Vincent Chan Discusses The Three Reasons Nobody Wants To Work Anymore: 'Nowadays It Just Feels Like A Slap In The Face'

Marc Guberti

Sun, May 11, 2025, 10:31 AM 4 min read

Does it feel like nobody wants to work anymore? It's a generalization that stems from the "Great Resignation," when many people voluntarily left their jobs during the pandemic.

Financial guru Vincent Chan dove deeper into this topic and discussed three reasons why nobody wants to work anymore. He used historical data to validate his points while presenting a grim picture of the modern working experience.

"Nowadays, it just feels like a slap in the face," he said.

How did things get to this point? These are the three reasons Chan highlights in his video.

Don't Miss:

• Inspired by Uber and Airbnb – Deloitte's fastest-growing software company is transforming 7 billion smartphones into income-generating assets – with $1,000 you can invest at just $0.30/share!

• Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — this is your last chance to become an investor for $0.80 per share.

Chan starts his video by exposing the big lie that hard work pays off. Although hard work has paid off in various cases, people don't always see that in the workplace. Chan explains how an unproductive coworker got promoted because he was an old family friend of the boss. These types of promotions can cause the hard workers to feel discouraged and unrecognized for their efforts.

While these types of office politics have always been present, Chan also presented a graph that showed the growing gap between worker productivity and pay growth. Both of these metrics moved in tandem until 1979. Since that year, people have been working harder than before, but have stopped being rewarded for it.

Boomers worked during an era that Chan dubbed the "Workers' Golden Age," where people got paid for their effort. There wasn't a gap between productivity and wage growth that exists today. This rising gap and promotions depending more on who you know instead of what you can do have disincentivized putting in the extra effort in many workplaces.

Trending: Can you guess how many retire with a $5,000,000 nest egg? The percentage may shock you.

Chan also cited toxic work environments as a key reason why most people don't want to work anymore. These environments can lead to mental health problems and burnout that make you question why you are working in the first place.

Chan leans into this discussion with a quote from Squarespace's CMO, who said that Gen Z job seekers should be willing to work for free, long hours. Nothing is healthy about working long hours and not getting paid for them.