More than half of Gen Z employees (53%) say they plan to stay in their current job for between one and five years, suggesting they are the most loyal employees among generations, according to a survey by Right Management.

Of 2,000 employees and leaders surveyed for a study into national leadership and workplace trends, Gen Z employees are more likely to plan to stay in their current roles for more than one year and up to three years (36%), compared with 25% of millennial employees (27-42 years old), 16% of Gen X (43-58 years old), and 22% of baby boomers (59-77 years old). Another 17% of Gen Z workers are planning to be in their current role for more than three years and up to five, slightly more than millennials (16%), as well as Gen X (12%) and Baby Boomers (15%). 

Gen Z employees also say they are highly likely (85%) to trust their line manager when it comes to being honest when talking about their career aspirations. The number who say they would not trust their line manager with such discussions rises through the generations from 15% (Gen Z) to 20% (millennials), 24% (Gen X), and 26% (baby boomers).

Meanwhile, one in five Gen Z employees (20%) say that a sense of duty and loyalty to their current employer makes them feel trapped in their current job. This response is less popular with other working generations, with only 14% of millennials choosing loyalty as a reason for feeling trapped and just 11% and 13% of Gen X and Baby Boomers, respectively.  

Lorraine Mills, Principal Consultant at Right Management, said, “Intergenerational workplace differences are often subject to healthy debate, especially today as we see more Gen Z individuals joining the workforce, having been the first age-group to grow up exclusively in our online, globally connected and digital era.”

“Like generations before, Gen Z has no shortage of stereotypes, but what we’re seeing in our latest survey data is evidence that counters some of the most common assumptions about these younger workers,” Mill said. “For example, Gen Z are frequently typecast as being job-hoppers, disengaged and lacking in motivation; but our recent results suggest the opposite, showing them to be more loyal than other generations, that they are thinking long-term about their careers, and have stronger motivations to discuss career aspirations with their line managers.”