Should HR be worried about the ‘lazy girls’ trend?

HR professionals must sometimes feel like they can’t keep up with all of the new workplace trends that seem to pop up nearly every day.

One of the latest has been labelled the “lazy girl jobs” phenomena, and it seems to herald a new generation of worker demands.

This one originated on TikTok and it denotes a position that will allow a remote worker to do the least work possible, all while maintaining a comfortable lifestyle.

While its staying power as a movement might be just as ephemeral as some others (“quiet quitting”, “rage applying”, and the others), its emergence points to a larger concern.

“While it’s a very superficial and shallow trend going on, it indicates something deeper that is going on in the labour market and some issues that exist that need to be addressed and discussed,” says Sima Sajjadiani, assistant professor, organizational behaviour and human resources division at UBC Sauder School of Business in Vancouver.

‘Sexist’ label with ‘lazy girls’

These problems were borne out of the changes wrought from the pandemic, she says, and they indicate things are not going back to the way they were before.

“Workers learned some experiences from inequalities and some inequalities became very strong and they also experienced new ways of working, like working from home, hybrid ways of working, and they don’t want to go back. It’s very deep and a great indicator of high levels of turnover.”

In addition, the language being employed is offensive and minimizes some real-world issues employers need to pay heed, says Sajjadiani.

“I want to make it very clear that I do not like this phrasing. I think it’s in very poor taste and it has two big issues: one, it is sexist, it indicates women are more interested in ‘lazy jobs’; and the other big problem with that is the lazy part.

“Having said that, if someone is looking for work-life balance, or better quality of work conditions, [saying] that is equal to being lazy, that is very wrong.”

‘People are struggling with costs’

While there are newer workplace trends that might not last long, the feelings behind them are genuine.

“I think the pandemic has really changed the nature of our labour market, and some employers are really resisting the changes — but the fact is that they cannot go back to before the pandemic,” says Sajjadiani.

It’s crucial for employers to understand just what the modern worker is looking for in order to manage in today’s environment, and work-life balance is just part of that package, she says.

Good salary and benefits are also important, especially considering the economic situation people are experiencing.

“Rent is at record high prices so people are struggling with all of these costs and employers seem very indifferent or unaware of the depth of these issues, and they are not responding appropriately,” says Sajjadiani.

Return to office ‘off base’

A recent talk with executives illustrated that disconnect, as they focussed on the in-office experience and how it could help with engagement and retention.

But this was off base, she says.

“This was laughable, they were talking about having cookie and coffee time and I said,: ‘It’s not the problem. People don’t need your cookies and coffee, they need money.’ And them insisting workers come back [in-office] in this economic condition is one of the fatal flaws because we are seeing evidence [that] hybrid work is great, work-from-home is working — it increases productivity, four days of work is increasing productivity.

“So if organizations want to want to fight that, they are going to fail, they are going to see increasing voluntary turnover, they’re going to see an increase in collective activities that people will demand their fair share and their equal rights,” she says.

However, another organization — a public sector employer in B.C. — that Sajjadiani recently worked with fully leaned into the hybrid and remote models to great success.

“They were telling me that they cannot believe how much [employees] want to stay,” she says, which equalled lower turnover and absenteeism. “All of these are telling us that people want better working conditions and work-life balance.”

Work-life balance more important than ever

For HR and leaders, it’s important to recognize that, especially for women and caregivers, work-life balance is more important than ever.

“There is a ton of research about how hybrid opportunities increases productivity and makes life easier, especially for women or people who are in charge of caregiving responsibilities,” says Sajjadian.

“I think some parts of that lazy girl trend related to women workers was because women specifically were hit by everything that happened early on in the pandemic, and then when daycare and caregiving facilities were back open, and they were working from home, they experienced new ways of work-life balance that they didn’t have before.”

For HR, it’s important not to ignore every trend but, instead, try to gain some knowledge about why it might happening, she says.

“If they want to engage the workers, they need to know the real concerns of workers. Money is a big concern with inflation; commuting is a big concern; and they need to focus on those areas. Really do research and understand the needs and demands of their workers and be ready to invest.

“They cannot get the most with the least amount of investment anymore because workers have learned their rights and they are becoming more and more vocal about it.”