Gen Z is leading the charge back to the office

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More common, however, is the introduction of company-wide mandates demanding all staff in the office for all or part of the week.

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Elliott says leaders are “concerned about the professional development of younger workers if they don’t get enough time with managers and mentors broadly. That’s understandable.” However, he believes increasing office attendance will not necessarily mean more management time. “Often the same managers have little training, and in the past few years firms have laid off layers of managers to expand ‘spans of control’ for six to eight direct reports to 10 to 16. The odds of junior staff getting a lot of hands-on feedback don’t go up if the manager has double the team and still their own workload.”

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Berthold says blanket office mandates can make young people feel they are not trusted. “You’ve let the cat out of the bag — it’s like going from high school to college, no one’s checking in on you. The mandates are like going back to high school. It’s hard to build trust.”

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While young people are more enthusiastic about the office, survey responses suggest they also appreciate flexibility. The JLL report, which questioned more than 12,000 employees across industries and countries, found the youngest workers said their ideal number of days was 2.6 — lower than the days they actually spent in the office but higher than 35- to 44-year-olds who wanted just 2.1 It also found workers under the age of 34 prioritized work-life balance and flexibility, while over-55s were more “sensitive to physical conditions like temperature, noise, and air quality.”

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A survey by Deloitte found 26 per cent of Gen Zs felt more engaged and connected to their organization as a result of their employer mandating at least part-time office work, but 18 per cent thought being forced back meant their productivity had decreased. A further 21 per cent of Gen Zs “believe being required on-site full time or on some days has negatively impacted them in a financial sense.”

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Even office fan Labbett appreciates working from home some days: she heads to the office four days a week. A hybrid arrangement “encourages a trusting relationship between the employer and the employee,” she says, but “when the trust is misused” things can get difficult.

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Heejung Chung, professor of work and employment at King’s College London, says employers need to think about how different generations work together in the office, not just insist they show up. Managers need to get better at planning group workshops, coaching and brainstorming in-person, otherwise time in the office is spent “having Zoom meetings.” Creating social moments helps young people “feel embedded in the company”, she says.

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Contrary to work-shy stereotypes and memes encouraging “quiet quitting”, Mark Dixon, founder and chief executive of office group IWG, says Gen Z are “not only rapidly rising as a demographic of substantial influence, but are incredibly hard working” and “expect a healthy balance between their professional lives and their personal pursuits.”

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Interest in navigating white-collar workplaces partly explains a rise in office-related social media content.

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Jemima Grace, a risk consultant, is one of many Gen Z workers making TikTok videos about life in a corporate job. They feature office outfits, preparing for networking events, and “get ready with me” morning routines.

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Grace recently posted a #corporategirlies “day in the life,” recording getting the Tube at 7:20 a.m., arriving at the office at 8:15 a.m., before answering Teams messages, having lunch at her desk, reading a proposal and creating a presentation, before leaving at 6 p.m.. It was played four million times and generated 180,000 likes, far outstripping her normal content.

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Grace believes such posts help Gen Z navigate the workplace. “Young people think, ‘What the hell am I supposed to do?’ People on TikTok are younger, and don’t know what [the office routine] is like.”

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However, she was surprised by some of the reaction. There were “lots of comments saying, ‘Thank god I don’t do this.’ Others said I looked unhappy.”

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