You look at your youngest hires and can’t quite read them. They want to balance long hours in the office with time for themselves. They question what you once accepted. They seek work that they see as meaningful, and having purpose.
It’s easy to see it as a lack of commitment. But what if it’s something else? What if they’re not less engaged but differently engaged?
The new rules of engagement
Generation Z, the cohort of workers born between 1995 and 2006, is redefining traditional career assumptions as it joins the workforce, placing greater emphasis on purpose, flexibility, and well-being. This shift that the arrival of Gen Z represents is significant. According to Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, meaningful work and well-being now rank alongside financial security as key drivers of career decisions.
Prachi B., a 22-year-old taking the Master in Management at IESE’s Madrid campus, remembers the long hours her father used to put in at the office when she was a child and considers how attitudes have changed for her generation.
“Even though we are pretty apprehensive about how the future’s going to look, at the same time, I think that, as a generation we’ve learned to try and put ourselves first instead of focusing on solely what we can achieve in terms of career success,” says Prachi, from Bangalore in India.
Gen Z workers no longer define success solely by financial rewards, but how job progression can align with personal values and quality of life. “I think there’s a much higher emphasis now on the work-life balance,” says Pearce Richer, 25, from Cleveland, Ohio, in the US, who is also studying in Madrid on the IESE MiM course.
Digital natives, AI disrupted
Gen Z enters the workforce with a clear advantage: they are the first true digital natives, fluent in technology and comfortable in fast-moving environments. Yet they are also the first generation to face a workplace being reshaped by AI, where access to entry level roles and traditional paths to gaining experience is more restricted. In that sense, they are a generation doubly impacted by the digital revolution.
It’s this digital fluency and openness to experimentation that makes Gen Z workers well suited to help companies drive innovation and adjust to technological change – particularly in areas related to AI, says Luis Massa, international HR director at Verisure. “The key is to enable them to become protagonists of this transformation,” he says.
Working together
The goal for companies should not be to choose between purpose and performance but seek to integrate the two, says IESE Professor Sebastian Reiche. Achieving this requires a more intentional approach to job design, leadership, and culture, he says. The aim should be to offer Gen Z staff more flexible and personalized trajectories where they can develop and gain experience while contributing to the company’s strategic priorities.
Gen Z is “probably a generation that is looking out for a purpose more clearly than other generations did,” says Massa, who completed a General Management Program (PDG) at IESE in 2005. “They are definitely a generation that believes in working in something that has a real impact.”
To effectively engage and develop this talent, several priorities stand out:
- Communicate purpose clearly: Employees need to understand how their work contributes to a broader mission.
- Balance autonomy with accountability: Flexibility must be paired with clear expectations and responsibility.
- Design developmental experiences: Cross-functional projects and continuous learning opportunities are key to growth and retention.
- Leverage digital strengths: Create space for Gen Z to apply their technological skills and contribute new ideas.
Understanding Gen Z is not simply an HR concern – it is a strategic imperative. Organizations that successfully align purpose, performance, and development will be best positioned to attract, engage, and retain this generation, while unlocking its potential to drive innovation and long-term value creation.
