as there are among the young — a reference to those who will put in only as much effort as what they perceive they are paid for.
Some would refer to them as “calculative”.
However, sustainable development goals expert Zoel Ng has an entirely different take on the “act your wage” phenomenon.
“It is a sign that attitudes towards work have changed,” she told FMT Business. But rather than self-interest, she cited the pressure to succeed as a factor.
Otherwise, it could just be part of a desire to be “on display” on social media given that Hannes has also used the platform to keep viewers abreast of her professional life and the challenges she has to face.
At the same time, Ng said, the younger workers have greater challenges than those who came before them.
For instance, she said, baby boomers had more opportunities for economic advancement than the millennials. “Jobs were more easily available then, and the cost of living was less of a worry,” she said.
On the other hand, she said, the older generation was under a lot more pressure to conform with traditional values.
“For instance, they were more likely to be less highly educated, yet they had more family obligations,” she added.
For Malaysian Employers Federation president Syed Hussain Syed Husman, the new attitude towards work — whether driven by #actyourwage or otherwise — has only brought more problems.
“For a start, it has had a negative impact on productivity,” he told FMT Business.
“Cyber loafing has become a major problem at the workplace, and this has adversely affected work performance,” he added.
Syed Hussain pointed out that an organisation’s success is driven by the efficiency of its employees.
But efficiency is driven by motivation. To get employees more motivated, managers should spend time helping their subordinates grow their careers, he added.
Stephanie Hannes may have changed the employee’s attitude towards work. Perhaps the time has come for employers to also change, to adapt to the new reality.