Gen Z is known for being direct and honest. This attitude sometimes backfires, but often works in their favour. At workplaces, Gen Z employees are often seen
being upfront with their decisions and expressing their opinions without any hesitation. Social media has frequently been divided on this topic — the behaviour of Gen Z at the workplace. In a viral post that has reignited this debate, a Gen Z employee sent a hilarious leave email — and guess what? The leave got approved! The reason? A breakup. Jasveer Singh, Co-founder and CEO of KnotDating, shared an X post revealing that he received the “most honest leave application” from a Gen Z employee. The post contained a screenshot of the email that read, “Hello Sir, I recently had a breakup and haven’t been able to focus on work. I need a short break. I’m working from home today, so I’d like to take leave from the 28th to the 8th.” The post was captioned, “Got the most honest leave application yesterday. Gen Z doesn’t do filters!”
The X post has since gone viral, garnering over 2 million views. As it spread, many users asked whether the leave was actually approved — to which Jasveer replied, “Leave approved, instantly.”
The post sparked a lively discussion online. One person wrote, “This is perfectly okay. Better yet, don’t explain what it’s for at all.” Another hilariously remarked, “Dude, there are people who don’t even take that many leaves for their marriage.” Someone else quipped, “I would approve it immediately — honesty plus a situation that affects their ability to work. You can tell they’re a good employee with just two sentences. I see you approved it too — you’re a good boss, man! Cheers!”
However, not everyone agreed. One user shared, “Unpopular opinion: If you’re 9–5, you’re paid for your professional self, not your authentic self. Is it Sir Bubble’s Goldfish knighting ceremony? No leave. An HR-policy-aligned reason? Yes.” Another wrote, “From my point of view, you shouldn’t have approved the leave. You should’ve encouraged him to come to the office and meet his colleagues — loneliness won’t help him right now.”
A third user joked, “Gen Z breaks up and applies for leave. Millennials broke down, cried in the washroom, and still met deadlines. Gen Z treat HR like their therapist and Outlook like a diary. Next mail: ‘Sir, Mercury is in retrograde — need WFH till it sorts itself out.’”
