Gen Z in toxic work environments are not seeking help from HR or therapists but rather engaging in malicious compliance and revenge quitting as coping strategies. With unstable job security and rising living costs, many feel trapped and resort to unconventional methods to survive. Popular tactics include sharing survival hacks on TikTok, where users exchange unhinged tactics. Common practices among Gen Z include following instructions precisely to create inefficiencies and using passive-aggressive methods. Other strategies involve psychological techniques to cope with stressful situations at work.
One user on TikTok asked for the most unhinged toxic job survival hacks, stating, "I'm not talking about 'set boundaries' or 'document everything', I mean the most unhinged, borderline unethical thing you've ever done to keep your sanity."
Gen Z's most common unhinged hack is malicious compliance, a viral workplace trend where instructions are followed exactly as given, resulting in inefficiency or backfiring.
One user described how their job mandated productivity timesheets, leading to, "People were writing, '8:01, hang up jacket, 8:05 took tampon out.' In this light, adhering to pointless bureaucracy becomes its own form of rebellion.
Other coping methods include the "Let them" theory by Mel Robbins, employing the Gray Rock method for emotional disengagement, and strategically including a fake lawyer in difficult email correspondences.
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