Gen Z workers not fans of fully remote work

According to recent reports, Gen Z workers are unlikely to prefer exclusively working remotely compared to other generations.

Gallup recently conducted a study looking into the generational differences of the inclination to want to exclusively work remotely – finding that Gen Z workers are the least likely generation to want to do so.

The study claimed that just 23 per cent of remote-capable Gen Z employees said they would prefer fully remote work, whereas the number was 35 per cent for other generations.

When hybrid workers in the study were posed with the question of whether they would rather have more remote, less remote, or the traditional balance, there were a number of respondents who praised the current model. However, Gen Z were still more likely to wish their colleagues worked remotely less often.

According to the study, a lack of parental roles for Gen Z workers was pinpointed as a key driver for their lack of desire for increased remote work across their respective workplaces.

“Gen Z is the loneliest generation,” the report said.

“Gen Z employees have the lowest life evaluations of any generation at work. They are also the most lonely. Gen Z is almost twice as likely as Gen X, and nearly three times as likely as Baby Boomers, to say they experienced loneliness a lot of the day yesterday.”

Intertwined with the loneliness was the point that Gen Z yearned for connection, especially in their early days of beginning a new role – with remote work proving to be a legitimate barrier to face-to-face connection.

“Hybrid Gen Z employees may not see their coworkers as often on-site. Hybrid workers among the three older generations Gallup studies are fairly mixed in their reports of on-site working requirements and flexibility,” the report said.

“Meanwhile, the vast majority of Gen Z hybrid workers (66 per cent) say they are required to work a certain number of days on-site each week, but they can choose which days. Gen Z is also twice as likely as other generations to say they are encouraged – but not required – to come in each week.

“This could mean they are showing up when coworkers are not in the office, reducing the potential for meaningful, in-person interactions.”

The report called on organisational leaders to openly and actively communicate with their workers to ensure that they are not experiencing the pitfalls of too much remote work.

“Gen Z prefers hybrid work the most, but they may miss out on its in-person benefits if they show up to an empty office. One fix is to change hybrid policies so that younger employees are more likely to interact with others. An even better option is for leaders to discuss with their team how each person works best and coordinate in-person time at the team level,” the report said.