Gen Z Is Sick Of Working From Home: 91% Want More In-Person Connecting

The remote work pendulum appears to be swinging back again. After several post-pandemic years of insisting that hybrid or remote work is the only acceptable mode, 91% of Gen Zers report dissatisfaction with the isolation of working from home - or Starbucks - or Ibiza - wherever they are. 

The most completely tech native generation is also responding to surveys with doubts about the impact of technology on their lives and careers. For employers and managers, the message seems to reinforce their inclination to insist on more RTO (return to office) mandates, but it may be that younger people looking for connections and socializing are more open to doing so than the Gen X/Boomer generations who have family obligations and longer commutes. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all. Smart organizations will adapt and evolve in order to optimize outcomes. JL 

Ben Kesslen reports in Quartz:

91% of Gen Z wants more “in person opportunities to connect with others at their company.” Many reported feeling disconnected from their workplaces and said they want real life interactions with people in their industries which they believe will help their careers. Many also feel there is too much emphasis on technology. Of those surveyed, 69% said technology has made them feel “less connected and more isolated.” Less than one in three Gen Z employees feel holistically healthy, meaning they don’t think they have decent mental, financial, social, and physical health.

It’s often said that digitally native Gen Z-ers prefer to work remotely, but a new survey is challenging that assumption.

 

Freeman and The Harris Poll asked 1,824 U.S. adults with white-collar jobs questions about the workplace and found that 91% of Gen Z wants more “in person opportunities to connect with others at their company.”

 

Many reported feeling disconnected from their workplaces and said they want real life interactions with people in their industries which they believe will help their careers.

Many also feel there is too much emphasis on technology. Of those surveyed, 69% said technology has made them feel “less connected and more isolated.” And 79% of Gen Z believes companies “focus more on technology to connect people than building in-person connections.”

That isolation is making the workplace a drag for many members of Gen Z, who reported being stressed, depressed, and burnt out in a recent report from MetLife.

 

MetLife (MET

-0.78%) found that less than one in three Gen Z employees feel holistically healthy, meaning they don’t think they have decent mental, financial, social, and physical health.

And things seemed to be getting worse for Gen Z, at least according to their own perception. When MetLife compared their findings to workers aged 21-25 surveyed in 2018, Gen Z employees today feel 5% less successful, 8% less happy, 8% less engaged, 11% more stressed and 9% more overwhelmed than their counterparts seven years ago.

Freeman said that employers looking to make things better for Gen Z workers should do more to connect their employees of different generations, think outside the box for networking activities, and invest in in-person Gen Z-specific programming.