The Youth Work Ethic Crisis: A Generational Threat or Institutional Gaslighting?

Abstract

Abstract

The perceived decline in youth work ethic has been widely framed by employers and media as a generational deficit threatening competitiveness. This paper challenges this narrative, arguing that so-called generational deficiencies represent strategic responses to structural shifts in employment. Drawing on psychological contract theory, generational value studies, and critical management perspectives, we propose a structural-renegotiation model as an alternative to deficit-individualization approaches. The concept of "institutional gaslighting" is introduced to describe how organizations reframe structural issues, precarity, wage stagnation, psychological contract violation, and diminished employer reciprocity, as individual moral failings of young workers. Five propositions specify conditions under which youths demonstrate high effort, commitment, and retention. Empirical testing in Pakistan with 312 young workers provides robust support for all propositions. Hierarchical regression revealed relational variables explained 19% additional variance in work engagement beyond traditional variables. Mediation analysis confirmed psychological contract breach fully mediated the generation-effort relationship, with indirect effects accounting for 72% of the total effect. Moderated regression showed generational gaps in discretionary effort disappeared entirely under high organizational authenticity, and tenure expectation gaps vanished when perceived job precarity was low. This paper contributes the institutional gaslighting framework and offers practical implications for employers, policymakers, and educators while identifying future research directions.

Keywords: Future of work, generational conflict, Gen Z, institutional gaslighting, work ethic, youth employment, Pakistan