When I started work 30 years ago, it was expected that you would be bullied. As a Gen X graduate, you assumed right from the start that your life would be unpleasant and that this was all part of life's rich experience. All you had to do was grin and bear it, and in the process you had the opportunity that thousands of others would have given their eye teeth for. That's how it seemed and you were grateful, even if everyone above you scared you to death.
Nowadays with Gen Z, there is a perception that we have a split scenario - a seemingly entitled generation at work who crumble at any moment of duress, versus the folks out of work who feel that they're owed something.
Not convinced either scenario is true in the main. But when it comes to bullying and historic behaviours, it does mean you have to be a lot braver these days to make a joke.
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