Lizzie Schmidt has never worked in a real office, had her own desk or been to a happy hour with colleagues. At 22 years old, the Greenwich, Conn., native and recent graduate of Elon University is part of a generation of newly-minted workers taking their first steps into the working world virtually. And while more established office workers debate returning to their desks, this youngest generation has no point for comparison.
One recent survey from Slack suggested that as few as 12% of workers want to return to the office full-time; another from Citrix, looking at Millennials and Gen Z workers specifically, estimated that 51% wanted to remain working from home the bulk of the time. Meanwhile, a different poll from research firm Generation Lab showed that as many as 40% of college students and recent graduates would actually prefer fully in-person work. And another survey from workforce engagement platform Ten Spot showed that only 30% of Gen Z wanted to stay remote full time, while 34% said they were “more productive and engaged” when working from the office. This confusion over what the workforce’s newest employees want—and the tension with more established workers—shows how complicated work’s place in our lives has become, especially for Gen Z as they settle into their new roles.
“Humans are social creatures,” explains Sammy Courtright, co-founder and Chief Brand Officer at Ten Spot. Ten Spot’s surveys have, to some surprise, shown that Gen Z attitudes often closely match Boomers when it comes to the office. “For Gen Z workers, some of the most exciting perks about a job are the company culture, socializing with coworkers, and finding a mentor they really connect with,” Courtright says. Without those expectations met, young workers may struggle to remain engaged. “Taking away the traditional office setting is a bit like being inside a snow globe when somebody’s shaking it,” she says, “it’s hard to tell how and when everything is going to settle into place.”