With work-life imbalance more rampant than ever in Australia, Dutch beer business Heineken is encouraging workers to log off.

New research carried out by Heineken has shown that Gen Z workers are putting boundaries into place. Less overtime paired with less guilt. Heineken is looking to celebrate the Gen Z attitude to work with a master class called ‘Go Home on Time Day’. The class will be run by esteemed career coach Amie Duignan and Zillennial entrepreneur Alyce Tran.

Work-life imbalance research

The research has found that 36 percent of Aussies find it hard to log off at the end of a work day. Additionally, 86 percent have had to cancel personal plans due to working late. Thirty percent of respondents said that this is a regular occurrence.

Research into this has indicated that ‘hustle culture’ has become rife with Millennials. That culture has been embraced by that generation but witnessed and then rejected by Gen Z. Gen Zers do less overtime than their Millenial and Gen X colleagues and counterparts. 

Gen Z also pushes boundaries. The study uncovered that almost two-thirds of Millennial workers believe that hustle culture is toxic, and have learned to set boundaries with their bosses to not fall into the hustle culture trap. A huge 96 percent of Gen Zers have set clear and concise boundaries with their workplaces. These boundaries include declining work that falls outside of their job description or contracted hours. Almost all Gen Zers have reported rejecting work not within their jurisdiction to their bosses. 

While the benefits are clear, this ‘new age’ approach is a source of intergenerational tension. Many Aussie professionals think young workers (aged 18-25) don’t work as hard as them, with over half (54 percent) believing this generation is more likely than those older to be slack at work (37 percent) or avoid challenging tasks (39 percent).

“Aussies are known for having an amazing work ethic, but our research shows workplace burnout is a real issue and we want to help fix that,” said Heineken brand manager, Ben Fisher. “We’re inspired by the ways Gen Z workers prioritise their social and leisure time without compromising their professional output. We want to help others adopt such ways of working so have created a Master Class that will map out how they can do that in really practical, tangible ways.”

The work-life master class

The master class, facilitated by career coach Amie Duignan, will take place on ‘Go Home on Time Day’ (Wednesday, 23 November) and will also feature self-made Zillennial powerhouse, Alyce Tran.

“I was immediately inspired when I heard about this campaign, when I was younger I definitely worked around the clock and that took a toll on my personal life,” says Tran. “With technology, it’s so easy to work around the clock without even realising it, but the reality is, if we’re to preserve our mental health, we all need to disconnect at the end of the day. I’m looking forward to sharing the ways I’ve learnt to do that as part of this Master Class.”

The virtual master class is open to the public and being run free of charge. To register, sign up here.

This latest effort from Heineken comes as part of a wider campaign. It sets out to encourage Aussies to strive towards a better work-life balance which includes:

• The launch of The Closer – a high-tech bottle opener that immediately shuts all work applications when a bottle of Heineken is opened with it;
• a Spotify playlist designed to encourage listeners to log off on time; and
• a city centre projection stunt that saw Sydney-siders who were working late become ads about people not working late.