- I'm a Gen Zer who worked at my 9-to-5 before the pandemic, and found the schedule soul-crushing.
- The shift to remote work suddenly meant I had time to cook, exercise, and socialize.
There's been a whole lot of buzz recently about Gen Zers discovering the bleak realities of a 9-to-5 schedule. And I'm glad people are talking about it because, before the pandemic drastically switched up how and where we work, I was drowning, too.
I graduated college in 2019, and went almost immediately into a 9-to-5 schedule. While I felt incredibly fortunate to land a job I was passionate about in a field I wanted to break into (spoiler alert: I started working at Business Insider), I was shocked by just how drastically my life changed.
Suddenly my mornings were all about waking up early enough to rush out the door. It was a long commute — finding somewhere in the 2019 New York City rental market that fit my budget meant living far from work. Every day I'd sit on the packed subway, reminiscing on days spent in the library with friends, leisurely doing schoolwork between classes. Research from the University of West England has previously found that every additional minute spent commuting drags down how satisfied you are at work, how satisfied you are during leisure time, and worsens your mental health. An extra 20 minutes added to a round-trip commute feels akin to getting a 19% pay cut.
I was waking up early and not sleeping enough. The weekends were a whirlwind; that's when I had the time to see my friends, call my family, catch up on sleep, finally clean my apartment, and do laundry. But, inevitably, I would find myself watching the clock while at the grocery store or brunch. I'd be counting down the hours until I needed to be in bed to start the week again.
I remember seeing a meme that said something like, "Sleep, friendship, and being good at work — you can only choose one." It made me want to cry. Even so, I knew I was in a privileged position; I was only working one job, and I was still entry-level. But 40+ more years of this felt untenable.
Of course, the jolting transition from school to the "real world" is a tale as old as the office. Herman Melville's classic short story from an 1856 collection, "Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street," hinges on a broken young worker who moves into his office and becomes stuck saying that he would "prefer not to" do many tasks asked of him. And there's a reason that the TV show, "The Office," which started in the UK in 2001 and hinges on the humanity that struggles to persist in the soul-sucking environment of cubicle life, continues to remain immensely popular.
However, my generation is the first to experience the whiplash of school to office to remote work — and now to hybrid work, for many — in such a short time period. We've seen all the different options, and we have platforms like TikTok that facilitate instantaneous discussions of the pros and cons with millions of our peers.
Remote work changed everything for me. I could suddenly sleep more, Zoom with friends (we started a regular game night), and I learned how to actually, really cook. I wasn't alone: In 2022, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York looked at how, exactly, workers were using their newfound time. Among younger workers aged 18 to 30, people were spending more time sleeping, hanging out with friends, and exercising.
Remote work meant that I could make a healthy lunch at home, or walk to my local coffee shop during the day. I also started running, using a 20- to 30-minute break to get in a quick jog. Turns out, a lot of other people had the same idea: Hell Gate, a local New York City outlet, found that NYC had its own pandemic running boom. A New York Road Runners spokesperson told the outlet that the average race now sells out in a record 87 days. Bureau of Labor Statistics data backs up that prime-age workers in the US were spending more time running, walking, and playing with their new pets amidst the rise of widespread remote work.
It's all part of a shift that Stanford University economist and work-from-home expert Nick Bloom has been tracking. Remote work restored the college schedule I missed — when I could choose when to schedule classes, meal, and errands.
Bloom previously told Business Insider that remote employees were shifting their hours away from that 9-to-5 schedule, and instead moving work into the evenings and weekends.
"Much like students choose to spread work out — rather than just work 9 to 5 on Monday to Friday — employees are also choosing to spread work out," Bloom said.
At the same time, remote work, paired with economic stimulus, meant that workers were able to establish financial safety nets in a way they hadn't before. The personal savings rate skyrocketed during the pandemic. For me, that unattainable pre-pandemic rent suddenly turned into a pandemic deal. I was able to move into an apartment bigger than I ever thought I'd be able to afford as an early-20s worker.
Is it any wonder, then, that Gen Zers want a new normal? Some Gen Zers are already making it happen, by treating their lives as full-time jobs, and work as a part-time role. They're also pushing for the four-day workweek, and they led the Great Resignation.
These days, I'm more of a hybrid worker. It's a decision that's been entirely my own: My pandemic finances mean I can live close enough to work to cut my commute down to around 20 minutes. Like other Gen Zers, I enjoy getting face time with my coworkers, and, honestly, the free food. But what I enjoy most about my new hybrid model is that it makes the 9-to-5 feel like a novelty. It's something I play pretend at once or twice a week. The rest of the time, I'll be logging on from home — and maybe fitting in a run or a load of laundry, too.
Did remote work change your life? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.