How lazy are you feeling today? Because that's exactly what this newsletter is about. About perceived laziness.
My colleague Lukas Hildebrandt is 31 years old and is still just part of Gen Z. And he hears again and again that they are lazy. Now Lukas has found out what he has known for a long time: That's not true. He wrote it down for SPIEGEL.
There is the employment rate, which has been rising among young people for years.
It fell to 69.7 percent from 1995 to 2015, i.e. over two decades. However, from 2015 – the year the first Generation Z cohort moved into this age group – to 2025, it rose 7.1 percentage points to 76.8 percent.
The 20 to 24 year olds are more involved in the labor market today than they have been in decades, writes Lukas.
He spoke to student Lena Bernhardt; she has two jobs to finance her life. She manages them, just like she manages her psychology studies. Is she lazy? Only interested in leisure? Does work stress you out?
The accusation that her generation wants more work-life balance is not entirely wrong, says Bernhardt. »My father didn't particularly like his job. On a calendar in the office, he crossed out every week that he got closer to his pension. That's why he persevered.
“I don’t want to get up for the next 50 years and not enjoy the work that I spend most of my life doing,” says Bernhardt. So she wants a job that she enjoys doing. That's what she works for. That's not lazy, it's smart.
In a conversation with the sociologist Mayer-Ahuja, he found an explanation as to why his and Bernhardt's generation is still considered a wimp, leisure-time whiner.
“The reflex of calling young people lazy,” says Mayer-Ahuja, “has existed since ancient times.”
Psychologists call this the “kids these days” effect.
Almost every generation was once considered lazy, writes Lukas. As early as 2010, US researchers summarized the allegations against Millennials at the time. They are self-centered, unmotivated, impatient, disrespectful. Much of this was popular perception, but hardly substantiated.
In the 1990s, Generation X was the problem youth. “Slackers” were young people who lived aimlessly, cynically, with no career and without ambition, outside of the performance society. The '68s were also associated with refusal to work.
Isn't that nice? We've all been lazy at some point.
I highly recommend Lukas’ report.
recovery
The ozone hole over Antarctica is shrinking. 2025 was the second consecutive year in which both the hole's horizontal extent and depth were well below the 1990 to 2010 average. This is reported by the World Weather Organization (WMO).
Inaugural speech
The new DFB national coach presented his new squad - and Jürgen Klopp used the press conference to give a few thoughts on the political situation in Germany. Above all, he doesn't want to "leave national pride to the wrong people."
Security check
The world's commercial aircraft take off 100,000 times every day. And how many of them come back to earth safe and sound every day? Almost always everyone without exception. Statistically, according to new calculations by a statistician, almost every everyday activity is more dangerous than traveling with an airline - swimming in the pool or climbing stairs, for example. Read more about this here.
What’s good – for you:
Restart
When the job becomes stressful, many people dream of starting over as a coach. But the market is full - without a clear positioning it will be difficult. Everyone should ask themselves these 35 questions before becoming self-employed.
Series tip
In addition to “The Pitt,” other series also won at the Emmys. Read here why you definitely shouldn't miss »Hacks«, »Widow's Bay« and »DTF St. Louis«.
Cleaning action
If you clean the refrigerator properly, food will last longer. My colleague Anna Kauber Birkelbach has written down what you need to consider.
Late show
Do you want to stargaze? Then go camping in nature. My colleague Christian Baulig has written down where the night sky can be observed particularly well in Germany - and has further tips.
Cyber trading
Every year, investors lose an estimated billions of euros to reputable cyber trading platforms. My colleagues Ella Knigge and Sara Wess have written down the warning signs you need to look out for when cybertrading - and what you can do if you still fall for fraudsters.
And otherwise?
I would like to introduce you to Kamil Mańkowski. He is 29 years old and wrote his first small program at the age of nine. Mańkowski has always been interested in computers. Now, in his free time, where he works as a volunteer checking incoming software contributions to an open source platform for programmers, he has stopped a suspicious piece of software called "Skydev-mirror-7719." The software specifically searched for important databases and then tried to gain access to them and extract data.
After Mańkowski's warning, US AI provider Anthropic announced who was hiding behind "Skydev-mirror-7719" - it was none other than its own AI model Mythos 5, which got out of hand and became a public safety risk - again.
SPIEGEL spoke to Mańkowski. "It can't be the case that we constantly hear about AI models that are not tested in an adequately isolated and secure manner," he says: "The manufacturers and providers are responsible for making these tests significantly safer; this Wild West must stop." I highly recommend the report.
Have a nice weekend! And if you haven't signed up for our weekly newsletter yet, you can order it for free here.
Stay lazy, at least a little.
Your Nadine Wolter, editor in the news department at SPIEGEL
