Gen Z-ers are becoming bosses. Here's what that means for everyone else

Members of Generation Z are now in their late 20s — and they're climbing the corporate ladder with their own expectations about the workplace

It was an unwritten deal for decades: do good work, keep your head down, stay loyal, and you’ll eventually be rewarded.

Generation Z isn’t playing by those rules. The group, which includes people born between 1997 and 2012, has its own expectations about the workplace.

“The future of work is barreling toward a collision point between Gen Z’s expectations and the old guard of corporate culture,” said Anthony Onesto, author of "The New Employee Contract: How to Find, Keep and Elevate Gen Z Talent" and vice president at performance management software company 15Five. 

“Gen Z isn’t afraid to challenge norms,” Onesto said. “Their approach to work, boundaries, and transparency is rewriting the rulebook." Meanwhile, he said, AI is ramping up pressure from boards and investors who want leaner workforces and bigger margins.

But leaders should beware, he added. Cutting too deeply doesn’t just trim costs — it risks eroding the company’s entire customer base. This shift isn’t just about technology or demographics, he said, but a fundamental change in how organizations create and maintain value.

“Companies that ignore these realities will struggle to retain both talent and customers,” Onesto said. “The organizations that survive will be the ones that recognize people are not just resources to be optimized away, but are core to the business itself. Gen Z’s demands for purpose and........

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