To say that a lot of people who claim to hate their jobs are just lazy?

[BeWaryNavySheep]

I understand that some workplaces are toxic but isn’t it true that many people complain about work because they don’t like putting in effort?
* PLEASE SEE MNHQ COMMENT *

I'll bite.
How about..not everyone has a great job, but needs to pay their bills?
I don't hate my job, but circumstances ( kids, dh away in the Forces, no family support) meant I got stuck in a low paid job with no career progression... and now I am literally too old to retrain as I have too few years left to make it worth anyone's while...and I'm now sandwiched between caring for a grandchild as well as elderly parents. I would very much like to have had some different jobs but it didn't(and still doesn't) fit my circumstances.

Not laziness ( not even possible in my job!) . I'm still allowed to complain from time to time though, thanks!

Define lazy.

Give some examples of what you consider to be a lazy worker.

I will give you an example of what you probably see as a 'lazy' worker.

DD16 is working in a minimum wage job (£6.40), she works in retail. She often works 6 hour days on her feet all of that time. She has to put up with crap from the general public. This weekend a lovely female customer call dd a 'bitch' and a 'hoe' simply because she had to wait for a while in the queue and it was pissing her off. She then took to Google reviews and gave a horrible review using my dd name throughout.

DD does not like her job, is she lazy?

Possibly. But I don’t see laziness as some kind of moral failing in the first place. We’re all basically just chimps, biologically programmed to expend the minimum effort for the maximum gratification return. If your job is boring or unfulfilling and gives you little immediate gratification, you aren’t likely to feel any particular commitment to expending more than the minimum effort.

Getting up and going to a job every day could never be lazy.

I don't think so. I think most work is pointless and exists only to generate a profit for shareholders. The workers don't really do anything tangible. They can't look back on their week and see what they have achieved, it's just activity for no real personal satisfaction. So it's not really surprising that people appear lazy.

A builder can physically see what they have achieved, and can feel proud of their skills, most office jobs are just trading time for money, no skill or satisfaction involved.

You're actually somewhat insane if you always, always like your job and I would argue must have zero personality - perhaps besides people who work for themselves or struck it very lucky with a perfect situation.

I love my job. I am passionate about it, love the people, enjoy and believe in what I do. But if I won the lottery, if be gone - there's much more to life then doing the same goddamn thing 9-5.. Someone else controlling your time and your energy. No matter how much you like the job, that's not normal and not is it healthy.

If you do always like it then yeah... Either you're very lucky with your role/get to set your own time etc, or you're a lifeless moron with nothing else going on upstairs. Because it's not at all normal to LIKE being FORCED to do the same thing 8 hrs a day. That's weird as shit.

I will give you an opposite example.

My freind's dd wfh. She adores her job. Why? because she does fuck all, she logs on and does a bit here and there. The rest of the time she may take a bath, has the tv on all day long, takes the dog out and does her house work etc all whilst 'working'.

This.

For the most part, I am content with my job. It pays the bills plus some more, and the work itself is quite interesting. But it’s still just a job, and I’d be off at the first opportunity if I could. There are so many more interesting things I could be doing with my time. So no, I wouldn’t really say that I ‘like’ it.

Also, you’re actually more likely to hear me say I dislike it when I’ve had a boring week with not much to do, I like it better when I’m busy, so that negates your theory somewhat.

How is someone going to work lazy?

I think if you’ve never hated your job, you’ve never worked with the general public, you’ve never had poor management and you’ve never been subject to office politics. When you deal with those things you’ll realise how exhausting it is and how you reach a point of really not caring anymore.

I think you mean lazy as in can't be bothered to better their situation?

It's not that easy. Mumsnet always trots out the ' why don't you retrain ' advice for people in crap jobs, but that requires a ceratin level of learning skills, time and money ..a lot of people don't have two of these, let alone all three.

I enjoy my job, It's ethical, and I get treated well by my employers. It's less than £30k a year ( in the North, not so bad) but considering my school life back in the 80's , that's quite an achievement. I'm not an ambitious person and don't like lots of responsibility. I'm a 'work to live person' and not a 'career is everything' person.

Another Mumsnet trope is constantly banging on about your ' pension pot' , which MUST have hundreds of thousands of pounds it. Well, I will be happy with my state pension and a the small amount I will get from my public sector job. I'll be dammed if I'm missing out on stuff and stressing myself out with long hours and pressure now, in order to have a retirement that might not even last that long.

Also, as a poster above has said, sometimes your life circumstances significantly narrows your work options , if you want to earn money to keep a roof over your head and food on the table. You can hate your job, but it can be a necessary evil.

I hated my job because I was regularly attacked, ignored by SLT and worked myself into a breakdown...all for minimum wage. I am far from lazy and love to be busy, but that job was horrendous and it's no wonder they can't retain staff.

If working was so great they wouldn't have to pay us to do it.

Disagree. A LOT of jobs and workplaces are shit and constantly stressful. The last freedom people have from them is knowing how shit they are and not being grateful for being treated like shit.

If I won the lottery I’d leave my job in a shot, but I wouldn’t be lazy: I’ve got books to write and edit, gardening, baking and cooking to do, I’d build a greenhouse, learn a language, read books, go on big blustery walks, all sorts of things, many of which take mental and physical effort. Most people don’t want to atrophy on the sofa. They just don’t want to give the majority of their waking hours to getting ready for work, commuting to work, working, commuting home from work, in exchange for stagnant wages and rising costs.

Nah. I've been a lazy worker. If I don't care about the job or the role I can time-waste for England and feel no guilt. See the succession of temp jobs I had as a student. However I've been lucky enough to work in an industry I'm passionate about, and if I wasn't working in it would be a hobby anyway, and oddly enough I'm now praised for my work ethic.

I don't see laziness as a moral failing though.

Yabvu...how rude!

My friend loves animals and is a vet. She loves her job. Lucky her that she gets to do something she really enjoys.

My other friend is amazing at art and is very creative and she’s an art teacher.

Another friend works in a supermarket in the grocery section and hates it. It’s hardly a passion is it?

She does it because needs must and although she loves animals she doesn’t have the luxury to be able to train as a vet or a vet nurse, as it’s not financially viable.

She also enjoys creative things but she’s not able to train as a teacher, again, because financially it’s not that simple.

What do you do for a job OP?

Im going to bet you don’t manage anyone and that your job doesn’t hold a high level of responsibility?

Surely it’s lazier to not work at all?

I think most people who hate their job is because there is at least one nasty individual they have to deal with on a daily basis. I’ve only ever hated jobs where I’ve loathed a colleague not because of the actual work.

And so what if people are ‘lazy’ but they still get their arse into work. Most people would leave their job if they won the lottery.

You are just being goady I expect.

It's the opposite of lazy, actually. The person is able to motivate themselves to get up every morning and go somewhere they absolutely don't want to be.

I don’t know why lazy is seen as a bad thing?

I’m lazy, I like to find the most productive way of doing something so I can get the task done more quickly. I work in a project based role, so the quicker and better I do things the more free time I have. I don’t want to do something half arsed and then spend the next month having to address quality issues. My projects run smoothly, they’re done to a high standard, and it means I can pick my child up earlier (or read a book on the sofa with a cup of tea and enjoy an hour’s peace)!!

Embrace the lazy!!

There’s so, so, so much more to life than work OP.

There’s so, so, so many worse things to be than “lazy” when it comes to paid work, much of which is transparently a waste of life to anyone with an ounce of critical thinking skills.