Why are Gen Z shying away from managerial roles?
- from the Think Tank
- Jun 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 27
You’ve probably seen a string of articles reporting that Gen Z are shying away from managerial roles. The source of most comes from the "Conscious unbossing" report by Robert Walters, the global recruitment consultancy, which cites that:
52% of Gen Z professionals in the UK are actively avoiding middle-management, with 69% stating it was too stressful.
The alternative?
72% say they prefer an individual route to career advancement, one focused on building skills and personal growth.
This POV is coming from approx. 800 Gen Z respondents, out of 2k white collar workers surveyed in Sep 2024. Globally, similar trends appear: 57% of Canadian Gen Zers are rejecting middle management roles, with 65% citing stress as a key deterrent. In Belgium 42% reported unwillingness to pursue management roles, with stress cited as key factor by 61%.
Are middle-management roles too stressful?
Having worked with senior and middle managers for nearly 15 years’ we can validate the view that Gen Z’s have about the stress that comes with being a manager. However, our experience shows that it is not because of the title or responsibilities. It is most often because managers, and their bosses, don’t understand the job.
Our work in Distinctions is centred on building the leadership capability. A large part of that is increasing the emotional maturity of senior and middle managers, and their teams. We believe that every person in the organisation has the power and responsibility to build a healthier workplace culture for all, especially those with people management responsibilities.
Once a people managers understand that they are key custodians of the systems they are a part of, they see the world and their role differently. They learn that their primary responsibility is to look after the people, and that if done well everything else falls into place. This often sees them driving change by challenging the status quo.
Are Gen Z simply lacking the maturity to see beyond their individualist needs?
It possible that this attitude is a sign of low maturity. Early-career Gen Zers might not see how learning to manage people is an opportunity to influence culture, strategy, and the systems they are part of.
What else might be driving this perspective?
We set out to talk to Gen Zers in our system to see what they thought. Deeper layers were uncovered. Our older Gen Zers spoke about feeling very disheartened about their careers options, noting that “the system is broken”. They shared that working harder and climbing the ladder did not come with sufficient rewards to warrant the stress. While their boomer bosses are on six figures, Gen Zs are working multiple jobs and still struggling to move out of the family home. The privilege is seen very much on the other foot. Nothing short of a collapse of the system being seen as the answer.
The perspective of the younger Gen Zers we spoke to where more inclined to think that a lack of confidence in being able to have a good life might be at play. Could this be a self protection tactic? Too stressful = too hard? The sense of overwhelming about the state of the world and our fragile economic system was significant. Just keep the head down and hope for a miracle!
What does this mean for the future?
Whatever the cause, if we follow this trend into the future, individual skills may flourish but what about systemic and strategic thinking skills? Will they suffer if everyone is focused on themselves or if they’ve thrown in the towel? Further, problem-solving will loose depth without a broader point of view. Relationships and networks will also weaken if a whole generation of people don’t see the point in the collective. That’s a pretty bleak future for generations to come!
Who will shape the organisations of tomorrow?
If we accept this rhetoric, we could inadvertently craft fragmented organisations and a more divided world. Many of us would agree that we are already suffering at the hands of self-serving leadership values!
We cannot ignore the fact that we are all connected. Our organisations are an intrinsic part of our society. We support the idea that organisations have a responsibility to provide a sustainable living, but what does that really mean in practice? With a growing individualist perspective, who will provide this beautiful life with meaningful work, personal growth, and autonomy?
Have boomers something to answer for? Is it a few crafting these unsustainable standards? If so, who or what will hold them accountable? System theory suggests that systems justification favours the lowest common denominator and that it takes c. 5x the effort to achieve one forward step of evolution.
How can we generate much needed hope?
Gen Z want autonomy, meaningful work, and personal growth. We cannot argue with any of that. How can we help Gen Z see that they have an opportunity to shape the organisations of the future?
If you are a leader managing (and we hope actively mentoring) Gen Z, here are some tips that might make a real difference:
Reframe leadership as a chance to shape culture and impact society on a wider scale. Doing it well requires them to build strong interpersonal skills that will benefit them in every aspect of life. Being able to influence is the holy grail of skills. It requires personal growth, autonomy and being values driven all wrapped into one!
champion them to lead an initiative without the full baggage of management. I still remember being given room to spread my wings in my mid 20’s and feeling the excitement of creating something that made a real impact on others. Redbull 10x!
Spotlight “impact loops”: show them how their project aims ripple into strategy, culture, and future proofing outcomes.
Encourage systems thinking. Help them see how their work and that of the team ties into wider organisational objectives.
Link autonomy to system thinking, taking every opportunity to mentor them to consider how the organisation functions, and what it needs to evolve. If they like to problem solve, changing a system is one of the most complex problems of all.
By helping Gen Z see leadership as a way to amplify positive change, rather than a stressful title to avoid, we unlock their potential, and move towards organisations and societies that are smarter, more connected, and more human.
The alternative sees us running the risk of a future workforce lacking in cohesion, unable to scale up, and ill-equipped or motivated to solve complex, systemic issues - workplace or societal.
Written by Dayna Caceres, CEO of Distinctions (Gen Xer)
Hozzászólások