The results suggest a growing disdain for people management and disillusion with mid-level management roles among Gen Z professionals. According to the poll, 72 percent of those surveyed favoured an individual route to career progression over managing others, while more than half did not harbour middle-management ambitions. Additionally, 69 percent perceived mid-level management roles as being high stress and low reward.
These insights reflect wider industry trends, as many young workers are exploring alternative pathways to attain both professional and personal fulfilment. Why is this happening? And, under such circumstances, what can companies do to encourage and prepare young talent to take up management roles in the future?
A commonly cited factor behind Gen Z’s distaste for ascending the corporate hierarchy is the upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This compelled many employees to re-evaluate what was truly important to them. Young workers could thus be choosing to prioritise their mental health and preserve work-life balance over securing an impressive job title, and may be unwilling to put in the long, stressful hours often required to attain management positions and thrive in them.
Another factor could be the growing appeal and accessibility of portfolio careers, where people shun conventional career progression in favour of a patchwork of roles that typically include short-term, contract and freelance work. Today’s workers can pick and choose from a far greater array of options to design their professional journeys on their own terms – and without compromising success, fulfilment or financial rewards.
Or perhaps some young workers perceive management positions as a tedious and thankless slog. They may see their managers burn the midnight oil to juggle personnel management, organisational bureaucracy and a seemingly endless string of meetings (that could have been emails) and decide that it just isn’t their cup of tea.
These are all valid points. However, I would argue that a central factor behind why young professionals seem to be turning against management roles is that organisations simply cannot offer employees the kind of job security and career progression they used to.
Amid a tight labour market and widespread layoffs, the employment situation for today’s young workers is much more precarious than that of previous generations. The compact that existed for their parents’ generation – dedicate yourself to a company and you’ll be rewarded with a stable job, fair compensation and opportunities for advancement – is hard to come by in today’s employment landscape.
It can be deeply fulfilling to spend your career building something that is bigger than yourself, and to have your organisation reciprocate that commitment. But, since this is no longer the norm, many young workers are realising that the career path they once envisioned is getting increasingly harder to attain. This has compelled them to think beyond traditional career progression, about what they are willing to sacrifice for their companies, and how they can carve out a purposeful career in the absence of these safeguards.
To be clear, wanting more autonomy, freedom and work-life balance isn’t unique to Gen Zs. Previous generations would have probably welcomed the ability to clock off on time and enjoy flexible work arrangements. The difference is they may have been more willing to sacrifice these aspects because they believed the deal their organisation offered was worth the trade-offs.
Given this, it is entirely understandable that some young workers are choosing to withhold their loyalty, hard work and ambition and prioritise personal development over scaling the traditional corporate ladder. In the absence of loyalty from the organisation, it is difficult to expect young professionals to remain loyal to the organisation – especially if they think it may be detrimental to their own interests.
Also read: Gen Z is trying to modernise professional language in the workplace
Engaging the next generation of leaders
As traditional motivators like organisational belonging and dedication wane and individualism and personal growth take centre stage, establishing a path that addresses the needs of both employers and employees becomes crucial.
To tackle current and future leadership challenges, employers need to engage and motivate young workers. As with previous generations, Gen Zs bring unique perspectives and knowledge that are essential to devise better solutions to deal with an exponentially changing world.
How should companies approach this? One way to mobilise young talent may be to enrol them in upskilling courses or training programmes that develop their leadership potential. More importantly, companies must prioritise strengthening manager behaviour to create an environment where young talent can thrive.
For starters, organisations should ensure that managers are equipped to meet the holistic needs of young workers. It can be dangerous to solely base promotions on seniority, which workers put in the longest hours at the office, or conventional productivity metrics. These individuals do not necessarily make the best leaders and could discourage young professionals from aspiring to be managers themselves.
To engage young talent, companies need to build a culture of psychological safety. This entails creating an environment in which leaders acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers, and where team members can express their ideas, questions and concerns without the fear of being embarrassed or ostracised.
In research conducted with Amy C. Edmondson of Harvard Business School, we found that the presence of psychological safety was not only associated with better performance in diverse teams, but also higher individual satisfaction and well-being. A key reason for this is that it generates collective learning, which is inherently rewarding as it leads to better outcomes that would not have been possible without the input of team members across generations.
Many of today’s teams are diverse – whether in demographic categories (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity) or functional characteristics (e.g. experiences, knowledge). Indeed, to arrive at better solutions, organisations must leverage diverse talent sources, distribute leadership to where the best information, capabilities and insights reside and synthesise these elements into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
However, just bringing these individuals into the company isn’t enough. Managers who think this is all that is required will likely find themselves in a situation where young workers disconnect from both them and the organisation.
To truly realise the potential of diverse teams, again, psychological safety is essential. A psychologically safe climate enables diverse voices to be heard and individuals to learn from each other without fear of judgement. It creates the necessary safe conditions for interpersonal risk-taking, empowering young workers to share their questions, concerns or disagreements with team members of higher rank (who tend to be of an older generation) without the worry of potential retribution.
Creating and sustaining such an environment is a critical piece of the puzzle to foster greater employee engagement and boost overall performance. This can encourage organisational buy-in among young professionals and go a long way towards nurturing their leadership ambitions.
[This article is republished courtesy of INSEAD Knowledge, the portal to the latest business insights and views of The Business School of the World. Copyright INSEAD 2025]
Amid a tight labour market and widespread layoffs, the employment situation for today’s young workers is much more precarious than that of previous generations.
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