Why Gen Z want to return to the office

Gen Z "don't want to show up" to the office, according to JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon. Alan Sugar has voiced similar complaints, claiming younger employees "just want to sit at home". They are far from the only commentators to suggest that young workers have become attached to remote working and actively resist coming into the office.

But recent research has found, contrary to the stereotypes, Gen Z employees "crave the connection and routine" of in-person work, said the Financial Times, and they're actually "leading the charge back to the office".

'Touching base'

Gen-Z employees go into the office more than any other age group, according to a study from property company JLL. They average three days a week, one more than the national average of two.

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Separate research found that 45% of 20-29-year-olds were full-time in an office and were the only age group to say they worked more productively that way. Further analysis suggested that while 35% of Gen X want remote-first roles, this figure falls to 24% for Gen Z.

That makes sense, Pam Lindsay-Dunn, chief operating officer of recruitment company Hays, told The i Paper. When people are "learning the job", they "enjoy touching base", "meeting people" and "being part of a culture".

While it's true that Gen Z employees "expect a healthy balance" between their "professional lives" and their "personal pursuits", Mark Dixon, founder and chief executive of office group IWG, told the Financial Times, they're also "incredibly hard working" people.

'Generational disparities'

Every time a new generation "ages into the work world", the "sky always seems to be falling", and there's "much hand-wringing from their elders", said Alison Green on Slate. Millennials were supposedly "overly entitled participation trophy–chasers" and Gen X–ers were "disaffected slackers", but in "my experience as a manager", such generational generalisations are "usually BS".

It is true, some junior staff are reluctant to commute but their reservations are often financial. A survey of Gen Z workers by Deloitte found that 21% believed "being required on-site full time or on some days has negatively impacted them in a financial sense".

“Why would I, as a young person with student debt, say goodbye to around a quarter of my salary just on trains and the occasional coffee?” a 23-year-old finance worker asked the Financial Times.

Going into the office feels pointless for some younger colleagues because of the discrepancy in attendance between them and older workers, who are more likely to have caring responsibilities that make hybrid or remote working more attractive.

"Generational disparities" create "challenges" for managers, said the paper. They have to "balance competing demands for flexibility from older workers" with younger peers' "desire to learn and meet colleagues".