Many Gen Z employees prefer office-based work over remote arrangements
We’re in a world where flexibility is often marketed as the ultimate perk. But not everyone sees it the same way. Gen Z, the youngest segment of today’s workforce, is flipping the script. While older workers continue to champion remote work for the freedom and practicality it offers, especially as they juggle family, caregiving, and established career paths, many younger employees are quietly voting for the office.
This isn’t just a preference, it’s a signal. Younger professionals see in-person interaction as a strategic advantage. They want proximity to decision-makers. They want feedback in real time. They want to learn fast, and they know this kind of acceleration happens best when they’re physically present. It’s not about clocking in, it’s about plugging in, gaining skills, and moving up.
The majority of Gen Z workers are still carving out their place in the professional world. Unlike their more experienced colleagues, they don’t yet have deep networks, seasoned mentors, or confidence that comes from repetition. Being in the room matters. Visibility, informal conversations, and shared learning moments compound fast. Take that away, and what’s left is a much slower ramp-up.
We have the numbers to back this up. A 2023 survey by Big Chalk, involving 1,000 U.S. professionals, found that nearly half of Gen Z workers prefer the office. Compare that with about 30% of millennials and only 16% of Gen X and Baby Boomers. Another study from Seramount found that just 11% of Gen Z want to be remote full-time, far less than their senior counterparts, where more than a third prefer to avoid the office altogether.
This tells you something fundamental. Younger employees may not push back on remote work policies, but they know that being visible often translates to being remembered, and eventually, being promoted.
Leaders often treat flexible work as a one-size-fits-all solution. In reality, it’s more like a spectrum of needs. For Gen Z, career acceleration, mentorship, and high-context learning outweigh the convenience of staying home. If you want to build a leadership pipeline from this generation, creating meaningful opportunities for in-person experience isn’t optional, it’s required.
Remote work can impose professional disadvantages on young employees
Let’s not confuse convenience with growth. Remote work offers comfort, but for early-career professionals, it comes at a cost, and it’s not always visible. When you’re just starting out, much of what you need to learn doesn’t come from manuals or scheduled check-ins. It comes from being there. Watching how a team functions, hearing how problems get solved, and getting quick feedback, those details matter.
There’s real science behind this. A study led by researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Harvard, and the University of Iowa looked at junior software engineers at a major tech company. They found that when these engineers worked remotely, they received noticeably less feedback on their code. As a result, some became disconnected, and quite a few left. Disengagement isn’t theoretical, it leads to churn. And churn is expensive.
Gallup’s engagement data supports this too. Gen Z and younger millennials consistently report lower engagement scores than older workers. That’s a problem for any team trying to build long-term capability. Skipping feedback isn’t just inefficient, it breaks confidence. And when you’re early in your career, that confidence is fuel.
There’s also a clear challenge in replicating the nuances of live problem-solving in a remote environment. Most high-value learning moments aren’t planned. They’re reactive, fast, and filled with unspoken context, things remote platforms don’t transmit well. And without exposure to those moments, junior employees miss out. Their learning curve flattens.
Steven Athwal, CEO of The Big Phone Store, sees this directly. He points out how impromptu discussions, the kind that spontaneously happen with colleagues nearby, offer real value to junior engineers. They reveal practical knowledge that just doesn’t show up on a project board.
Davide Romano, CEO of Prime Digital Solutions Inc., agrees. He notes that with virtual teams, it’s harder to build those deep learning experiences that matter most to early-career development. He’s not talking about formal training. He’s referring to the thousands of micro-moments when someone says, “here’s how I’d think about that.”
For business leaders, the takeaway here is practical. We can’t leave career development to chance. If young professionals are lacking exposure, we either find a way to create it, or accept slower, riskier progression. You don’t have to abandon remote work. But you do need to account for the developmental gaps it creates at the start of someone’s career. If left unaddressed, those gaps compound. And the long-term talent pipeline suffers.
Remote settings hamper visibility and networking opportunities
Visibility isn’t about surveillance, it’s about opportunity. In a physical office, early-career employees benefit from being seen. Progress is shared directly with peers and supervisors. Conversations happen between meetings. Questions get answered in real time, without links, invites, or agendas. These moments, unstructured but essential, help junior employees establish their reputations, connect with decision-makers, and stay engaged in the overall direction of the business.
None of this happens organically in a remote environment. Remote work creates distance, not just physical, but professional. Early-career employees have to work harder to show their value. They must initiate feedback loops, request one-on-ones, and present their impact with intention. This level of self-advocacy is difficult when you’re still navigating team dynamics or unsure how your work fits into the bigger picture.
Ilija Eftimov, an Amsterdam-based engineering manager at a global fintech company, highlights how younger engineers miss critical opportunities to understand situational context when working remotely. In his experience, junior talent struggles to know whom to ask for help, how to handle tension on a project, or when to push back. These are the skills that get developed by simply being present, observing how experienced team members manage challenges and make decisions.
Eftimov also emphasizes the loss of informal updates and casual recognition. In a physical setting, walking past someone’s desk or contributing during small team interactions helps to surface effort and achievement naturally. Remote work strips that away. As a result, less experienced employees can be overlooked, simply because there’s no structure to highlight who’s developing, and where.
This isn’t about blaming remote work. It’s about acknowledging the structural difference it introduces for professional growth, and addressing it. Leaders can’t assume young employees will “figure it out” through productivity tools and messaging platforms. Those tools don’t replace presence. Without targeted systems to increase visibility and recognize progress, junior professionals risk becoming invisible to the very people who influence their advancement.
In the long run, this affects more than individuals; it shapes how organizations build future leadership. Senior leaders need to understand that visibility isn’t just good for morale, it’s directly tied to skills development, retention, and internal mobility. Without it, the next generation of high performers never surfaces.
Organizations can legitimately offset remote work challenges
You don’t need to bring everyone back to the office to support early-career development. But you do need structure. Remote and hybrid teams function best when leaders actively replace what’s missing from physical presence, and that means being deliberate about onboarding, mentorship, communication, and feedback. These aren’t extras. They’re foundational systems that determine whether junior staff succeed or stall.
Mentorship is a core requirement. Not informal check-ins. Actual pairing of experienced team members with new talent. James Zhong, Operations Manager at RJ Living, emphasizes the need for structured mentorship programs to prevent isolation and ensure junior employees feel connected from the beginning. Left unsupported, new hires in remote settings can struggle to integrate, and lose momentum quickly.
Ilija Eftimov, an engineering manager at a global fintech company, has implemented a direct solution. New engineers on his team are assigned a “spin-up buddy” and a mentor from day one. He also supports pair programming sessions, where junior and senior engineers collaborate closely. This isn’t random. It’s designed to recreate the kind of technical and cultural learning that happens naturally in an office.
But it doesn’t stop at mentorship. Culture needs reinforcement. Steven Athwal, CEO of The Big Phone Store, suggests scheduling recurring, informal virtual interactions, like coffee chats or “ask me anything” sessions with senior team members. These help humanize remote communication and build relationships that might otherwise never form. Without them, younger employees risk becoming disconnected from the broader team dynamic.
Matt Collingwood, Managing Director of VIQU, takes a proactive stance on team visibility. He recommends daily video calls focused on team progress, quick updates on wins, blocked tasks, and momentum. This not only keeps people aligned but also gives managers real-time insight into who’s struggling. For junior staff, it removes the burden of having to initiate help requests that often go unspoken in remote settings.
Lastly, there’s real value in clear ownership. Eftimov advises assigning early-career employees small but complete projects, something they can lead and ship. It builds competence and confidence. It also gives the wider team a reason to recognize their work. These kinds of opportunities aren’t distractions, they lead to retention, deeper technical growth, and faster integration into the company’s workflows.
If you’re running a business today, it comes down to this: remote doesn’t have to mean disconnected. But you can’t expect career development to happen automatically. It needs systems. It needs leadership. Otherwise, you’re not building a strong team, you’re just managing one.
Key takeaways for leaders
- Gen Z wants in-office time for growth: Younger employees value office work more than older cohorts due to its role in accelerating learning, building networks, and gaining visibility. Leaders should avoid assuming remote-first policies serve all employees equally.
- Remote work limits early-career development: Junior employees miss out on real-time feedback and learning when fully remote, which can lead to disengagement and higher attrition. Executives should invest in intentional coaching and real-world exposure to mitigate skill gaps.
- Visibility matters more at the start of a career: Without physical presence, early-career professionals struggle to showcase contributions and connect with key stakeholders. Leaders should create deliberate systems that amplify junior employees’ impact across distributed teams.
- Structured support is essential in remote settings: Mentorship programs, informal virtual interactions, consistent feedback loops, and small ownership projects help replicate the developmental value of in-office work. Organizations that embed these systems will retain and grow stronger early-career talent in remote or hybrid formats.
