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Gen Z is leading the charge back to the office
Data shows younger staff – more than baby boomers – crave the connection and routine of in-person work.
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While young people are more enthusiastic about the office, survey responses suggest they also appreciate flexibility.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
Emma Jacobs and Sapphire Hope
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Ms Rosie Labbett is an office evangelist. The 21-year-old, who works in wholesale catering, finds the moments chatting before a meeting invaluable – starkly different to logging on to Teams calls. “Ideas and creativity thrive,” she says. “Personal relationships are so important... More people should see the value in connecting with others in real life.”
Contrary to some stereotypes, Generation Z, the cohort born between 1997 and 2012, is leading the charge back to the office, while older generations are more reluctant to return to past patterns of presenteeism. Workers under 24 years old are more likely to be in the office than their older counterparts, according to research by property group JLL: on average coming in 3.1 days a week, while other age groups put in between 2.5 and 2.7 days.
