Experts say it's time for HR to rethink assumptions about gen Z and loyalty
Recent research has upended a long-standing belief that younger generations, especially Gen Z, are chronic job-hoppers, less loyal and more likely to leave employers at the drop of a hat in the search for work-life balance.
However, job tenure among young workers today is nearly identical to that of their parents and grandparents when they were the same age, according to the report from the National Institute on Retirement Security.
Economic conditions and the quality of benefits, not generational attitudes, are the real drivers of turnover, it says – and Karen MacMillan, assistant professor of organizational behaviour at Ivey Business School, adds that even the stereotype of younger workers as disloyal job-hoppers is nothing new.
“I think this happens to every young generation,” she says.
“It's us looking at the younger generation and going, ‘Why don't they have the values that we have?’ inferring that ours are virtuous and theirs are not. Which I think is just a natural thing that people do.”
This tendency to label younger generations as less committed is deeply ingrained in workplace culture and historical patterns, but the research shows it is not supported by the facts – MacMillan points out that social media amplifies generational narratives, but that doesn’t make them true.
“We have more people talking about this, more people sharing what they're doing. And so social media is perhaps making this seem like more of a big deal than it really is,” she says, explaining that using stereotypes to describe generations might be a way for employers and HR to simplify what is actually a complicated concept.
HR and employers should be focusing on individuals, which is more challenging, she says.
Stability, values and the new economic reality
The research highlights that retention and quit rates are shaped far more by economic conditions than by generational attitudes; during periods of economic uncertainty such as the 2008 recession or the COVID-19 pandemic, job-switching rates dropped sharply across all age groups, only rebounding as the economy recovered.
Caroline Boyce, lecturer at the Université de Montréal, explains Gen Z will choose employers based on their values, and what they largely value is stability.
This is because of what they observed during the pandemic, she says. They saw their parents and older siblings experiencing layoffs and instability, and then they experienced economic upheaval due to the political unrest in the United States and tariffs. This has given them a more pragmatic approach to choosing careers.
“When a whole generation faces an event, a crisis like COVID, an economic crisis with Trump, and they saw their older siblings or parents being affected in their job, of course, it's going to become something that they're going to evaluate,” Boyce says, pointing to how health care workers fared during the pandemic as an example.
“A whole generation saw that. So, you can choose ‘Okay, I want to be part of this’ or ‘No, I'm not built to do a job like this.’”
The real impact of Gen Z stereotypes on retention
The consequences of these stereotypes are not just theoretical, they have a direct impact on how employers treat young workers and, in turn, on retention. MacMillan again points to leadership as a culprit:
“If we can say, ‘Wow, these Gen Z people, they just like to hop around,’ then HR people, and other leaders don't blame themselves when their younger employees seem dissatisfied, or when they decide to leave the organization,” she says.
“So I can blame the generational differences rather than, ‘Well, maybe we didn't make this interesting enough. Maybe we didn't build the commitment.’”
When young employees sense they are not being invested in or taken seriously, they may disengage or leave, which only perpetuates the myth. MacMillan’s advice is to focus on the actual drivers of retention: “If team members are satisfied, if they feel a sense of control, if they have good relationships in the workplace, if they feel challenged or given opportunities to develop, things like that are much more likely to make people want to stay.”
What HR should do differently
The research makes clear that employers who design HR policies based on generational stereotypes risk missing the mark. For example, the report finds no evidence that Gen Z or millennials are less interested in long-term benefits such as pensions or healthcare. Instead, these benefits remain key retention tools for all age groups.
Boyce notes that Gen Z wants to see advancement and new challenges: “What's very interesting with this generation is most of them are really ambitious, and they want to move fast.”
She explains that the average expectation for a promotion by Gen Z is 12 months, and encourages an HR focus on targeted challenges and projects if promotion is not possible – anything to give the individual a sense of advancement or progress: “If you can't promote them, be prepared to give them a special project or something else. But you need to feed their need for ‘more’.”
Boyce adds that inclusion is critical for recruitment and retention.
“An inclusive organization is better equipped to retain and engage young talent, because if you're an inclusive organization, then you have in mind your employee experience mapping, to listen to your employees, to really have real channels in place, to listen to your employees, to hear their ideas,” she explains.
“So those industries are more creative, more collaborative, and this generation is the most diverse generation we have so far. So being an inclusive organization, it's a good step to engage young talent.”
