Gen Z has a new pathway to the corner office
The hybrid work revolution. The Great Resignation. Quiet quitting. For the past two years, the employee experience (EX) has continued to make headlines as employees across industries adapt to new ways of working. And while chatter may have us thinking the youngest generation entering the workforce is vastly different from others—uninterested in work as we’ve known it, and perhaps less ambitious than their predecessors—that’s not exactly true.
What is true is that ambition is here to stay. But Gen Z has a new philosophy for climbing the corporate ladder.
To better understand generational differences and similarities among the workforce, United Minds, in partnership with KRC Research, recently surveyed over 1,000 employees in the U.S., from Gen Z through Boomers. And contrary to the general perception, we found that Gen Z is twice as likely than Gen X to want to be CEO, but more than half want to take that C-suite role from the couch (at least most of the time) and a significant proportion of Gen Z doesn’t intend to burn the midnight oil in their pursuit.
So what does this mean for the future of work? Let’s take a closer look at the numbers to find out.
BREAKING DOWN GENERATIONAL SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
No matter what age, research shows that the shuffle to change jobs is driven primarily by opportunity and money. In fact, despite their reputation as the purpose-driven generation, 65% of Gen Z would rather do less meaningful work for more money than more meaningful work for less money. This compares to 62% of Millennials, 64% of Gen X, and 55% of Boomers.
What is particularly different, however, is that Gen Z has ambitions that the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting ways of working have not squashed. And they seemingly have a different path to getting there.
Gen Z is both the most likely generation to be angling for the C-sSuite (38% prefer to be the CEO of a company versus 31% of Millennials, 18% of Gen X, and 21% of Boomers) as well as the most likely generation to say they will only do what they are paid for and not more (39%). By comparison, their Gen X parents and Boomer grandparents are much more likely to say they will “go above and beyond.”
Will Gen Z be able to realize their ambitions? Maybe.
Perhaps the unwillingness to go beyond what’s expected is in part due to their current job satisfaction. Gen Z is much more likely to report getting a raw deal, with 65% seeing the gap between what they want at work and what they actually get as significant (47%) or even insurmountable (18%), whereas Boomers see the gap as manageable (63%).
OR . . . … could Gen Z be the generation to finally reshape the future of work for good?
Gen- Zers seem the most clear-eyed about the likelihood of needing to work hard as their careers progress: 41% expect that the future of work is “more work,” compared to Gen X (31%) and Bboomers (22%). A large proportion of this youngest working generation would also pick a higher title or a unique professional development opportunity over an extra week of vacation versus Gen X and Bboomers, a majority of whom would take the extra week.
So it’s not that Gen Z is unambitious, they just don’t see the benefit of work for work’s sake. And who could blame them? Unlike the generations before them, Gen Z has generally not experienced the 9- to- 5 grind. They go to virtual meetings where their managers’ children and pets are playing in the background. They receive emails at all hours of the night with boilerplate language reminding teams of irregular hours and expectations for a response at the convenience of the recipient.
For better and for worse, Gen Z’s experience tells them that it’s less about when and how work gets done, but that it gets done at all. They are limited more by the expectation of their leaders and managers to be in the office—whether or not there is something there for them to do—than what they have observed of the working world firsthand. Will they continue to prioritize flexibility and opportunity all the way to the boardroom, establishing a new blueprint for future generations to come? That remains to be seen.
What we do know is that for now, Gen Z does not feel the need to be on -call. And perhaps they aren’t quiet quitting but, rather, redefining their relationship with work and making it work for them. Something we might all aspire to achieve.
LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS
Don’t fret about a dramatic generational divide among your workforce and an accompanying revolution. Instead, realize that needs simply change by career stage.
Gen Z are rightly focused on earning enough money to pay the bills in an inflationary environment, as they are about building their social networks after lockdown.
Millennials and Gen X—many of whom are focused on parenting—are unsurprisingly paying greater attention to benefits and insurance coverage.
Gen Z and Bboomers who are more established in their careers are thinking more about satisfaction and fulfillment, enjoyment, and happiness.
Simply put, there are no hard generational lines—, there are degrees of difference that map to life stages. Companies must understand where employees are and what they are and aren’t willing to do to meet them. Leaders who focus on the fundamentals of workplace culture, leadership, and keeping employees engaged and connected to the mission, strategy, and meaningful work will prevail.