Lazy Girl Jobs on Channel 9 Today Extra

By Sue Ellson

Date: 16 August 2023 10:47am
Media: Channel 9’s Today Extra Show, National Australian Television
Story: Lazy Girl Jobs Trend
Hosts: David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys
Guest: Sue Ellson
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFwY3jsrs4U and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMNUKIAKC94

On 16 August 2023, I appeared on Channel 9’s Today Extra show to talk about the US trend initiated by Gabrielle Judge of ‘Lazy Girl Jobs.’ Here is the recording on both Nine News Channel and the Sue Ellson Channel:

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome back We’ve seen Bare Minimum Mondays, Quiet Quitting and now the latest Gen Zed work trend has trend has emerged it’s called Lazy Girl jobs it’s going viral on Tik Tok wonder why Career Expert Sue Ellson joins us from Melbourne with more Good Morning What are Lazy Girl Jobs and why are they on the rise?

Yes well it’s a term coined by Gabrielle Judge in the US and she’s encouraging women to look for those safe secure type of roles generally working between nine to five flexible little supervision good pay and I think that the reason they’re on the rise is because in the past a lot of employees were represented by unions they’re not anymore they’ve caught on with this catchy brand and slogan and they’re sharing that news with their peers online

Okay it sounds like a unicorn job right That’s exactly what I was going to say So I mean what kind of Lazy Girl Jobs are there in Australia Sue?

Well they’re definitely not on the professional women’s soccer team that’s for sure Yeah Yeah So uh I would say they’re mostly non-technical roles in large organisations that I’ve got a lot of online systems in place so anybody looking for this type of role is going to have to have some pretty good job search skills to find them

So I mean what are we talking about what sort of jobs are we talking about here brass tacks?

Yes yes so if you think about a job where you’ve got a lot of the work done remotely or in a hybrid situation using computers and yeah I think it’s very task driven and it’s not as likely to be all that exciting so you’re going to have to get a lot of your own needs met outside of the workplace because the job itself could actually although you can be lazy in it it’s probably going to be a little bit boring as well

Okay, so what are some of the pros and the cons of a career choice like this?

It sounds like a great idea to be values driven task driven and all of that sort of thing but the reality is that you are possibly going to be spending a lot of time on your own you’re going to be doing repetitive tasks and there’s a good chance that that job may not be around in the future as well so yeah I’m not a huge fan of them

Okay I know that but I feel I feel like you know the younger Generations they sort of know how to sort of do life better you know what I mean they’re trying to teach us something here so is it only Gen Zed that can take advantage of this movement?

Definitely not I think that since child care has been widely available for women there’s been a lot of generations who’ve been angling for this opportunity to have a better work-life balance the difference with this generation is they are teaching us and they are showing us that it is possible to do it and to actually say that they’re the places they’re going to work and those other jobs they won’t take on

So does this apply to blokes as well why are we talking about Lazy Girl Jobs?

Well yeah it’s interesting I think that men could definitely use the same strategies if they want and typically men are motivated by reward which releases dopamine and women are motivated by connection which releases oxytocin and ironically these lazy girl jobs are mostly reward focused so I’m not sure it’s uh you know I think it would be ideal for men in some respects

It’s a hormonal crossover there is what you’re trying to say Sue but we’ll dig into that some other time and with the rise of AI obviously making some jobs easier and some of them obsolete do you think that Lazy Girl jobs in some Industries will start to become the norm?

There’s definitely with AI there’s more Prompt Specialists coming up so these are people who tell AI what to do so if you have the skills around data analysis, reporting, security, ethics you are definitely going to be much more likely to be in demand because you can come in get the technology to do the work and get cut the workers out. Now the Lazy Girl Movement may encourage people to develop their skills and I definitely hope they do because some people are not going to be there ready to catch up and another really interesting trend in Australia is a lot of micro businesses are starting up with less than four employees and I can see that being a major shift happening in the future as well

It’s fascinating it’s all changing isn’t it Sue great to get your insights thanks for joining us Thanks Sue

Thank you

Stay with us when we come back the latest Nine News headlines see you in a sec

What are Lazy Girl Jobs and why are they on the rise?

It’s a term coined by Gabrielle Judge in the US on TikTok encouraging women into safe low stress remote jobs with little supervision and a good salary usually working between 9-5 with a good work-life balance.

I would say it is on the rise because several generations of women have tried to negotiate a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay on a collective basis via unions, but now that many employees are not represented by a union, the younger generations are branding their message with a catchy slogan and using social media to get the message out there and empower their peers.

What kind of ‘Lazy Girl’ jobs are there in Australia?
There are no specific ‘job titles’ even though that is the way a lot of people think about jobs. The reality is that there is not a ‘category’ of lazy girl jobs because they are simply a ‘means to an end’ type jobs and they will only be ‘lazy girl jobs’ if they meet the criteria of being work from home/remote, routine and with an employer that says how much they will be paid and offers what they want!

That said, they appear to be mostly non-technical white-collar roles that have good salaries and flexible conditions that allow you to work either remotely or on a hybrid basis. Job seekers would still need to find out about the workplace culture and they would definitely need some excellent job search skills to find these types of roles. I believe that these jobs would mostly be in large organisations that have well established online systems in place.

LAZY GIRL JOB ADVERTISEMENTS INCLUSIONS

work from home, flexible, remote
salary and benefits listed
tasks and workplace culture explained

What are the pros and cons of career choices like this?

It certainly sounds attractive if you can have work that is aligned with your values, is task driven and flexible.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t guarantee that you will find it interesting or satisfying and you would need to take personal responsibility for getting your other needs met outside of your job.

It may even become quite boring and isolating.

LAZY GIRL JOBS

PROS

values aligned
task driven
often remote

CONS

repetitive
routine
isolating

Is it only Gen Z workers taking advantage of this movement?

I would say that ever since childcare became widely available, women have been asking for better pay, conditions and flexibility, but Gen Z is finding a better way to get their message across.

Ironically, Gabrielle Judge has her own business and doesn’t have a job and here in Australia, the number of micro businesses with less than four staff is continually increasing which is another major trend.

Australian Bureau of Statistics ABS data is showing that micro businesses of up to four employees are increasing and their wages and salaries are too.

I think there are a lot of people who are re-evaluating what is important in life and how they can manage all of the balls they need to juggle just to get by.

If an internet influencer can give them a clue on how to make life easier in a simple way, they may be prepared to act so essentially, it could be anyone of any age, provided they are up to speed with technology and of course we know that more Gen Z’s feel comfortable with technology than Baby Boomers.

That said, I hope that it is a reminder to employers that people with a high level of technological competency and self-efficacy are going to need to see this information before considering a role and that if a role does not meet their expectations, they are likely to keep looking until they find something compatible.

I also believe that the future of work is about work, not jobs, so I would say we are moving another step in that direction.

What about ‘Lazy Boy Jobs’ – is that a thing?

It definitely could be! Men could apply the same logic to their job search process and find similar roles. Interestingly, men are typically motivated by a reward and that releases dopamine and women are typically motivated by connection and that releases oxytocin.

These are two very different hormones and the irony here is that these lazy girl jobs seem to be much more reward focused than connection focused to me.

With the rise of AI – and technology making some jobs easier, do you believe Lazy Girl jobs, in some industries, will become the norm?

Yes. I am already hearing about AI prompt specialists who simply instruct AI to do the work. If job seekers develop really specific skill sets that include data analysis, reporting, security and ethics, they are likely to be called in to get the ball rolling and they may be able to attract a higher premium because they can make the technology do the work rather than workers do the work.

The reality is that we are currently in a phase of exponential technological change, and hopefully this lazy girl job movement will get more people updating their skills.

Meanwhile, we still need to look after those people who can’t get up to speed quickly enough.

What is a “Lazy Girl Job?”
https://antiworkgirlboss.gumroad.com/l/fyhyl by @gabrielle_judge The Antiwork Girlboss defines it as a job that is:

Safe (no physical risk)
Flexible work times
Remote
Good Benefits (Company equity, health care, 401K matching, food allowance)
Base salary that covers your lifestyle’s current expenses
Low stress
Clearly defined roles where responsibilities are not likely to change

What is my perspective on ‘Lazy Girl Jobs?’
This is essentially a ‘marketing’ tactic used by a person who is trying to challenge the status quo about what work is and our relationship with it.

Background on Gabrielle Judge

“In the spring of 2021, Gabrielle Judge suffered a concussion. She was already really burnt out in her consulting job and felt she couldn’t get ahead. So she quit, and found “a lazy girl job” instead. Now, Judge coaches her 113,000 TikTok followers on how to do the same. Judge told Insider her aim was to transform how people think about work. “It’s not your source of self-identification or happiness or anything like that,” she said. Judge is 26, on the cusp of being a Gen-Zer or a millennial, so she understands what it’s like to be judged for your career goals, and assumptions about how hard you’re working to achieve them.” https://www.insider.com/tiktok-anti-work-girl-boss-lazy-girl-jobs-2023-6

Gigsters and Lazy Girl Jobs

When I wrote ‘Gigsters – Any Age or Ability Employees, Experts and Entrepreneurs‘ in 2019, I predicted that the future of work was about work, not jobs (before the pandemic) and Gabrielle Judge has essentially coined a memorable phrase that resonates with Gen Z and Millennials about their career choices.