What leaders need to know about a growing group of employees

Five years from now, Generation Z and Millennial employees are expected to comprise more than 70% of the global workforce.

Many in those groups are willing to change jobs in search of what they want from work, but a significant part of what they want is job security.

What can business leaders do to keep them happy and keep them on their payroll?

A global survey of more than 23,000 younger workers provides a snapshot.

Nearly one-third (31%) of Gen Z employees who took part in Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey said they plan to switch employers in the next two years, as did 17% of Millennials.

However, that doesn’t mean loyalty is dead. Asked to select their top career goal, 14% of both groups selected “achieving job stability and security,” only behind “achieving financial independence” (22% of Gen Zs, 20% of Millennials) and “maintaining a good work/life balance” (17% of Gen Zs, 20% of Millennials).

Does money talk?

Forty-eight percent of Gen Zs and 46% of Millennials said they don’t feel financially secure, well up from 30% and 32% in the prior year’s survey. Not surprisingly, 60% of Gen Zs (and 68% of Millennials) who said they felt financially secure reported that they’re generally happy, while just 28% of Gen Zs (and 31% of Millennials) who said they felt financially insecure also said they’re happy.

In a recent global survey of 15,000 professionals of all ages by Korn Ferry, pay/compensation concerns were both the top reason for leaving a job and the top priority in choosing a new job.

While it’s not a news flash that better pay tends to result in better retention, it might be challenging for many employers to stand out in that regard. The Deloitte survey denoted “employee promoters” as those most willing to recommend their company to friends and family, and among those, 88% of Gen Zs and 91% of Millennials said they’re very satisfied with their financial rewards/workplace benefits. Of respondents in other age groups, 72% also said they’re very satisfied with financial rewards/workplace benefits.

Mind matters: Healthy workers are happy workers

A little more than half of Gen Zs and Millennials ranked their mental well-being as extremely good or good, and just more than 60% of both groups agreed that their employer takes their mental health seriously.

Those findings suggest that employers can take some simple steps to improve their staff’s collective mental health. Gen Zs and Millennials who said they’re satisfied with the recognition they receive at work and those who are satisfied with their career growth opportunities reported significantly better mental health than those dissatisfied in those areas.

A healthy approach to paid time off also could pay dividends. While more than 7 of 10 survey respondents said they have needed to take time off due to stress, less than 45% actually did so.

Another valuable area for alignment

Among employer promoters – those giving their employer a 9 or 10 on a 1-to-10 scale – 69% of Gen Zs and 74% of Millennials said their values and purpose are aligned with their current organization.

While those numbers seem strong, they’re actually the lowest among the seven areas covered in the survey. And, the remaining survey respondents rated that alignment below 50% – also the lowest numbers among the seven areas.

One area that many Gen Zs and Millennials rated high among their personal values was environmental issues. Seven in 10 said they consider a company’s environmental credentials or policies to be very important or at least somewhat important when evaluating employers.

And, when evaluating potential employers, more than half of Gen Zs (54%) and Millennials (53%) said that finding meaning in their work is very important.

In the survey, Gen Z workers were aged approximately 18 to 30, and Millennials were between about 31 and 42.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.