Around half of the people who entered the workforce since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic would quit their jobs if their employer enforced a full return to office mandate.
Young workers up to five years into their careers have learned the ropes of the corporate world from their bedrooms. Findings from a new study of these Gen Z workers by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and Respublica show that even though this working pattern may have affected their careers, they’re unlikely to be forced back to the office easily.
Nearly half of employees surveyed by BSI would quit their jobs if they were required to return to the office full-time. Younger workers also think on-site jobs should pay more than hybrid ones. Seven out of 10 U.K. respondents believe jobs requiring a full-time presence on-site should pay more than remote or hybrid roles.
The “Hybrid Generation,” as they are described by BSI, started their careers around the beginning of global lockdowns in March 2020. As a result, many of them have never operated in the pre-Covid norm of traveling to the office every day to complete their tasks.
Because around 200 million people have joined the workforce since the onset of the pandemic, this will make it difficult to put the “genie back in the bottle,” according to BSI CEO Susan Taylor Martin.
“Our work expectations are so crafted by our first job experience. That never goes away, and I think where you start really kind of shapes what your expectations are,” said Taylor Martin.
In addition to keeping their flexibility, they think in-office jobs should come with a guarantee that they won’t be contacted out of hours. Last year, the U.K. government introduced a “Right to Switch Off” bill that would ban bosses from messaging employees once the work day was over.
Several major companies, including JPMorgan and Amazon, enacted sweeping RTO policies for their workforce in recent months, increasing workplace tension as employees struggle to give up their flexibility.
The latest evidence to emerge of a reluctance to adjust to pre-Covid norms will prove a head-scratcher for employers.
Research has tended to show that young workers are the most negatively impacted by remote work, which stunts their progression at a vital learning juncture. The Collison brothers behind Stripe, who are proponents of hybrid and remote models, view younger workers as a cohort that needs time in the office.
Mark Mullen, the CEO of Atom Bank, which operates a four-day workweek and lets employees work completely remotely, told Fortune younger workers needed to organize in-office days with their managers.
The reason bosses like to have their younger employees in the office was amplified by BSI’s findings. The survey found remote workers were more likely to feel they missed out on training opportunities and performance reviews that would have otherwise been available had Covid not happened.
“They struggled if they were working from home about what to do, because they didn’t know the job, they didn’t know the people, and they didn’t have the direction,” said Kate Field, BSI’s global head of Human and Social Sustainability.
More than a career
One reason the career-related shortcomings of hybrid work might not matter so much to younger workers is because progression itself isn’t as important for them.
Only 39% of workers surveyed by BSI found financial incentives to be the most important marker for a job, trailing the most coveted feature of work-life balance.
“It’s not just this kind of single-minded focus on career progression and financial outcomes,” said Taylor Martin. “It’s a much more balanced picture. And I think that’s something that was really unique for this cohort that, actually, we haven’t seen in previous age groups.”
Other respondents felt more advantages than disadvantages from being exposed to remote work at the start of their careers. This was mostly evident in workers’ physical and mental health, with a majority experiencing positive effects of both when working from home.
They also aren’t taking for granted the fact that they might not have been able to do the job they’re currently placed in before the days of remote work.
Field cites an example of a young Bristol-based worker who was able to take a higher-paying job in London thanks to the hybrid model.
