At least from my point of view company loyalty traditionally relied upon an informal exchange system. Employees devoted years of their lives to a business under the assumption that it would reward their work in the form of job security, raises, promotions, and retirement security. In the modern day corporate workplace, I feel this sense of devotion can be hard to come by, especially within Gen Z. At least in my experience, when me and my work are governed by large human and digital systems, performance metrics, layers of bureaucracy, and constant restructuring I often feel alienated and distant from any of the decision-making and the decision makers. I feel like Gen Z does not want to work for a system that feels like it doesn’t care about its employees.
Yet, this is not an issue of our generation being antisocial, preferring to work remotely or not wanting to show up to work. Actually, according to polling data from Gallup, the majority of Gen Z tends to prefer being on site and with co-workers, with only 23 per cent of remote-capable Gen Z workers preferring to work from home, compared to 35 per cent of each older generation. In addition, this generation most desired to have colleagues in the office. Thus, although employees of Gen Z are not likely to pledge absolute loyalty to their employer, they still seek relationships, mentoring, and community.
Unfortunately, corporations are not always eager to accommodate these desires. According to Deloitte’s Gen Z and Millennial Survey 2025, young workers want their managers to provide guidance, inspiration, and career development opportunities. However, many felt that their managers prioritized day-to-day oversight over their individual career growth. The report revealed that managers devoted nearly 40 per cent of their time to addressing immediate issues and spent 13 per cent of their time on managing and developing the people they lead.
As a result, there is a desire among younger workers to change jobs in pursuit of greater developmental opportunities. Deloitte’s research showed that learning and development had become one of the three most critical factors for young people when choosing a job. At the same time, only six percent of respondents named reaching the top executive level as their ultimate career goal. This data suggests that for many of them, continuous learning and improving one’s skill set in different areas is more important than climbing the corporate ladder.
This gap between what workers give and what they receive is reflected in EY’s 2024 Gen Z Live Work Play Study. Although 62 per cent of Gen Z respondents described themselves as very or extremely loyal to their organization, only 40 per cent felt that their organization was loyal to them. I strongly believe that when loyalty is not reciprocal, changing jobs can become a pretty justifiable response rather than evidence of poor commitment. But sometimes it’s hard to leave.
I couldn’t have cared less about executives I’ve never met and their sales targets, but many of my co-workers became my friends, and I became part of a great work community. Employees can care deeply about their colleagues, customers, and work while remaining disconnected from executives, corporate targets or a company mission that feels removed from their daily experience.
At least in my experience, it’s been harder for me to feel loyalty to a job that treats me like a number, compared to one where I feel part of a community working towards something good. I recently got a job working for a local winery, and working with The Cascade I feel like I am appreciated for the work I do and that I am also contributing to something cool and impactful for my community. I compare this to my time working for a suit shop, where over two years my commissions, monthly, and quarterly bonuses were all axed while management — who I never met — only increased sales targets. While the store community where I worked was wonderful, and I am still friends with some of the managers to this day, I felt disconnected from the actual mission I was told that this company was undertaking and I felt no loyalty returned for my hard work. If I am to choose what to give my loyalty to, my choice is my connection with like-minded peers, growing my goals, and personal development over a big corporation in exchange for a salary.
