“I love being around people; I never want to work from home again.”
Whose statement is this? It’s not an exhausted fortysomething, with 20 years’ worth of overflowing inboxes. It’s 20-year-old Adam, a trainee accountant in the buzzing City of London, loving life.
If you feel there’s too much bad press about the good old office, this blog will be a welcome contrast. I’ve found great positivity about office working here. We meet Holly as well as Adam, who at 20 has bagged her dream job working in a small office in a rural manor house – complete with employee swimming pool and a whole gang of delicious office dogs.
If you’re a twentysomething who loathes office life, I hear you – everyone is different. And the jobs market is super tough right now, to get that seat in the office in the first place.
But what is the experience of work culture of these members of Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012, and aged between 13 and 28 years old in 2025), and how can we bring back that career excitement and a sociable corporate life from previous pre-pandemic decades? Let’s look at Gen Z working preferences and, to help HR Managers, what employees in their twenties appreciate about workplaces and wellbeing initiatives.
The commute at the age of 20
Adam Tuhill (below right) has swapped adolescence for the 7.05 from Uckfield to London Bridge. He’s on a Degree Apprenticeship with one of the top wealth management companies in the UK, with £63 billion of assets under their management. If he can pass all 15 exams he’ll end up as a Chartered Accountant, having earned while he learned.
Adam’s office is a pretty fancy building in the heart of the City of London, with 1,600 colleagues. “First and second year apprentices are expected to be in the office five days a week. I think it's a good thing” Adam tells me. “You learn a lot more by being around people. Just to be sitting near to partners and directors who have been working in finance for years; you learn so much from hearing their calls with the clients and how they articulate themselves. It's a professional environment.”
This point about learning is why it can be easier for younger employees to progress within an office environment, and Gen Z workers can miss out hugely on professional development if fully remote.
Gen Z in our workforce
Gen Z accounts for 27% of the global workforce in 2025 and will become the largest generation in the workforce by 2035.
“Understanding how to attract, engage, and retain Gen Z employees is an increasingly essential part of business strategy and a key to sustaining organisational vitality and growth” argues Udemy Business, in their survey report ‘Gen Z in the Workplace: Welcoming the Next Generation’. Leaders will need to grasp how this generation learns best in order to engage them in the process of continually upskilling.”
Adam is learning rapidly. “There are people to support me and literally go through things step by step. So I think it's a good mix of being really pushed out of my comfort zone, but supported as well. I am given guidance as well as independence to learn the job.”
Office working vs remote working for Gen Z
The Times Generation Z project in 2024 surveyed working British 18 to 27-year-olds and asked them how often they are working in the office or workplace:
- 40% = All of the time
- 18% = Majority of the time
- 17% = Half of the time
- 13% = Minority of the time
- 8% = Never, I’m fully remote
However, only 1 in 10 Gen Zers wanted to work in the office full-time.
Holly Jackson is a PR and Marketing Assistant at the fragrance and beauty distributor Aspects Beauty and is permitted a hybrid working pattern. Normally she works two days in the office and three days from home, but is often on the road too - visiting clients such as the suncare brand Sun Bum.
“I prefer working at the office - I like working with my team and we're all very close-knit. I like it being more spacious and everything I need is at hand. Aspects Beauty is a dog-friendly office too, so I can have Frank my Hungarian Vizsla by my side!
I like to be there to ask questions; if I message someone on Teams 10 times an hour, I feel like I’m really bothering them. But if I was to ask 10 questions in the office, that just seems normal.
I’m also much more comfortable at the office than at home, because my home desk chair is quite cheap and basic, whereas I can use the good ergonomic chairs at the office.”
“Remote work can be challenging for younger workers” says Claire McCartney, CIPD’s policy and practice manager, in her interview in The Times. “Young employees often benefit from being immersed in an office environment for networking, mentorship, and learning by osmosis.”
Anchor days are highly effective for face-to-face work, human connection and community.
Office social life vs the loneliness of working from home
“I would definitely feel lonely if I worked from home every day” Holly tells me. “Remote working is like a dating app: isolating, joyless and bad for us” wrote Martha Gill in The Guardian. “Without gossip, flirting, jokes, lunches and drinks, the day becomes a dull to-do list.”
“I have a better social life than a lot of people I know at uni” Adam tells me. By the way, Thursdays are the biggest night for central London workers to go out now apparently, and celebrate ‘Thirsty Thursdays’.
He had to endure 6 weeks of enforced homeworking when he broke his leg earlier this year. Instead of enjoying the time and the money-saving of not having to commute from Sussex to London, he was miserable working from home. “Just the silence all day, nine to five, just nothing.” He missed having some separation between work and home life too.
“There’s lots of socials at my company, which gives you an opportunity to network, especially with some of the older colleagues. The company is very generous and there’s meals out, bingo, table tennis tournaments, an F1 arcade game on our floor - all sorts!”
Technology, business and Generation Z’s contributions
Holly can contribute a younger insight to marketing projects and is ideal to work on social media as she’s on it with all the trends and devours TikTok for breakfast. For brands who want to target Gen Z, she will know how to make an impact because the content will be what she wants to see herself.
We mustn’t presume that all Gen Z ‘Zoomers’ (born 1997-2012) are better at tech than Generation X (born 1965-1980) and Millennials (born 1981-1996) – we all bring different skills to the table and Holly doesn’t see herself as a techhead.
Adam: “In Gen Z we can be flexible and adaptive, I think. We can pick up technology quickly, but I don’t think it’s a really big difference from other age groups. All the partners in my company are very intelligent people and they're not struggling with technology.”
Does your employer take care to look after your wellbeing at work?
I was pleased to hear of the different aspects of wellbeing at work that Holly and Adam are appreciating from their employers.
Holly’s company has a Wellbeing Club led by the Head of HR, with activities including a crochet club, wellness walks, pancake flipping contests, surprise gifts and an Employee Appreciation Day with an extra hour off to spend on themselves. Equally important are the trained Mental Health First Aiders in each department to speak to if she ever has a problem.
Adam values being given access to a coach from the external company First Intuition, with whom he can raise anything that he feels more comfortable discussing than with his own manager and colleagues.
He was incredibly touched to receive a chocolate hamper from his company when he was recovering from his leg surgery, and loved the kindness of colleagues messaging and checking up on him. “My colleagues knew that I was feeling like quite alone and the messages did boost my mood. They are looking out for me.” This is the best kind of work community.
Colleagues were also very kind to Adam after he witnessed a woman being taken seriously ill on a London street. He found it traumatic and chatted his experience through with one of the secretaries. His line manager then offered to go for a walk around the block with him to talk it through and was a big help. “They even offered me the rest of the week off; I didn’t need that but it was a really nice moment.”
For his physical wellbeing at work, there are also standing desks in Adam’s office which are great to use for overall health and to help prevent and relieve backache. “Sometimes my back might be hurting a bit and it feels nicer to use the standing desk, just for a while.”
Sensory overload at the office
Many organisations are improving the inclusivity of their work culture, and respect that full-time in the office doesn’t work for everyone, and can be challenging for members of neurodiverse communities. In the blog ‘I’m your colleague, I’m on the autistic spectrum and I’m an individual’, I met Star, who knows she doesn’t perform so well in the office because of the noisy environment and bright lighting. “Music on and people talking, all the coming and going, it can get a bit much.”
“Everyone works in different ways” Adam acknowledges, and he does have colleagues who prefer to work from home.
Gen Z: work-life balance and corporate culture
Work/life balance is Gen Z’s top consideration when choosing an employer, according to Deloitte’s Gen Z and Millennial Survey. Here’s all the Gen Z answers:
What were the top reasons you chose the organisation you work for?
- Good work/life balance - 25%
- Learning and development opportunities - 21%
- High salary or other financial benefits - 19%
- Positive workplace culture - 19%
- It offers flexible hours and/or a reduced work week - 19%
- Opportunities to progress/advance in my career - 18%
- I derive a sense of meaning from my work - 17%
Holly: “It's just nice when work life revolves around you rather than you revolve around your work.”
“My employer is a very anti-corporate company which I love” Holly tells me. “It's much more chilled out, so I can show up in my jumper and jeans with my dog.
I can sit outside and have a coffee whilst looking at the ducks in the pond for a minute. I think that's really good for me because if I get under too much stress, I just don't work as well.”
I asked Adam if he has to wear a suit in his wealth management firm? “No, the dress code in my department is ‘dress for your day’. Smart if you have an important meeting, but in your own office, you can dress a little more casually and I like that flexibility.”
Indeed, the careers page online for his company sports a photo of a cool young woman cyclist, not the man-in-suit you might expect.
He doesn’t really mind spending four hours per day commuting, because of the saving on rent from living with his parents, but also he points out that “I'm not just sat there doing nothing. I have Wi-Fi! I’m doing what many people do when they come home - watch TV, watch Tiktok, read a book, do admin. I can do all of that on the train. An hour and a half is a perfect time to watch a film! I utilise my time on the train quite well.”
It’s fascinating also to see the results of Udemy’s Gen Z in the Workplace report. ‘What does Gen Z value most in the workplace?’ was answered:
- Flexibility
- Work-life balance
- Clear communication
- Transparency
Grumbles about Gen Z at work
The article ‘Do Gen Z just not understand work meeting etiquette?’ is so scathing that the writer in The Times chose to be anonymous! I’ve never experienced their complaints about young colleagues:
- The compulsion to be on time, or even early, just isn’t there.
- No preparation anxiety - which generally translates to good performance in the meeting.
- If the meeting encroaches on their need to go to the loo, get a coffee or finish that task they should have finished yesterday, that is the meeting’s fault, not theirs.
I think these negative experiences aren’t commonplace. I’d say there is truth in Gen Z having shorter attention spans than my Gen X, but not in failing to take care with preparation at work. Times have changed and formality at work has diminished, but wouldn’t you say this a good thing? Employees stand up for themselves a little more.
According to Deloitte’s Gen Z and Millennial Survey with 22,000 respondents in 44 countries, 56% of Gen X also perceive Gen Z to be ‘lazy’ and 39% say they’re ‘entitled’ which might infuriate you. However, ‘tech-savvy’, ‘open-minded’ and ‘ambitious’ were among the more flattering top perceptions of Zoomers.
This survey also identified the cost of living being the top concern of Gen Z:
What is your top concern from this list?
- Cost of living - 34%
- Unemployment - 21%
- Climate change - 20%
- Mental health of my generation - 19%
- Crime / personal safety - 17%
What’s the cost of commuting to the office for young employees? It’s sky high, with train season tickets from home counties into London costing between £3,500 and £7,500 a year, and nationwide the average cost for peak-time travel is £2,685 a year. Apparently one of the cheapest UK cities to commute to by train is Leeds, with Cambridge being expensive for commuting and on a par with London.
The office social life of the past
I was keen to find out if the legendary 1980s and 90s work-hard play-hard office culture was true. So the founder of Posturite, Ian Fletcher-Price, spilled the beans.
“As a 19 year old, working in reinsurance for Lloyds in the City in the 1980s, I was always first in the office and last to leave, despite being the most junior in the team and living in rural Wadhurst. I was desperate to become a broker – those guys were God-like in the office. The office was one big open floor, and at first I found it intimidating but exciting.
Being in the office helped me to learn so much. That face-to-face contact was invaluable to my career progression. I needed to mix with all those more senior people to show my enthusiasm and to keep pushing - and it worked because I did become a broker.
My work colleagues were a massive part of my social life in my twenties. There were drinks after work in London certainly. I was also lunching every day - I had an expense account which was twice my salary! These were client lunches with business goals – but yes it was great fun.”
Ian left to set up Posturite in 1991 at the young age of only 27 (pictured below left in 1991, and below right with colleagues in present times), and no doubt the tenacity and connection-making he’d learned stood him in good stead to grow the business exponentially.
20-year-old Adam had that real determination to get where he wanted too. He spent a huge amount of time researching apprenticeships and then prepping for the lengthy selection and interview process; watching endless videos on tips and advice and practising answering interview questions.
What’s next?
We would never have believed work culture would change so rapidly from the Year 2020 when Covid struck – and it could change profoundly again in unexpected directions, with Gen Z at the helm.
Deloitte report that six in ten Gen Zs believe they have the power to drive change within their organisations, particularly when it comes to:
- Workload
- The services offered to clients
- Learning and development
- DEI
- Wellness
- Social impact
- The environment
This is so positive. We need the enthusiasm of Gen Zers who love their jobs in the office – it’s refreshing for all of us. If their needs and expectations are different from the employees of old, so be it, their talents and contributions will also be different, powerful and transformative for businesses too.
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