Editorial
The COVID-19 pandemic kickstarted a rapid shift in work practices, bringing remote work and advanced technology to the forefront and challenging the traditional notions of presenteeism. Now, as some companies push for a return to the office, it’s time to align organizational practices with employee priorities to ensure a sustainable and productive future of work.
As many young workers face stagnating wages and longer working lives than the generations before them, it becomes more important than ever for them to live happy and fulfilling working lives.
What Matters to Young U.S. Workers?
BSI’s 2025 Global Workforce Entrants Study surveyed 4,700 workers globally across 11 sectors who started work between 2019 and 2023, revealing the experiences and priorities of young workers. The research shows how this new generation of workers, who entered the workforce during or since the pandemic, has been shaped by these unique circumstances and how this is likely to continue to affect them and shape the future of work.
On-Site Work Preference
Working style preferences are, at least in part, shaped by the nature of the work. Respondents in primarily deskless sectors such as healthcare and education typically expressed a stronger preference for on-site work compared with generally desk-based industries such as financial services and technology. As one might expect, respondents typically factor in the practicality of whether their job can be done at home when thinking about their preferred working style.
Surprisingly, though, among young American workers — a group often labelled as lazy and unprepared for a full-time return to the office — overall prefer full-time on-site presence. BSI research found that 36% of this cohort in the U.S. favored fully site-based work as their preferred working style, compared with 27% globally.
Fully remote work was the least popular working style among the U.S. cohort, with only 21% preferring this type of work. The notably higher preference for on-site work among U.S. respondents may have been shaped by feelings of social isolation during the pandemic or the strong sentiment toward RTO within the American business community.
Desire for Human Connection
Consistent across all sectors is a desire for in-person connection. Young workers in the U.S. favored one-on-one interactions in person (51%) vs. camera on (16%) or camera off (13%). This preference extends to larger meetings, where 52% prefer in-person, compared with camera on (19%) or camera off (16%).
Other than in energy and utilities, where a marginally larger group (36%) preferred camera-off meetings to in-person (32%), the preference for in-person over virtual interfaces for larger meetings is consistent across all sectors, but not all countries. In Japan, for example, camera-off was the preferred format for larger meetings (35%).
The desire for in-person connection can be seen as a backlash from COVID-19, which forced classes, seminars and workplaces online for much of this cohort, contributing to feelings of social isolation and digital fatigue. BSI research highlights how this affected the mental health of young workers, with more than a third of respondents (36%) stating that their mental health was negatively affected by working remotely during the pandemic.
Across all sectors in the U.S., only a minority of workers believe they “coped well” with their job during the pandemic (25% on average). However, in sectors that remained largely site-based even throughout the pandemic, such as healthcare (60% fully site-based) and transportation and logistics (53% fully site-based), a higher-than-average proportion “coped well,” suggesting that these individuals benefitted from in-person interactions at work.
Despite these challenges, Gen Z workers in the U.S. have shown remarkable resilience in building workplace relationships. An impressive 74% made friends in their first job, a figure that rises to a high of 83% in the financial services sector. Moreover, more than half of respondents found mentors in their first roles (56%), indicating this cohort’s strong potential for professional development through building meaningful personal connections.
Work-Life Balance
Perhaps the most significant finding is the importance of work-life balance to this generation. For the American workers surveyed, it ranks as the top professional motivator (51%), surpassing both job stability (45%) and financial incentives (38%). This is even more pronounced among on-site workers (60%), suggesting that physical presence in the workplace creates a stronger need for clear boundaries between professional and personal life.
As COVID-19 temporarily brought the world to a standstill, and led to loss and grief for many, it was also a time to reflect on life’s priorities, enjoy quality time with loved ones or take up new hobbies. Perhaps, this time was formative in shaping young workers’ attitudes to work and what constitutes a healthy work-life balance.
However, while work-life balance is the top motivator for most sectors, it wasn’t universally true. In the financial services sector, financial incentives are the top motivator (47%) over work-life balance (34%), while in transportation and logistics, job stability is overwhelmingly the top motivator (63%). This points to how workers’ motivations are influenced by the nature and demands of their industry. Nevertheless, these differences highlight the importance of tailored recruitment and retention strategies that resonate with the values and priorities of potential employees within each sector.
Meeting Young Workers’ Ongoing Needs
The future of work needs to be balanced between organizational needs and employee preferences. By understanding and responding to young workers' desires for meaningful in-person connections and work-life balance, organizations create environments that attract and retain top talent while promoting welfare and productivity.
Success lies in moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to develop nuanced strategies that consider sector-specific needs while honoring the fundamental human desire for connection and balance. Organizations that meet this challenge will be better positioned to build resilient, engaged workforces ready for whatever the future holds.
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Editor's Note: Read more on what employees want from their workplaces below:
- How Your Workplace Can Keep – And Keep Up With – Tomorrow's Employees — Employees want not just pay, but clarity and work-life balance. If you want to keep your employees, you have to meet them where they are.
- The Key to Employee Engagement Is ... Better Processes? — New research finds employees want efficient systems that help them do their jobs well. Experts share how to get your processes right — and keep employees happy.
- The Hybrid Employee Experience in 2025: Findings From a Global Study — Organizations still struggle to set up effective hybrid work models for individuals and teams. A recent study found adopting 3 foundational practices can help.
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