EVERY year, as Labour Day rolls around, we pause to honour the contributions of workers and reflect on the struggles that shaped today’s workplace.
It is a tradition built on the fight for fair hours, safe working conditions and the right to a decent living – victories earned by generations before us.
But here’s a question worth asking in 2025: In a world where our jobs follow us home – pinging our phones, spilling into our evenings and encroaching on our weekends – what exactly are we celebrating? More importantly, is the traditional nine- to-five work model still something worth preserving?
The simple answer is: no. And it is a reality that many young workers, particularly those from Gen Z, are quietly but firmly reshaping.
For decades, the standard eight-hour workday, five days a week, was seen as the gold standard of employment. Anything outside those hours was seen as either a luxury or part of the hustle. But the digital age blurred those neat boundaries.
Technology promised us efficiency but instead, it has tethered us to our jobs like never before. The office may close at five but the emails, Slack notifications and team pings keep rolling in long after dinner.
While some workers have come to accept this as the price of modern employment, Gen Z – those born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s – aren’t buying it. Raised with the internet and entering adulthood in the aftermath of a global pandemic, this generation does not see nine-to-five as a sacred institution but as a system in desperate need of rethinking.
It is not laziness; it is life
Gen Z’s pushback against rigid work hours is not a rejection of hard work. It is a rejection of outdated structures that fail to account for how people actually live and work today.
Flexibility, autonomy and meaningful output have replaced time-clock punching as the new measures of productivity.
This generation values balance, mental health and personal growth alongside career ambition.
They have seen firsthand how burnout can devastate morale and how performative busyness can often mask inefficiency.
So instead of chasing overtime, many young professionals prefer roles where they are judged by the quality of their work – not by the hours they log or how often they stay late.
The pandemic opened the door to conversations about remote work, hybrid models and the value of asynchronous schedules. It turns out you don’t always need to be in an office from nine to five to get things done.
In fact, many employees – across all generations – reported increased productivity and job satisfaction when given the freedom to structure their workday around when they are at their best.
Gen Z did not start this conversation but they are refusing to let it die quietly. They are asking tough and necessary questions, like: “Why should creative, knowledge-based work be confined to fixed hours?”, “Why should success be measured by desk time rather than outcomes?” and “If technology allows for smarter, faster and more collaborative work, why are we still clinging to models designed for factory floors in the 1920s?”
This isn’t rebellion for rebellion’s sake – it is an opportunity for companies to evolve.
Forward-thinking organisations are already experimenting with four-day workweeks, results-only work environments and outcome-based KPIs. And unsurprisingly, they are seeing gains not just in employee well-being but in innovation, retention and business performances.
The truth is, whether leaders like it or not, the traditional nine-to-five is becoming less relevant – and clinging to it will only risk alienating not just the Gen Z group but the broader workforce craving for a healthier relationship with work.
If Labour Day was once about fighting for the eight-hour day, perhaps its modern meaning should expand to fighting for autonomy, dignity and balance in a digital world. It should honour not just the right to work but the right to rest, disconnect and be valued for contributions rather than availability.
In 2025, maybe what we should be celebrating is not the nine-to-five but the courage to question it.
Because here’s the thing: work will always matter. It shapes our societies, identities and futures. But how we work – and how we value one another in that process – is long overdue for a rethink.
If Gen Z has taught us anything, it is that old models are not sacred and that better ones are possible. And isn’t that the kind of labour movement truly worth cheering for?
Elman Mustafa El Bakri is CEO and founder of HESA Healthcare Recruitment Agency and serves on the Industrial Advisory Panel for the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Universiti Malaya. Comments: [email protected]
