Twitter Roasts Headlines Claiming Working Multiple Jobs Is A New Trend Among Millennials And Gen Z’ers
So, working multiple jobs apparently now has a term for it. Polywork.
And, also apparently, it’s become trendy among Millennials (Gen Y) and Gen Z’ers. Apparently.
Alan MacLeod recently pointed this out on Twitter, posting some screenshots of headlines from news sources saying that it’s a thing, and it’s popular among people born between 1981 and anyone who’s now 16 to 18 and joining the workforce.
Well, tweeters are calling bull-pies on this as it’s hard to believe people would willingly work multiple jobs.
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Apparently ‘polyworking’ is a term used to describe working multiple jobs, and this journalist pointed out how the media is trying to make it into a trend
Image credits: AlanRMacLeod
So, journalistic writer and podcaster Alan MacLeod went to Twitter to share some screenshots of headlines from news sites, claiming that Millennials and Gen Z’ers “prefer,” “embrace” and are “gunning for” this thing called polywork.
The tweet read: “Heads up: They’ve come up with a new buzzword to describe desperately working multiple jobs just to survive.”
Alan MacLeod shared some headlines he found pushing a narrative of Millennials and Gen Z’ers enjoying working multiple jobs
Image credits: AlanRMacLeod
Image credits: AlanRMacLeod
Polywork is the concept of working multiple jobs or having multiple sources of income, quite likely part-time ones. Polywork is also a professional social medium, in the vein of LinkedIn, allowing people to share everything they do, whether professionally or otherwise.
According to the sources that MacLeod pointed out, there was a study done by Polywork that claims that over 70% of the study’s participants say the pandemic has accelerated the idea of having multiple jobs with two-thirds actually working multiple jobs.
Image credits: AlanRMacLeod
Image credits: AlanRMacLeod
Participants claimed that these multiple jobs gave them flexibility, helped avoid burn-out, or simply kept them busy because they needed it. And that’s all fine and dandy, but the headlines seemingly hinted at the idea that working multiple jobs has become hip and trendy among certain generations based on this data.
Well, a lot of people saw MacLeod’s tweet—as of this article, it has over 52,800 likes and 12,300 retweets—and were none too happy about it.
As soon as the tweet hit the airwaves, everyone and their mother started roasting the headlines
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The general tone of it all was “please stop making struggling under capitalism trendy.” Many thought that people doing polywork surely are doing this out of necessity, at the very least the majority of them.
One Tweeter even pointed out that, according to Google Trends, polywork as a concept is not even popping up all that much online for it to be considered trendy.
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But the roasts were aplenty. One user equated this situation to a CEO who claims he works 120 hours a month, but most of them are business lunches and golf as a meeting environment.
Another user took a jab at how the media can romanticize anything: “They are going to drive me crazy and then write an op-ed about how millennials enjoy taking psych ward staycations.”
Dan Price, that one CEO who cut his own profits to guarantee a $70k annual minimum to each employee, even came out to react with his “what fresh hell is this?”.
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You can check out the tweet, along with everyone’s reactions to this, here. But before you go, share with us your thoughts and take on this in the comment section below!
How privileged do you need to be to assume that people live this way because they like it?
And also to see it as a 'new trend' when I left school in 2006 I had between 2-4 jobs at any one time for 5 years until I eventually got 1 full time job that paid enough to live off, loads of us were working in bars on top of other jobs
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I spent years doing this as a single mom. Why is struggling trendy all of a sudden
Same, yo. I was clocking in 72 hrs a week doing full time school and two jobs while single parenting a first grader. It was awful. Comparatively, my PhD program was a breeze.
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Nothing new. People have been working multiple jobs for a long time. AND, I have an article from 1935 complaining about how lazy, entiled and spoiled the new damn generation is. Nothing changes, just the actors.
Yeah, lazy and entitled during the biggest economic depression in history. Talk about a facepalm moment!
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The one about millennials being sent to mental health hospitals because of stress and it being billed as "psych staycations" is so perfectly absurd and yet almost guaranteed to happen in the next few years.
Polywork - when no single jobs have enough hours for insurance to kick-in, so I work doubles and triples waiting to go full-time somewhere. What fresh hell is this, indeed...
Or no single jobs pay enough to live so you have to moonlight to make ends just about, almost, not quite, close but no cigar, meet. Barely. As long as everything goes perfectly and there are no unexpected and expensive emergencies to pay for.
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Oh if the (UK) Express writes it up it's definitely 100% not unhinged, no sirrreee.
The irony! Journalist using media driven phrases like Milleniums & Gen X. Whatever next ... Boomers? Oh, wait
Nearly everything that comes out of that dystopian nightmare that is the USA is slowly but surely creeping in to UK society. First it was the proliferation of zero hours contracts, then food banks and now it's the hideous idea of "side hustles" been necessary to survive. I wonder how long under the Tories it will be until we also see the same erosion of workplace rights, restrictions on union membership, "at will" contracts and "no fault" firing. Genuinely scary future for the UK if we allow the Tories to remain in power for a second decade. We're genuinely at a tipping point.
Future headlines: - new trend of staying in 1-room apartment (so cosy) - new trend of going for therapy (paying for a conversation partner) - new trend of eating 1 meal a day (special diet)
It's already happening with "tiny homes". Where a $2,000 storage shed is transformed into $60k and up bullcrap. But it's "affordable" to live in a literal shed!
Load More Replies... Don’t shoot me . I agree most of us work two jobs for a variety of crappy reasons. But I will say even if I got paid properly and had decent hours I would still chose to work more than one job as I DO like poly working and always have .. one job is boring . I have extreme adhd , two jobs keep things interesting for me
You are the exception to the rule. The rest of us need our off-time to wind down, relax, and replenish our energy.
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Isn't polywork what Harry and Ron used to change into Crabbe & Goyle?
So many comments. Ok. The guy who said he quit his exec job to "poly work" , the Prozac must have been very good that day. Next: anytime you work more than one job, it's because you CAN'T MAKE ENOUGH TO LIVE ON ONE! Next. I don't think the influencers are picking this one up.
It's like that awful term 'side hussle' as if having to earn extra money because your main job isn't paid well enough is a bit of fun. I live in Australia and Uber are running these ads that show young people just chilling in their lounge room, presumably quite happy, and then tells these people they could be out earning money with Uber. Every time I see it I want to punch someone from Uber. Sure, downtine is just wasted time. Get out there and work, work, work. I actually suspect this is an ad they use in the US. I don't think it will go down so well here, where the pay is better.
I like how its websites no one has ever heard of before saying this lmao
FYI, The Express is the fifth biggest selling UK national newspaper. It's frighteningly mainstream view in the right-wing media!
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Breaking News! The nation's poor are enjoying a plethora of flavors dumpster diving behind some of world's finest restaurants! "I really enjoy my pre-chewed lasagna dinner" said Robby, a local patron of the dumpster behind Alfredos Italian. Up next Fox News crack reporter finds the Heath of the homeless to better than she thinks it should be! Outrage to follow!
Stop trying to turn having to bust your ass just to get by into something glamorous. It isn't and it never was.
How privileged do you need to be to assume that people live this way because they like it?
And also to see it as a 'new trend' when I left school in 2006 I had between 2-4 jobs at any one time for 5 years until I eventually got 1 full time job that paid enough to live off, loads of us were working in bars on top of other jobs
Load More Replies... I spent years doing this as a single mom. Why is struggling trendy all of a sudden
Same, yo. I was clocking in 72 hrs a week doing full time school and two jobs while single parenting a first grader. It was awful. Comparatively, my PhD program was a breeze.
Load More Replies... Nothing new. People have been working multiple jobs for a long time. AND, I have an article from 1935 complaining about how lazy, entiled and spoiled the new damn generation is. Nothing changes, just the actors.
Yeah, lazy and entitled during the biggest economic depression in history. Talk about a facepalm moment!
Load More Replies... The one about millennials being sent to mental health hospitals because of stress and it being billed as "psych staycations" is so perfectly absurd and yet almost guaranteed to happen in the next few years.
Polywork - when no single jobs have enough hours for insurance to kick-in, so I work doubles and triples waiting to go full-time somewhere. What fresh hell is this, indeed...
Or no single jobs pay enough to live so you have to moonlight to make ends just about, almost, not quite, close but no cigar, meet. Barely. As long as everything goes perfectly and there are no unexpected and expensive emergencies to pay for.
Load More Replies... Oh if the (UK) Express writes it up it's definitely 100% not unhinged, no sirrreee.
The irony! Journalist using media driven phrases like Milleniums & Gen X. Whatever next ... Boomers? Oh, wait
Nearly everything that comes out of that dystopian nightmare that is the USA is slowly but surely creeping in to UK society. First it was the proliferation of zero hours contracts, then food banks and now it's the hideous idea of "side hustles" been necessary to survive. I wonder how long under the Tories it will be until we also see the same erosion of workplace rights, restrictions on union membership, "at will" contracts and "no fault" firing. Genuinely scary future for the UK if we allow the Tories to remain in power for a second decade. We're genuinely at a tipping point.
Future headlines: - new trend of staying in 1-room apartment (so cosy) - new trend of going for therapy (paying for a conversation partner) - new trend of eating 1 meal a day (special diet)
It's already happening with "tiny homes". Where a $2,000 storage shed is transformed into $60k and up bullcrap. But it's "affordable" to live in a literal shed!
Load More Replies... Don’t shoot me . I agree most of us work two jobs for a variety of crappy reasons. But I will say even if I got paid properly and had decent hours I would still chose to work more than one job as I DO like poly working and always have .. one job is boring . I have extreme adhd , two jobs keep things interesting for me
You are the exception to the rule. The rest of us need our off-time to wind down, relax, and replenish our energy.
Load More Replies... Isn't polywork what Harry and Ron used to change into Crabbe & Goyle?
So many comments. Ok. The guy who said he quit his exec job to "poly work" , the Prozac must have been very good that day. Next: anytime you work more than one job, it's because you CAN'T MAKE ENOUGH TO LIVE ON ONE! Next. I don't think the influencers are picking this one up.
It's like that awful term 'side hussle' as if having to earn extra money because your main job isn't paid well enough is a bit of fun. I live in Australia and Uber are running these ads that show young people just chilling in their lounge room, presumably quite happy, and then tells these people they could be out earning money with Uber. Every time I see it I want to punch someone from Uber. Sure, downtine is just wasted time. Get out there and work, work, work. I actually suspect this is an ad they use in the US. I don't think it will go down so well here, where the pay is better.
I like how its websites no one has ever heard of before saying this lmao
FYI, The Express is the fifth biggest selling UK national newspaper. It's frighteningly mainstream view in the right-wing media!
Load More Replies... Breaking News! The nation's poor are enjoying a plethora of flavors dumpster diving behind some of world's finest restaurants! "I really enjoy my pre-chewed lasagna dinner" said Robby, a local patron of the dumpster behind Alfredos Italian. Up next Fox News crack reporter finds the Heath of the homeless to better than she thinks it should be! Outrage to follow!
Stop trying to turn having to bust your ass just to get by into something glamorous. It isn't and it never was.
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