#7 Work

Gen Z and work: is the ‘lazy generation’ just a stereotype?

Lazy, spoilt, demanding? Gen Z is fighting for its reputation – and it’s their work ethic above all that’s being called into question. Is there anything to the stereotypes?

Pieces of fruit lie in a row against a white background. Stuck-on moustaches, hats and hair give them human features. The fruit is meant as a pun: in German, ‘faul’ means both ‘rotten’ and ‘lazy’ – just like Generation Z, supposedly.

Work

Cannabis as a career: how a dealer became a businessman

He cycled through the suburbs with bags full of weed – and everything went to plan. A former dealer explains why the cannabis trade made more sense to him than any shift job.

Work

Taking a break – out of sight

In the back room, in the warehouse, on crates in the back yard: breaks are part of the working day – and often happen out of sight. Quiet, unremarkable, indispensable.

Work

Juggling family and work: working, being a mother, staying human

A degree, a job and four daughters – Dalila has combined what seemed impossible. One special source of support kept her going again and again.

A woman holds her two daughters in her arms, one on each side. Both children have brown hair and, like their mother, smile happily at the camera. The daughter on the left holds a small blue school cone, the traditional gift for the first day of school; the daughter on the right holds a larger pink one.

Work

Milk churn meets mixing desk: new beginnings in Poland’s Podlasie

Few places in Poland are as sparsely populated as Podlasie. While many people leave, some are building something of their own here – out of conviction and family ties.

Work

Wanted: travelling shepherd

Travelling shepherds are slowly disappearing from the pastures. Why there are still good reasons not to let the profession die out.

Two herding dogs stand alert in the long grass of a meadow, while on the right-hand edge of the picture a person’s arm in a weatherproof jacket, holding a wooden staff, is visible. The scene conveys a working atmosphere in the countryside. Black-and-white photograph.

Work

Expo observatory in Melle: the world’s largest amateur telescope

When estate agent Bernd Schröter set out to build the world’s largest amateur telescope, many people thought he was mad. But in time for Expo 2000, he really did open his observatory.

Work

New Work: the philosopher who emptied the offices

New Work didn’t start with the pandemic but with the radical vision of a thinker in the 1980s. His ideas are more relevant today than ever.

A young man with light brown curls sits on a folding chair against a bright orange background. He wears a burgundy jumper over a light blue shirt. He isn’t wearing proper trousers, but colourful socks with a comic-strip pattern. His legs are crossed. Beside him stands a white three-legged coffee table with a grey plant pot and a pink mug. He looks intently at the laptop on his lap and wears wireless earbuds.

Work

A professional dancer at the limit: six and a half hours of training – every day

Robert Robinson dances to the point of pain – knowing that a single misstep could end everything he has worked for over the years.

Black-and-white photo of two men deep in conversation in a dimly lit room. One, wearing a roll-neck jumper, rests his hand on his head and listens closely, while the other, in a loose shirt, speaks expressively. Chairs and a shadowy background suggest a rehearsal or performance.

Work

Arolsen Archives: when remembering becomes work

A small town in Hesse looks after one of the largest collections on Nazi persecution. There’s a specific reason why its location isn’t public.

An open grey filing cabinet at the Arolsen Archives holding several brown files. The contents of one file are spread out on top of the cabinet: a passport-sized document with the Reich eagle and swastika, reading ‘Deutsches Reich, Arbeitsbuch für Ausländer’ (German Reich, work book for foreigners). Next to it lies a yellowed, worn work card with a black-and-white prisoner photo. Further documents are partly hidden beneath the work card. More grey filing cabinets can be seen in the background.

Work

800 euros less: a ZDF journalist on the gender pay gap

Her male colleagues earn considerably more – for the same work. What needs to happen so that equal treatment isn’t just theory?

Two hands tear a hole in a sheet of pink paper, revealing stacked coins behind it – a symbolic depiction of the gender pay gap and financial inequality.

Work

Kidfluencers as a business model: when children become a commodity

Child influencers earn their parents a lot of money – but who protects the youngest when their privacy is marketed in public?

Posed photo of a teenage kidfluencer sitting on a chair in her darkened room. She is putting on make-up for social media while looking at her smartphone, which is framed by a bright LED ring light.

Work

Parental leave for fathers: Dad’s got this

A new study shows that fathers want more flexibility from their employers. Companies that respond will benefit in the long run.

In the evening, a father lies on a sofa with his child. The light from an electronic device falls on their faces as they gaze, absorbed, at the screen.

Work shapes who we are – or who we are supposed to be. Our seventh focus topic looks at where our relationship with work is shifting right now.

Gen Z is being written off as the ‘lazy generation’. A philosopher empties offices in the name of New Work. A dealer turns cannabis into a legal profession, and children become a business model as kidfluencers.

We accompany a professional dancer at his limit and fathers on parental leave, look for travelling shepherds and visit the Arolsen Archives. There it becomes clear: remembering is work, too.

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