Success·the future of workBe careful boomers, your Gen Z coworker may be recording you — 9-to-5s aren’t just climbing the ladder, they’re contentBy Jessica CoacciBy Jessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica Coacci is a reporting fellow at Fortune where she covers success.
Prior to joining Fortune, she worked as a ducer at CNN and CNBC.SEE FULL BIO Long gone are the days of younger workers walking their bosses to their car to banter for a motion.
Instead, they’re turning to TikTok for fulfillment. Luis Alvarez-Getty ImagesGen Z content creators are giving their viewers an inside look at their mundane office s.
Younger workers are filming their lunches, offices, and workdays. As Gen Z explores brand partnerships and TikTok creator funds, it makes sense why they’re finding lucrative side hustles.
But there could be some consequences if they’re not careful.
While older generations may spend their down time chatting up coworkers at the water stand, Gen Zers are using spare time at their 9-to-5s pping up their phones and filming s on TikTok.
In the s, younger workers are showcasing the grind—not with singing or viral dances, but with the same mundane meetings, keyboard clacking and lunch breaks any other office worker partakes in.
And they’re turning these everyday activities into viral s racking up hundreds of thousands of views. One of the most trends recorded? Eating at their desks.
@b1gbimbo what i ate at work 👩🏼💻💓 #wieiad #whatieatinaday #worklunch #lunchboxideas @Stanley Brand @Grillo’s Pickles ♬ Yacht – MusicBox “What I ate during my 9-5” posted one TikTok user who goes by Meredith Louise.
Without any talking, the takes viewers through some eggs, a sandwich and an apple. Seems a pretty normal day, but the amassed 918,000 views.
Similarly, user @jakezach0 posted “Everything I consumed at my 9-5 job.” The shows him drinking flavored water, coffee, a “Death, Taxes, and Yogurt Bowl”, chewing gum, ground beef and avocado, and more.
The racked up almost 4 million views.
@jakezach0 Do yourself a favor during this heatwave – go eat some ground beef / avocado to cool off #whatieatinaday #fulldayofeats #consistency #9to5 #office #work #coffee #healthy #groundbeef #avocado @Drink LMNT @MUSH Overnight Oats @trident gum ♬ original sound – Jake Zach Another user, @Loewhaley, although now older than Gen Z, started posting “day in my life” workplace content when most of her work moved virtual in 2020.
Since then, her account now has 4 million ers, and she spends her 9-to-5 doing social media and content, leading to paid partnerships with brands Canva and Microsoft.
@loewhaley #MicrosoftStorePartner *thinks it for the next week* #wfh #corporate ♬ original sound – Laura Gen Z, tired of low wages, turns to content Aside from just sharing parts of their s on social media for fun, Gen Z is also known as being the side hustle generation, finding ways to supplement income outside of their regular jobs.
A 2024 Glassdoor-Harris poll found that 39% of employees have a side hustle, rising to 57% for Gen Z and 48% of Millennials.
And Gen Z is a true side hustle generation where work identity s outside of traditional employment. By posting content online, creators could earn money from brand partnerships.
The average price for a sponsored TikTok is $2,700, a survey from Shopify found. Those that are “macro influencers,” or users with 501,000 to 1 million ers, could earn $5,000 to $10,000 per post.
“If they can make a little bit of money on the side while they do it, then more and more power to them, I suppose,” said Daniel Zhao, chief economist of Glassdoor.
Another reason Gen Zers are spending their work days making a glorified show-and-tell of their lunch items throughout the day? Brand reputation.
“Somebody who has developed a ing is able to leverage that in order to find those future opportunities,” he added. Younger workers are also becoming increasingly less engaged.
As wages fail to keep up with inflation and the white collar jobs market freezes, Gen Z could pursue passion jects that are more mising than a motion.
In fact, there’s a term for workers that are hesitating to put effort into climbing the corporate ladder and get that corner office: it’s called “conscious unbossing.” Instead, Gen Z is becoming more comfortable with the norm and embracing “career minimalism,” a concept Glassdoor describes as prioritizing balance and security over nonstop hustle.
Instead, they may go in different directions, such as online content. “We are seeing rising disengagement from employees because of the state that the job market is in right now,” Zhao said.
Could recording #DIML s damage your reputation?
Though social media could be an outlet for younger workers to engage in expression, they may want to think twice before pressing record on that “day in my life” .
Greenwood Law highlighted a case where a TikTok creator was reportedly terminated after posting a “come to work with me” while on shift at a MAC cosmetics store in LAX.
The included footage of restricted backroom areas and the cash-handling cess—mpting some viewers to label it a “massive security breach.” Some managers may not be thrilled when people start recording at their jobs, since certain environments could contain sensitive information in plain sight.
In the new age of social media, Greenwood explained that employers should their policies and regularly remind employees of confidentiality obligations, including the risks of social media misuse.
“Most employees are bound by written contracts, workplace policies, or non-disclosure agreements,” the law firm said.
“Recording internal cesses, client interactions, or colleagues without consent may violate these obligations.” Fortune Global Forum returns Oct. 26–27, 2025 in Riyadh.
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