Indian Corporate Culture, Gen Z & A Conformity Trap

Financial security is the carrot dangling after college, especially if you picked engineering. That stability becomes almost automatic, luring people down a path they don’t always love. For many, the promise of a steady paycheck outweighs the desire to pursue their real interests. In Indian corporate culture and Gen Z, money quietly takes the lead, shaping lives around a number instead of a passion.

Independence and Freedom: Gen Z’s First Taste of Financial Success

Picture a young woman, fresh out of college, stepping into a world where she’s suddenly earning more than she’s ever imagined. For the first time, she’s fully independent, maybe even living on her own, building a life that feels truly hers. That kind of freedom, the kind that’s raw and unfiltered…hits in a way nothing else does. This happiness isn’t borrowed, and it’s not something that can be faked. It’s real, it’s electrifying, and when you feel it for the first time, it’s only natural to want to share it with the world around you, to show everyone what it means to feel alive!

The Money-In, Happiness-Out Mindset Trap

But not everyone stays in that freedom for long. Many fall into what I call the money-in, happiness-out mindset trap. They start to believe that life can be improved, even perfected, by making more money. You hear the cliché all the time: “Your 20s are for exploration.” But how much can you really explore if your mind’s been hijacked by corporations, influencers, and advertisements telling you what to buy, what to want, and how to feel?

Conformity as a Lifestyle: When Money Defines Happiness

Once conformity sets in, it sticks around. Life becomes about money; no cash, no joy; no joy, no respect. Day-to-day life boils down to flaunting the next experience, buying the next item, showing off the latest brand (No wonder why companies are excited about Gen Z’s spending). These young souls, especially in tech or corporate jobs, probably chose their careers for the salary, not the passion. They might even hate their work, but they follow the script. That’s what conformity is in this context: a life built for display, not for real fulfilment.

Feeling Empty: The Reality of Living for Money Alone

And when you talk to them, it’s hard to miss. There’s an emptiness, a hollow look behind their eyes, like a luxury car with no one at the wheel. They took the safest path, the one with the least risk, opting for stability over surprise, predictability over possibility. They walked the route of least resistance, where every move was calculated to minimize failure. But somewhere along the way, that path stripped life of its edges, leaving them coasting in a kind of a gray space.

Everyone’s different, vibrant in their own way, wired to seek out what makes them feel alive. And yet, by blending into a script written by others, that individuality fades, reduced to mere background noise. That’s the thing about the “safe” path…it doesn’t account for the spark, the edge that makes each person unique.

The Value of Struggle: Financial Hardship and True Passion

But there’s a different kind of life that exists outside of this. Some choose a path that’s harder, a path where each step is its own reward. They’re not merely living for the next paycheck; they’re living for something that money can’t buy, a purpose, a value!

There are those on the other side, the ones who actually work for what they have, even if it doesn’t pay well. They picked their paths out of love for what they do, probably not for financial security. Every penny they make has some meaning. They get it by with sweat, persistence, frustration. Their income might be modest, but it’s not about the amount, it’s about how they got there.

Finding Depth: The Difference Between Hobbies and True Interests

It may sound harsh, but I find a lack of depth in a lot of software engineers (sorry for the generalization). They seem sure of themselves, but it feels thin, superficial. They work incredibly hard, putting in hours that would make anyone proud, but have no sense of vision or purpose driving them forward. Many admit they feel like they’re just another cog in a massive, relentless machine, practically operating in tech sweatshops where creativity gets traded for productivity quotas. It’s as if the spark that should light up their work got lost somewhere along the way, buried under deadlines and endless lines of code. (We can literally see many examples overwork, which is a huge problem among Indian corporate culture and Gen Z)

Sure, they have hobbies, but learning a few guitar chords or following a recipe on YouTube , joining some hobby groups doesn’t, really count as depth. Real depth goes deeper than that; it’s not about what you can show off on Instagram or get a few quick likes for. It’s built on curiosity, on experiences that add layers to a person’s character. It comes from stepping outside your comfort zone, seeking knowledge for the sake of understanding, not just achievement. True depth isn’t something that trends online; it’s something you feel in the quiet moments, a richness that can’t be imitated or bought.

The Power of Scarcity: How Financial Struggle Builds Character

So, how do you find this truth and break free from the conformity trap? Look for scarcity. If you’re looking for depth, seek out people who’ve had to work for every step, who understand what it’s like to feel the weight of limited resources, to search for meaning beyond a paycheck. These are the ones who’ve felt scarcity, not just the lack of money, but the void of purpose. They know that getting by isn’t the same as truly living, and they don’t settle for mediocrity because they understand what it costs to push beyond mere survival. They move forward, not out of obligation or expectation, but because they’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, what it means to live with intention.

This analogy, though, only applies to those who can actually feel scarcity—not those who simply accept it as the norm. To feel scarcity is to face it, to wrestle with it, to let it shape you into someone who knows how to dig deeper, not just drift along. Those who merely accept it never break free from the trap; they’re stuck, seeing scarcity as a limitation rather than a teacher. Real depth comes from this reckoning, from seeing scarcity as both a challenge and an opportunity, not a trap.

True Happiness and Freedom: The Myth of Money as Success

These are the people I respect. They don’t buy into the pull of conformity; they’re the ones who make things happen on their terms. They’re authentic, not followers of the latest trend. If you come across someone like that, don’t let go! scarcity isn’t something you can fake, especially in this world of social media gloss. Be cautious of those who chase trends just to fit in, who define themselves by what’s popular rather than what’s real.

Real happiness, independence, freedom…none of these come from a paycheck alone. They’re built on a mindset that values truth over appearances, authenticity over conformity. I’m not here to judge anyone’s path, but I do think there’s value in nudging people to listen to that inner voice, the one that asks what’s really worth their time and energy. It’s not as simple as counting likes or following the crowd, but it’s worth reflecting on why you’re living the way you are, why you’re earning, spending, and choosing as you do. Get a little more self-aware each day, and see where that takes you. It might be uncomfortable, but it’s the path to finding something real.

I am on the same path: A Gen Z stuck in a conformity trap. So I this is my confession and a guidance for my future self.

Thanks for reading! 🙂