By Mary Madigan

Copyright news

There’s no point pretending that Generation Z haven’t entered the workforce and shaken things up, much to the distress and bemusement of their Boomer bosses.

They are wearing crop tops to work, engaging in quiet quitting, and then bragging about it online.

This is the generation that were far more comfortable ignoring their bosses outside of working hours well before the Right To Disconnect law came into place to save the rest of us.

The youngest working generation is doing things differently, and it always begs the question: What other chaos and havoc will they wreak at work next?

Well, new data has revealed that they’re also brazenly watching television shows and movies during working hours.

Streaming platform Tubi released research from the US that found that 84 per cent of Gen Z employees report watching movies or television shows while working.

A whopping 48 per cent of Gen Zers also admitted to lying to their bosses about streaming movies and shows during working hours.

Which can only mean one thing – they are aware that their behaviour would freak out any people-pleasing Millennial boss, let alone an old-fashioned Boomer.

MORE: 8 things you didn’t know you could be fired for

Tubi saw the gap in the workplace market and launched Productubity, a Chrome extension designed to help users stream faster and sneakier while on the clock.

One click of a button will pause the video the worker is watching and replace it with a full-screen fake article filled with business jargon and productivity tips.

So, is this sneaky work act happening in Australia?

Absolutely!

When news.com.au descended on the University of New South Wales and asked students if they thought it was fine to stream at work, the general vibe was, “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

Barely anyone felt a little thing like work should get in the way of binge-watching a television show.

“I think we are in an era of multi-tasking as a baseline,” one Gen Zer philosophised.

And what exactly does that mean?

“If you can prove you can do your work while you have your show going, I don’t see a problem with it,” she explained.

MORE: 9 signs you’re burnt out from work

That kind of self-empowered work talk continued.

Gen Zers basically brought one argument to the table, which was very simple: If you are getting your work done, who cares? Your boss certainly shouldn’t.

Again and again, the same line was rolled out: “If you can get your work done”, it shouldn’t matter.

One university student who made that argument added a caveat.

Don’t for a second think it involved checking with your boss first or making sure there was no other work before you start watching Gilmore Girls.

Her caveat?

It is fine if you’re wearing headphones and not “interrupting” anyone else.

Two young guys stopped to chat and it was clear they were absolute streaming advocates.

“As long as you’re getting your job done, what is stopping you from bingeing a few shows?” one asked.

Ummm … maybe Millennial work anxiety?

His mate also thought watching a movie at work was absolutely fine.

“As long as you are hitting all the goals set for you, do what you want,” he said.

We did find two rogue Gen Zers that weren’t interested in the idea of watching Heartbreak High while at work.

“I don’t see how it would be productive,” one guy admitted.

While another young girl screwed up her face in response.

“I don’t like it. I think it is unprofessional,” she said.

The most surprising thing about speaking with Gen Z the bulk of them did not think it was controversial or cheeky to be streaming during work time.

They were very blasé about it.

Workplace and recruitment expert, Roxanne Calder, is up in arms about young people being so comfortable streaming at work.

When asked if she thought it was acceptable workplace behaviour, she laughed and then said “no”, as if she almost couldn’t believe the question needed to be asked.

“I do not think for one second it is okay to be any at job (while) being on your phone or watching movies or listening to podcasts,” she told news.com.au.

Ms Calder said the idea that you can multi-task and still do your job is an absolute “falsehood” and not something she believes in.

“It is actually physically and mentally impossible to multitask. You can’t actually do two different tasks at the same time,” she said.

“You are distracted. How can you be 100 per cent focused?”

The Aussie boss argued that this is because Gen Zers aren’t always equipped to deal with the demands of a modern job.

“I think Gen Z have a lot to offer but we pander to them too much,” she said.

Ms Calder said “so much support” is given to Gen Z – and for the right reasons – but it can get to the point where they come into the workforce and find there are parts of the job they can’t deal with.

She noted she often hears the term “entitled” used to describe Gen Z, but she believes Boomers and Gen X also need to take some of the blame.

“My generation is responsible because we’re the ones managing them. If we’ve got entitled Gen Z, maybe we co-created it,” she said.

The boss has noticed trend of Generation Z constantly needing to be saved at work, which isn’t helping them.

“We don’t give them full responsibility, we give them part responsibility, and then we rescue them,” she said.