Employers, beware: Gen Z is the ‘pragmatic generation’ redefining success, seeing money as just a means to an end, landmark survey says

A huge new study of the EY Dynamics Core team, which extends more than 10,000 adults in 10 countries and five continents, you find that Gen Z often misunderstood – and their scaling approach should be known as the “practical generation”. The authors, Marce Meriman and Zac Dicholad, wrote the approaches of General Z that “traditional features of life” with a kind of “causing doubts”.

According to Jo Diba, the chief global innovation official in EY, the search for how to follow 18 to 34 years of children between the ages of 18 to 34 years. “Far from being financially reckless,” says Diba The intelligence of luck“This generation focuses on stability in the long term-and redefining success along the way.”

Money, for them, is necessary but not everything and the end: 87 % say financial independence is important, however wealth by only 42 % as a basic sign of success, and fails to standards such as mental and physical health and family relationships. Simply, for General Z, financial stability is a tool – not a goal. They use money to open the doors for flexibility, purpose and well -being.

Diba says that the research “tells a different story” about General G. They are approaching the features of life, not with rebellion, but with “logical doubts and a global perspective.” As employees and clients, Gen Z will challenge organizations that have been connected about a different way to do things. For business leaders, understanding this shift will be vital to attracting and keeping talents.

Functional

Baby Boomers and Gen Xers often hold with one employer for decades, Gen Z dismantles this concept.

EY research has found that 59 % of adult youth expect the world level to work for institutions to five to five organizations throughout their lives, and approximately 20 % say they will work for six or more. This flexible approach to employment – contradictory job changes and a flexible disturbing work – is not limited to the desire for various experiences, but the strategic response to rapid change, uncertainty and age of economic instability.

“Young generations do not interact only with financial restrictions,” the generational generation team writes, but it takes rational and thoughtful decisions about what is compatible with both their living experiences and the risks that previous generations suffer from. EY says it is a perspective that contrasts sharply with the mentality of “Pulling yourself by Bootstraps” that is often adopted by the older generations, while finding it rejects its specific context.

Reorting success: from the inside to the outside, not outside in

Success, in the eyes of Gen Z, is a project from the inside out: emotional well -being, strong relationships, and the influence on Outrank titles and salaries. It is no longer related to the signing of domestic funds, lifelong workers, or even traditional family monuments. Milestones such as marriage and children are postponed – not from rejection, but for pragmatic reasons: economic insecurity, lack of housing, and the desire for emotional and financial readiness.

The climbing of the movement of the “worn” scenario from adulthood has resolved: only 59 % see working in one organization as an applicable path, while nearly 20 % of the respondents said they plan to work for six or more employers in their career. Wine functional stairs and employer loyalty allow the “project -based” growth, taking new jobs, and side strikes, all in search of diversity, independence and purpose. “Functional mobility is not seen as negative, but it is an essential step to open the doors and advanced opportunities,” the EY team writes.

GEN Z Miter -Overage stated that a great feeling before previous generations, as a result, said more than half (51 %) that they give priority to physical and mental health as head of success, as family relations outperform wealth in many countries. Payment for originality is also remarkable. 84 % cite “to be honest with himself” as very important.

Employers, beware (and develop)

For General Z, the job is not a lifelong prison sentence, and money is not represented alone in keeping them participants. The usual employers may be the linear functional stairs and staffs have been subscribed to the preparation of Gen Z to determine the priorities of the purpose, wellness and flexibility-even if it is at the expense of job security or long-term benefits. Traditional incentives lose their grip.

For employers, this new pragmatism is an invitation to wake up and an opportunity. Flexibility is mandatory, with hybrid and remote work, fluid watches, and support for “small retirement” between jobs that become indifferent.

Gen Z expects the employers to have clear values about luxury, sustainability and social justice-and to act on it. More than 70 % want the employer to be transparent about values and payment, and they are not afraid of the driving challenge if the originality is found. This generation will quickly leave if growth kiosks: 57 % will resign for better professional development. They are eager for guidance, personal learning, and a feeling of upward movement.

Gen Z is less loyal to brands or employers unless this loyalty is returned; Nearly half of them say they have a “zero loyalty” to brands, and only about 60 % feel any loyalty to the employer. It is expected that the emotional leadership and sincere contacts will be in two directions, not a bonus.

Gen Z wants to be included in the company’s decisions and expects a seat on the table. This discovery is in line with a separate search for Glassdooor, which found a work trend report in June 2025 that emotional intelligence is now standard by workers, many of them Gen Z. The intelligence of luck.

Slow employers in adapting to these facts will not only struggle to recruit General Z – who will risk losing its importance completely. Corporate practical players call for re -designing everything from employment, communication to values and paying structures.

The other side? Gen Z’s pragmatism can also be a balance: it is technically, driven by the task and trick. But their doubts can also be translated into disengagement or even open dissatisfaction if the workplaces fail to address their true priorities. Companies will be pragmatic in themselves in controlling what the most reliable leaders X Z.

For this story, luck The artificial intelligence is used to help with a preliminary draft. Check an editor of the accuracy of the information before publishing.