Millennials and Gen Z are least likely to care about being happy in their job

According to a poll of nearly 35,000 workers worldwide, millennials are now the least likely to care about finding day-to-day enjoyment from their work.

The People at Work report, conducted by payroll services company ADP, found that only one in four millennials, classed as 24-34-year-olds, would prioritize daily enjoyment of their work when picking a job. That compares with 45% of baby boomers over 55.

Instead, these young workers are more likely to prioritize pay, with 56% prioritizing their salary compared with just 44% of 18-24-year-olds. They’re also more likely to value career progression than any other age group.

There’s also a continental disparity that leans into preconceived notions of worker motivation on either side of the Atlantic. Europeans are much more likely than North Americans to favor day-to-day enjoyment at work and job security, for example.

The findings suggest millennials have been broken down by years of unrewarded graft and have formed a detachment from their personal happiness in the workplace, meaning a deprioritization of their happiness for 40 hours a week.

Older millennials graduated into the financial crisis, meaning a tighter job market that removed the luxury of choice enjoyed by predecessors. Younger millennials and Gen Z likewise have faced the turmoil of a pandemic, generationally high inflation, and rising interest rates just as they settle into their careers.

As a result, they now appear ready to lock in for longer stretches of more intense hours in search of financial security.

The research also chimes with other studies into how young people find meaning when so many don’t have the financial security to take sabbaticals, buy sports cars, or divulge in the other classic trappings of a midlife crisis. 

A poll from the Thriving Center of Psychology found that 81% of millennials felt too poor to have a typical midlife crisis defined by splurges on unnecessary items or the uptake of unusual hobbies.  

“The midlife crisis for millennials is rather a ‘crisis of purpose and engagement,’” Steven Floyd, owner of SF Psychotherapy Services, told Fortune. “A generation that was encouraged to work hard and shoot for the stars—they got there and wondered: am I satisfied? Do I even care?”

Baby boomers favor flexibility

ADP’s survey also uncovered fresh insights into how the location of work affects employees’ perception of their job security and how much their bosses actively monitor them. 

While millennials are the most likely to eschew their happiness for professional advancement, younger Gen Z workers aren’t far behind.

The report found that 16-24-year-olds were least likely to care about their flexibility of hours in a role, contrasting with baby boomers over 55.

“The desire for flexible work arrangements isn’t going away, it’s just being reprioritized along with other job attributes that workers value, such as career progression and enjoyment of work,” says Dr. Nela Richardson, ADP Chief Economist.

Meanwhile, there was a notable level of anxiety among remote workers, who were 1.3 times more likely to feel insecure about their job than hybrid or full-time office workers. They were also more likely to think they were being monitored by their bosses.

“While workers like the autonomy that flexible work arrangements offer, they also feel that their employers are monitoring them more,” said Richardson.

“Employers should set clear standards for off-site work and communicate them clearly to nurture trust.”