Young Adults Reject Remote Work
Gen Z is the least likely generation to want fully remote jobs. These young workers crave in-person time for networking and social connections.
According to a new Gallup survey, Gen Z1 workers are the least likely generation to prefer fully remote jobs. Only 23% of Gen Z employees in remote-capable roles favor working entirely from home. That compares with 35% of Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. That’s a +12 percentage point difference. While a majority of every generation prefers hybrid schedules, Gen Z favors them the most (70%).
At the same time, Millennials are the most attached to telecommuting. Among hybrid workers, 41% of Millennials said they would be “extremely likely” to look for a new job if their employer eliminated remote work. Only 32% of Zers said the same. Boomers and Xers were even less likely to agree (26% and 28%, respectively).
What explains these generational differences? Much of it can be explained by phase of life. Gen Zers are just starting their careers, and remote work is difficult for networking, team assimilation, and getting noticed by the bosses. This is especially true for interns who have a limited time to impress. (See, “All the Lonely Interns.”) Millennials, on the other hand, already have established work relationships. What’s more, they are more likely to have family obligations (parenthood, caregiving), and remote work allows more flexibility.
To be fair, large shares of both remote-capable Millennials and Gen Zers report daily loneliness: 21% and 27%, respectively. And that’s the paradox: While young people want optimization (shorter commutes and self-checkout), it often cuts out human interaction. I suspect these feelings of detachment and burnout will only get worse. (“Young Shoppers: Avoiding People Is the Point.”)
We refer to this group as late-wave Millennials and Homelanders. But for continuity with the charts, we adopted the term “Gen Z” for this article.
It would be really interesting if more time could be devoted to reconciling the 4th Turning model of generational definitions of "Millenial" and "Homelander" and the Mainstream Media (MSM) definition of "Generation Z". I appreciate how the footnote was included in the article to have these differentiation but if more time could be spent on this discussion I think it'd be really beneficial.