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Ever heard of a “work martyr?” You can probably figure out exactly what it might mean from the title, but this article about millennials being workaholics (more on that in a second) defines it more clearly. A work martyr is more likely to agree with these four statements than a non-work martyr. Namely:
- “No one else at my company can do the work while I’m away.”
- “I want to show complete dedication to my company and job.”
- “I don’t want others to think I am replaceable.”
- “I feel guilty for using my paid time off.”
Just typing those four statements out made me want to light myself on fire, so let’s unpack this for a quick second.
The Work Martyr: Generalizations about generations
There is absolutely nothing more fraught (IMHO) that breathlessly analyzing what “millennials” can and cannot do — and do and do not want — out of work. Millennials are just “younger workers.” Boomers were like them too. So were Silents. The difference is maybe in technology and connectivity, but that’s the only major difference.
That article I linked above uses these stats, for example:
43% of work martyrs were Millennials, compared with just 29% of overall survey respondents. Millennials were…
