Words become reality.
‘Gen Z doesn’t want to work anymore.’
A convenient sentence, especially for employers.
The St. Gallen Youth Study 2025 paints a different picture.
Employed Gen Z respondents want an average of 32 hours and 5 minutes of work a week.
For comparison:
Gen X: 32 hours and 10 minutes.
Gen Y: 31 hours and 21 minutes.
Boomers: 30 hours and 10 minutes.
No, that does not make boomers lazy. That is the point: the cliché explains nothing.
Work is highly important to 67% of Gen Z, exactly the average across all respondents.
The less comfortable number: only 51% say they have a strong desire to work.
Work matters to them. It simply fails to engage many of them.
Then we need to discuss leadership, everyday work and the offer, not only ‘young people’.
If the job ad says ‘family-like team’ and ‘attractive conditions’, a professional still does not know what to expect with you.
Perhaps your role is good.
Perhaps it is just poorly explained.
That is where employer marketing begins.
Here, I will take apart convenient recruitment diagnoses and show what Swiss practices can influence themselves.
Source: St. Gallen Youth Study 2025, University of St. Gallen, pages 22 and 32
https://ifpm.unisg.ch/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/HSG_Publikation_Jugendstudie_2025_web.pdf