Gen Z employees are ditching their Zoom avatars in favor of exhibiting up on the workplace—the place they discover themselves thrilled by the novelty of the in-person work expertise.
In keeping with new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 91.8% of U.S. employees aged 16 to 24 didn’t work remotely in any respect in February. Of the 18.7 million Gen Z employees counted within the survey, solely 3.2% labored absolutely remotely, whereas the remaining 4.9% accomplished hybrid work.
In fact, many younger employees maintain service or retail jobs that require exhibiting up in particular person, Sean Smith, an employment economist on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, instructed Fortune. The 16-24 age group might embrace excessive schoolers clocking in for his or her shift on the ice cream store or school college students finishing work-study on the campus library. In the meantime, jobs that provide distant work are usually in skilled industries and require a university diploma.
“These younger people, they just don’t have the degrees that will get them those [remote] jobs,” Smith mentioned.
Smith famous that employees aged 20-24 are 5 occasions extra prone to work remotely than employees aged 16 to 19—which might be attributed to the truth that the older cohort contains some school graduates. Regardless of this, roughly 89.8% of employees within the 20 to 24 age bracket nonetheless fulfill their job duties fully in-person. And although many Gen Z employees maintain jobs that mandate their bodily presence, their sentiment towards in-person work could also be extra optimistic than their “lazy girl” reputations might counsel.
For workplace employees particularly, alternatives for face-time with bosses, friendships with “work besties,” and “yassified” cubicles are drawing youthful professionals again to the office. In keeping with a report from skilled providers agency Seramount, solely 11% of Gen Z employees would favor to be absolutely distant, in contrast with 34% of non-Gen Z. So it’s greater than only a retail jobs story.
Why is Gen Z embracing the workplace?
It’s no shock that younger workers are championing the return to the workplace, Ella Halstead, a senior analyst on the market analysis agency Canvas8, instructed Fortune. There’s a sensible consideration—sky-high rents and forcing Gen Zers into smaller dwelling areas, usually with a number of roommates and fewer means to carve out a devoted workspace.
Not solely do workplaces allow a devoted workspace—additionally they “offer the chance to make a space your own,” mentioned Halstead. She pointed to the TikTok pattern of younger folks “yassifying” their workplace cubicles and including private touches to their desks, romanticizing what was as soon as the grey, gloomy pinnacle of boring workplace tradition. On social media, younger employees are additionally romanticizing the “adult” expertise of in-person work by sharing workplace fit-checks, cubicle excursions, and “aesthetic” 9-to-5 routines.
From a profession growth perspective, working in particular person may help early-career Gen Zers get forward. Halstead cited a survey from LinkedIn that discovered that 76% of Gen Z professionals need extra studying alternatives at work—that are extra accessible to workers who’re within the workplace and nearer to colleagues.
“Remote working favors those who already have a wealth of experience in their roles and can create difficulties for those who are still learning the ropes,” Halstead mentioned.
There’s additionally the draw of the “work bestie.” The office is among the few locations the place Gen Z can get the essential face-to-face connections amid what the U.S Surgeon Common is calling a “loneliness epidemic,” Halstead instructed Fortune.
“These social touchpoints are more important than ever for young people,” Halstead mentioned.
Who’re the actual return-to-office rebels?
If Gen Z is occupying the cubicles, which generations are Zooming into work? A 2023 FlexJobs report discovered that Gen X and millennials are main the distant work cost. 42% of Gen X and 27% of millennials have been working remotely full-time, in comparison with 11% of Gen Z.
The BLS’ Sean Smith famous that distant work charges improve with employees’ stage of instructional attainment. As millennial and Gen X employees are usually extra superior of their careers in comparison with their youthful counterparts, they’re extra prone to be in roles with extra flexibility.
“People in their 30s and early 40s are more likely to live with children and face long commutes, raising the appeal of work from home,” distant work guru Nick Bloom told Fortune’s Steve Mollman final 12 months.
For Gen Z employees, the workplace could also be an alluring stage on which one can navigate the rites of early maturity—however the novelty of yassified cubicles and idealized 9-to-5s might fade with the years.
