As they come of age, every generation faces some sort of crisis or another, some worse than others. For my parents, it was the Great Depression and World War II. For Baby Boomers, the less dire but still challenging shift in the economy from boring-but-steady-work-for-the-same-company to globablization that shipped an awful lot of those boring-but-steady jobs overseas. And think of European Jews in the 1930's. Some existential crises actually are existential crises.
Today's rising generation is Gen Z. Depending on who's calling the imprecise (at best) shot, this cohort covers those born between 1996 and 2010. Or 1997 and 2012. Or something. But most of the focus is on the Gen Zers (or Zoomers) who are in their late teens and twenties - the group who are in school or starting out in their careers.
A large subgroup of Gen Z are categorized as NEETS: "not in employment, education, or training." And a subgroup, centered in China, of the NEETS are the "rat people."
In China, at least, Gen Zers are proudly calling themselves “rat people”—they’re spending entire days procrastinating in bed, scrolling on their phones, snoozing and ordering take out.
Across Weibo, RedNote, Douyin, you can find videos of the youngest generation of adults waking up, only to go back to bed. (Source: Fortune)
They spend their non-sleeping time - what there is of it - just hanging around, scrolling through their phones, only getting off the sofa or out of the bed to use the toilet or raid the fridge.
It's not clear from the artice where and how these young folks live. Presumably someone's paying the rent and keeping the larder stocked. (C..f., mom and dad.) The rats are rejecting the Chinese "996" worklife of six days a week, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. They're doing nothing or the minimum they need to eke out an existence. Some of the "rat people" have, predictably, monetarized their "lying flat" way of life. And the Chinese art people aren't alone.
And it’s exactly what many Gen Zers in the West are doing too: In recent years, the youngest generation of workers has introduced Bare Minimum Mondays and quiet quitting to the working world.
Some have similarly modeled the laid-back lifestyle of another slow animal: Snails.
While I personally don't think that lounging around all day in PJs doomscrolling is the path to mental or physical wellbeing, I can't say that I blame the rats, the snails, or those who are just thumbing their nose at the rat race.
The job market is softening. And with AI taking over the front end of hiring - and maybe even the middle and backends as well - it's harder to find a good job. Ghosting has always been an issue in the hiring process, but it seems to be getting worse. People make it through multiple interview rounds and don't even get the courtesy of a rejection.
If and when you do get a job, these young folks know that the specter of AI is everywhere. If you're not using AI to do at least part of your job, you'll soon be out of that job. And if you are using AI to "improve productivity and efficiency" or whatever the current bill of goods is, whatever you're doing to fix the errors that AI continues to generate big time is teaching AI to do their job - make that your job - better.
Some are forecasting 20% unemployment in the next five years, largely due to AI replacing entry level white collar professional work.
And yet we sit here waiting for the tech bro AI tsunami to wash over us without questioning what it is the people are going to do for work once AI punches fully in. Or asking whether we'll guarantee an income to the rat and snail folks. And even if there is a guaranteed income - unlikely, given that we don't want everybody to have healthcare, housing, or food, let alone able-bodied young people, I still don't think it's a good idea to spend your twenties in bed doomscrolling, watching cat videos, and posting nonsense on Insta.
(A side note on the terror that is AI: as I'm writing this, in early June, there's a provision in the god-awful budget bill that would outlaw state-level regulation of AI. Maybe that provision will get knocked out during reconciliation, but I wouldn't bet on it.)
So, there's AI.
Then there's the cost of housing in so many parts of the country (c.f., Boston) that makes moving out on your own prohibitively expensive. The gives young folks the depressing prospect of having a good job that pays what should be enough to live on. Yet doesn't. Fifty years ago, I had a cute little studio apartment that cost $150 a month - the equivalent of $900 in today's terms. I just googled, and these days, a similar studio in Boston rents for $2K+. That's a lot to pay if you're making $80K/taking home $60K. Especially if, as so many Gen Z (and others) are saddled with school loans that are seemingly impossible to get out from under.
Then there's the existential environmental threat, made worse for Americans as the US seems hell bent on making environmental matters worse. (Breathe in that coal dust, I tell ya!)
And again for Americans, there's the looming threat of autocracy, the dismantling of the scientific apparatus that made the US economy so innovative and vibrant, the general embarrassment that our government has become.
No wonder young folks are staying in bed with the covers pulled up over their heads.
It's hard to blame them.
But I still hope that the the Gen Zers in hiding do get up and out. For rats, snails, NEETs et a, there's this advice:
“For any Gen Zs stuck in this rut, my advice is to start small, but to start,” Leona Burton, career coach and founder of the professional community, Mums in Business International advises.
“You don’t need to have it all figured out overnight, so reach out to someone you trust, make one positive decision a day, and stop measuring success by someone else’s timeline,” she tells Fortune. “Whether it’s a part-time role, starting a side hustle or simply getting dressed and going for a walk, without your phone, every small step counts.”
“Above all, remember this: you are not behind, you are not broken, and you are not alone, but you do need to do the work and make that change.”
Sure glad I'm not young anymore...
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