Millennials and the Work Life : Workaholic vs. Work-a-phelia

"Work Hard : Play Harder" is what young millennials are taught. Life had become so fast paced and the race to get to the top has never been more competitive. As compared to Generation X and Y, the millennial demographic seem to have a different perception of work. Several articles in the past couple months ranging from the Observer to the Business Insider, positively suggest that being a "workaholic" is something millennials simply aspire to be. Since when did this negative term gain so much of praise??

A recent story on Snapchat's Discover App fueled an argument regarding the subject. Matt Christensen wrote for Brother about the eight ways that working kills you. Furthermore, more articles surfaces under the fact that working was now "killing" people. Some of the reasons why evidently pointed towards money and stress. "And why stress?", forbid one ask? Surely, the answer was "working too much". Moving forward, the Entrepreneur and the Harvard Business Review supported this theory. Not only does sitting at your desk job or the pollution one comes in contact during their commute to work kill you, factors like skipping breakfast or staring at computer screens can affect you physically. Moreover, it was found that a majority of work martyrs were Millennials as they believe they are important and don't want others to believe that they are replaceable. Some would say "Narcissism" would play a major factor. A study called Project:Time Off primarily discusses a Millennial's vacation culture. It was understood that 35% of the American work force felt ashamed or guilty for taking time off from work.

This is not the case with just America, but on an average, the Indian workforce puts in twice as many hours as an average American and stress just as much. Sales Lead of Pier 1 Imports, Laura Hernandez mentioned she did feel guilty when she took time off, but it was generally because she felt she was giving more work to her team on her behalf. In fact, young entrepreneurs believe that working long hours is essential to sustaining themselves and their workforce. Karthik Vinayagamoorthi, CEO of That1Card, a start up company in South India says, "I have a lot to think about. It's not about now or then. It's about the future and how I'm gonna pay my employees. I need to work more than 40 hours a week!" In this case, the aspect of "Narcissism" wasn't present, nor did any other Millennials who were questioned seem self-centered. They were more team oriented; selfless and aware of the foundation that gave them their job. Head of Marketing for Shyamali Exports, Maheshwari Selladurai Avinas mentioned that it was the establishment that she worked for that was important and that she couldn't work without the company, not the other way around. As far as time off was concerned, most agreed that they either took work back home with them and they indeed felt guilty when they went on vacation. Among them, no one felt selfish. Do they feel important? Yes, they did. Subjects believed that they were offering a valuable quality of work on their behalf. Can they be replaced? Yes, but that didn't mean they worked more; they merely changed their plan of action. So, maybe being a workaholic is a bit too dramatic. Some might genuinely love their job and working hard for it is probably mistaken to being a burn-out. One would be surprised that Millennials nowadays, don't even skip breakfast! Now, that's an improvement!!