Why don’t Gen Z want to be managers?

Redefining the pathway to success

Young people of today are less inclined to attend university or college, aiming to avoid large amounts of student debt and suspecting that the return on their investment will not be worth it.

Gen Z no longer trusts traditional institutions to prepare them for the jobs they want, nor are they believed to offer students a competitive edge in for the industry they aspire to, for example, in social media management, video game design, and software engineering.

In addition to their preference for relatively novel and ever-evolving roles, this generation values independence and flexibility in their work life.

This means that the ability to control their own schedules is more of a priority to young workers than ever. On a thread discussing the emerging ‘conscious unbossing’ trend, one Reddit user remarked:

‘This is true. When I started working, all the new college hires (including me) said they wanted to be a manager, a director, etc. But after working a few years people learn that these people may make more money but they have way more work. My manager is basically on call 24/7. The pay increase is not worth the loss in quality of life.’

This last sentence is of particular importance.

Although young people understand that their income could drastically increase by moving into management positions, they feel the pressures of the job will eat unfairly into their free time and overall sense of wellbeing.

For wellness focused Gen Z, sacrificing their personal peace and everyday autonomy for seniority and a salary bump is not exchange worth making.

Meeting the expectations required of management roles is a concern for young people who believe that doing so would likely cause them stress and anxiety that is detrimental to their overall health.

“i don’t wanna be a manager because i know i’d be a good one. i’d rather be the managers i’ve had who never came in when there are callouts and just let the whole place struggle. but instead i’d be the one overworking myself into a stroke or heart attack because i have a basic level of compassion and understand how much it sucks to not have enough staff” wrote one Reddit user.

On top of this, a whopping 69 percent of Gen-Z say middle management is too high stress, low reward.

‘II have no wish to become a manager… I don’t want the extra responsibility, I just want to be able to do my job, close my laptop and be done,’ writes another Reddit user.

This desire for career autonomy has resulted in 72 percent of Gen-Z saying they would rather take an individual route to progression over managing others.

It’s important to note that young people aren’t for power over others in the workplace, with 28 percent of respondents saying they would prefer a role that focuses on their own personal growth and skills accumulation.

‘I don’t want to be a manager because I like doing my job, not managing people. That’s a different job not a promotion,’ says a Reddit user about Gen Z’s aversion to management positions.

Young people aren’t lazy, they are just approaching work differently.

They want to be challenged, but rather than finding a role that reinforces hierarchy, they are looking to transition into new roles that make them more skilled, experienced, and attractive as employees overall.

No one is safe

In 2024, large corporations like Meta and Citigroup announce major job cuts, with middle management roles making up 30 percent of those laid off.

This is despite 89 percent of companies stating that middle managers are amongst of the most valuable people in their organisations – a conflicting stat when these employees aren’t secure in the face of cost cutting measures.

A trend like this one is worth paying attention to, when stability is so important to Gen Z.

This generation has a heightened awareness of job cuts thanks to witnessing layoffs resulting from ongoing economic instability and COVID-19 pandemic. They have seen firsthand the volatility of the employment market throughout their formative years.

A lack of stability even in traditional employment is leading young people down the path of entrepreneurship, which looks to be an increasingly appealing career path for Gen Zers striving for financial security, personal fulfilment, and every day freedom.

That said, there is still a chance to sway young employees. Young people would likely be open to management positions if their companies took steps to make the demands of this role more manageable.

These steps could involve flexible working hours, work from home agreements, and a ‘no-work-on-weekends’ policy, allowing employees to fully shut off when not on the clock.

A renewed approach can offer the mental balance that Gen Z is looking for – or rather, that they demand.