A venture capitalist tweeted out a terrible idea for young people, and people roasted it.
On Friday, just as people were getting off work, San Francisco-based Jordan Kong let her followers know that she hoped junior employees weren’t about to go take time away from their jobs.
Unpopular opinion: the best thing young people can do early in their careers is to work on the weekends.
— Jordan Kong (@ImNotJK) June 11, 2021
“Unpopular opinion: the best thing young people can do early in their careers is to work on the weekends,” Kong wrote.
It was, in fact, a very unpopular opinion.
Nope. The best thing young people can do early in their careers is to set boundaries and set time for yourself/hobbies outside of work. Burnout is real. Mistaking not working for laziness is real. Please put that Out of Office on and REST. https://t.co/VIfjHV1P8i
— Joelle Thee Editor (@Joelle_o) June 14, 2021
For several years now, millennials and Gen Z in particular have steered conversation around work and careers towards a focus on balance, pushing back on the non-stop work mentality that experts agree was heavily promoted to this generation of workers.
Fuck off https://t.co/xs2MoyFoo7
— Caraio Culen 7 INFECTOLOGISTAS (@preisteicho) June 14, 2021
In a popular 2019 essay for BuzzFeed, Anne Helen Peterson even called millennials “the burnout generation,” speaking to several friends and sources about how the pressure to overwork themselves left people sitting out regular, everyday tasks.
Take it from me, a person who is healing gradually from being burnt out, this is a trash opinion. Take your weekend at the LEAST https://t.co/rAk6v5hx7p
— Brian, He/Him They/Them (@BriVo) June 14, 2021
On Twitter, the response to Kong’s tweet showed a similar disgust with the idea that working constantly was a good thing.
i’m taking a whole week off rn to see my family who loves me and misses me dearly bc they are much more important than my silly little degree!!! and i don’t feel bad about it!!!! https://t.co/7lw8Szb0Cf
— ye$enia 🏳️⚧️ (@yeseniatweets) June 14, 2021
On Monday - ironically, after a weekend off - Kong responded to that backlash, writing “I’ve worked countless weekends since I started my career 10+ years ago. Just like every other poor immigrant kid who has become successful in tech.”
Work all the time and quickly see how no one gives a shit. https://t.co/xSgmAx9OBO
— Mr. Mark Potts (@mrmarkpotts) June 14, 2021
”Nobody handed us anything — we had to will success,” she continued.
i worked weekends & night shifts until i had a mental breakdown & my blood pressure was so high i couldn’t see. material conditions caused by a shit capitalist world force many people to work on the weekends but it’s absolutely fucking traumatic & inhumane. it’s not life, at all. https://t.co/jUgRtUi8iP
— naz 🌱 (@naznahl) June 14, 2021
She ended the tweet thread, which went on to detail how she found a balance between work, family, and life with her job at Atomic, by noting that she’s “never forced anyone to work weekends.”
Nah, this is not it. The best thing you can do is learn and apply✨boundaries✨
— Brianne Angell (@BrianneAngell) June 14, 2021
ESPECIALLY if you’re not getting paid to work those extra hours. https://t.co/bx0tufBDV5
“But I’ve never worked with anyone ultra successful who didn’t find so much passion in their work, that they felt the desire to do so,” she concluded. It’s not clear what that means.
