Success·CareersGen Z and JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon have one thing in common—neither are fans of fully remote workBy Preston ForeBy Preston ForeStaff Writer, EducationPreston ForeStaff Writer, EducationPreston Fore is a reporter at Fortune, covering education and personal finance for the Success team.SEE FULL BIO Despite growing up as ‘screenagers,’ Gen Z aren’t actually big fans of working behind a screen at .
Getty Images—MStudioImagesAs companies JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, and Starbucks ramp up return-to-office plans, Gen Z may be their biggest ally.
As the youngest generation of workers fights off loneliness and seeks career gression, they are the least ly to prefer working fully remote, according to a new survey.
But that doesn’t mean they hate the idea of working from altogether— their millennial coworkers, they’d prefer a hybrid work schedule above all else.
Gen Z and Jamie Dimon may not have much in common, but they can both relate on one thing at least: they are both not fans of fully-remote work.
Less than one-quarter of all Gen Z workers, just 23%, would prefer to work at five days a week, according to a recently released survey by Gallup.
That’s compared to 35% of millennials, Gen Xers and boomers who would prefer to WFH every day—crowning the newest members of the office the ones most eager to be at their cubicles.
Gen Z’s -office sentiment is ly to please Dimon, as the JPMorgan CEO issued all his employees back into the office every weekday last spring. His reasoning: enhanced efficiency and creativity.
“You can’t learn working from your basement,” he told Bloomberg earlier this year. “…I think our employees will be happier over time.” However, full RTO is a policy that doesn’t have much support.
Even though Gen Z aren’t fans of remote working, they also don’t love the idea of working from the office day in, day out. Just 6% of Gen Z would want to work in-person every day of the week.
The most senior members of the office aren’t big fans either; only one in 10 boomers are in favor of being in the office every day—the highest portion of any generation, the Gallup survey finds.
Other age brackets are not far behind: 9% of Gen X and 4% of millennials apve of full RTO.
Meanwhile, clocking in from couches on Mondays and Fridays remains supreme; hybrid work remains the most among workers of all ages, with each yielding over 50% apval.
Why Gen Z aren’t fans of remote work Gen Z’s disdain for being behind the screen all day at may come at a surprise, considering they grew up as ‘screenagers,’ watching TV and using their chunky computers all day.
It’s an affinity from childhood that has grown to the young fessionals spending upwards of seven hours a day on their phones.
Among the workers who do work at , they’re spending their job hours staring at more screens.
Over eight in 10 Gen Z workers admit they shows and movies while working from , according to a survey by ing TV service Tubi.
However, this could just be another symptom of the generation’s feeling of loneliness.
After all, Gen Z are the loneliest of any age group; young workers are almost twice as ly as Gen Z, and nearly three times as ly as boomers to say they were lonely the day prior, according to separate Gallup re from last year.
Despite the d time and money that comes with working from their bedroom, the benefits of being with coworkers and making friends at work may be contributing to the generation’s inclination to work at the office.
Building connections in the office can help drive future success JPMorgan Chase is not alone in the push back to the office.
Other companies, the s of Amazon, Starbucks, and Google, have also reduced the flexibility of their workdays in recent months.
“We are reestablishing our in-office culture because we do our best work when we’re together,” Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol wrote announcing the change this month.
“We ideas more effectively, creatively solve hard blems, and move much faster.” Once past the frustration of having to set up childcare, pack lunches, and deal with office yappers—there can still be career benefits to chatting with coworkers beyond just a Zoom screen, landing in-person mentors.
One Gallup survey from 2023 found that employees with mentors are twice as ly to strongly agree that they have had opportunities to learn and grow at work in the last year.
Moreover, simply showing up to the office could lead to faster internal career gression.
Over 80% of chief executives have said employees who come into the office will be prioritized for assignments, raises, or motions, according to a KPMG survey of 400 U.S.-based CEOs.
As companies also seek to reduce their workforce in favor of AI, less seen remote workers could be the first to go.
At a time when fellow Gen Z college graduates are struggling to land jobs, those with roles may have reasoned that giving up the comfort of their office to work in their corporate cubicle may be worth it in the long term.Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world.
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