More Gen Zers are becoming bosses—and they're prioritizing flexibility and well-being

CNBC

4 days ago

At 25 years old, Rai says he's often the youngest person in the room at work. It can be a tough spot to be in as a manager with eight reports.
The young professional, who goes by Rai Tryna on social media, is among the growing share of Gen Zers taking on the role of "boss" — and many of these young managers are changing how business gets done.
Gen Zers, the oldest of whom turn 28 this year, now make up 1 in 10 bosses, and they'll outnumber the share of Baby Boomer managers by next year, according to new research from Glassdoor.
The trend shows up on both ends of the income spectrum, like food service (where there tend to be younger workers in general) and in tech (where advancement is usually faster), says Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor.
Twenty-something bosses are gaining ground at the same time many from the age group have become the faces behind trends like "conscious un-bossing," or the idea that young people don't want to take on the responsibility of managing their own team.
The data doesn't support that claim, Zhao tells CNBC Make It — Gen Zers are actually taking management roles at similar rates as their generational predecessors. "When you look at the workforce overall, we do still see that Gen Z is interested in management," Zhao says. "They do still view the corporate ladder as a way to earn more money and rise the ranks."
Rather, the conscious un-bossing trend taps into "a real frustration that some workers have, where they feel like they haven't been getting the recognition or compensation that comes with additional responsibilities," Zhao says.
For his part, Rai, a partnerships manager at a tech company, says he wanted to become a manager after having had both good and bad bosses, and seeing how an excellent one can promote a positive work dynamic and help people thrive in their careers. Rai declined to share his last name for professional reasons.
It's not always smooth sailing for the young leader who says he's learned to manage expectations with reports who are sometimes older than him.
He can also see why young people might avoid a management role if it's not fairly compensated.
"Dealing with eight direct reports is dealing with eight different lives and personalities and goals and ambitions — and you have to manage that while still doing the core job function," says Rai, who posts some of his career lessons on TikTok. Then, there's also having to "be the bad guy" when delivering disappointing news, like if someone is being passed over for a raise. "So I understand why people don't want to do it."
That said, "I think if you enjoy people and you're getting fairly compensated," taking on leadership at work can be fulfilling, he says.
Being a young leader means Rai can also set an example of the level of flexibility he wants to receive as an employee. He says he rarely denies a PTO request and doesn't mind wherever his reports work from, as a fully remote team.
"If you're not taking any client-facing calls and you're getting your work done and you're at the beach, by all means, go get a tan," he says. The flexibility comes with open communication and trust that the work will get done, he adds.
Many workers think the youngest crop of employees will bring a bigger emphasis on flexibility and well-being to the workplace, especially as they gain leadership experience, according to Glassdoor surveys.
"What constitutes good leadership is changing at the same time that Gen Z is entering management ranks," Zhao says. "So this is not necessarily saying that Gen Z is inherently different in how they approach leadership, but it's just saying that the expectations on them [are] different than previous generations of managers."
Between leading through global crises like the pandemic to integrating artificial intelligence in the workplace, many business experts have highlighted skills like emotional intelligence and empathy as crucial leadership skills for the future of work.
"That also says something about how to train the next generation of managers," Zhao says. "The way that we've trained managers in the past might not be as relevant to what workers want moving forward, and that is going to be a challenge that employers and Gen Z managers alike will have to, well, manage."