Study: 1 in 5 Gen Zers Have Never Worked an In-Person Job

• While shifting to a remote work environment has increased productivity for companies, it has also changed the way many of us socialize and communicate in the workplace.  
• While remote employees are more satisfied with their productivity, personal growth, and position than those working in person, it seems that those working both on-site and remotely are the most satisfied with all aspects of their work. 
• For Gen Z workers, entirely remote positions did not seem to be preferred.

As we enter a new year, it looks like workplace flexibility remains in effect – with many employers giving their employees the option to work remotely or in a hybrid work model.   

While shifting to a remote work environment has undoubtedly increased productivity for numerous companies, it has also changed the way many of us socialize and communicate in the workplace.  

Although some employees are perfectly content working from home, others miss their office and the perks that go with it. For new hires, interactions with coworkers might be vital for understanding the company’s culture, getting to know their team members, or integrating into a new position.  

In a new study by Skynova, 1,000 workers across the U.S. were surveyed in order to uncover how many employees are happy working remotely, the biggest challenges they’re facing, and how well integrated they feel in their current job. 

Key study highlights:  

• Nearly 1 in 5 Gen Zers have never worked an in-person job—47% plan to look for an in-person job and nearly 60% plan to leave their remote job in a year or less. 
• 39% of those interviewing remotely feel they got a good sense of the company, compared to 26% of those interviewing in person. 
• 1 in 3 employees want increased frequency of team-building activities, organized time to socialize, and team meetings. 
• 54% of employees feel that the company is divided between remote and on-site employees. However, just 42% of on-site employees feel this divide compared to 80% of remote employees. 
• Only 13% of remote employees meet their teammates on the first day compared to nearly 60% of on-site employees.  
• 41% of employees only interact with one to five coworkers a day—only 1 in 3 remote employees have non-work-related conversations with coworkers. 
• Making friends (61%), networking (39%), and finding a mentor (39%) are the biggest challenges reported by Gen Z remote employees. 

Employees are most satisfied trained in-person 

The study shows that 38% of workers who were integrated remotely in a self-guided manner felt that their training was sufficient, compared to 51% satisfied with training completed on-site.   

However, when the integration program was conducted remotely with live training, the satisfaction level was similar to the employees trained on-site. 

Workers feel a gap between working on-sight and remotely  

Some employees working remotely said they were happy with their situation; others could feel a gap between the remote and on-site workers at the same company.  

Almost half of the workers felt there was a divide depending on the work style, but this gap was felt more by those working remotely: 76% of fully remote workers saw a difference, compared to 35% of those working in person. 

Depending on their work style, respondents had different levels of satisfaction with their company.  

While employees working remotely are more satisfied with their productivity, personal growth, and position than those working in person, it seems that those working both on-site and remotely are the most satisfied with all aspects of their work.  

With a higher level of satisfaction, employees that had worked both on-site and remotely for their companies were the most loyal. 

Gen Z is more adapted to remote work 

While some workers had to adapt to the pandemic work restrictions and change their work style, for many Gen Z employees, this is the only work landscape they know.  

In fact, 1 out of 5 Gen Z workers reported as only having worked remotely in their current position. 

Making friends, networking, and finding a mentor were the biggest challenges reported by these younger remote employees. Making friends was the most difficult aspect, with 61% of the Gen Z remote workers having problems creating coworker friendships.  

The social aspect of on-site work is clearly making a difference on these issues, as only 12% of those working on-site reported having a problem making friends. 

Maybe due to these difficulties, over half of the Gen Z respondents did not plan to stay in their current role for more than another year. Almost half of them said they would look for an on-site job for their next position, while 22% would prefer a hybrid work environment.  

For Gen Z workers, entirely remote positions did not appear to be the preferred arrangement. 

While older workers with families or other household obligations might enjoy the flexibility that comes with remote work, it seems that the younger workers find it more difficult, especially when it comes to the social elements of the workplace. 

Some of the responses from this survey reveal that a hybrid model could be what works best for most employees, giving them some flexibility in their schedule while also allowing time for in-person meetings, social time with their coworkers, and opportunities to network.