By Jennifer Graham

The newest front in the culture war has little to do with politics. It’s about work: where work should be done and how long it should go on.

In one corner are the Americans who see the workplace as broken. They believe that their country’s relentless quest for economic growth is toxic and unsustainable. They want a gentler workplace, with more time off, pet insurance and a boss who doesn’t text them while they’re settling in for an evening of Netflix.

They were the ones cheering California last week for considering legislation that would codify when your boss can contact you after hours — the so-called “right to disconnect.” They are likely supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal to shrink the workweek to 32 hours. They see their adversaries on this front as set-in-their-way boomers and profit-obsessed bosses. Or, to put it more broadly, as some have done on social media, anyone older and richer than they are.

But the people on the other side of the debate are not villains and they’re not all “elites.” They are people who cherish the American dream and believe that it’s hard work, not leisure pursuits or YouTube influencing, that made this country great. They see TikTok videos of young people crying about how hard it is to work 40 hours as a barista, and contrast these young workers’ lives to the lives of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Some find it hard to sympathize. They fear that we’ve raised kids who are soft and lazy and worry that our foreign adversaries are seeing this, too.

There is, in fact, a generational divide in the workplace that seems to have a sharper edge to it than in decades past. This is due in part to the omnipresence of the baby boomers and their elders — most notably on the presidential campaign trail — who are reluctant to cede their jobs and their homes to younger generations. Many young Americans also blame their elders for the state of the world today, from economic woes to climate change.

https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2024/04/07/right-to-disconnect-california-32-hour-work-week/