Generation Z prioritises work-life balance over management roles, posing a challenge for businesses

For Generation Z, career success is no longer defined by promotion, with many prioritising work-life balance over greater responsibility and longer hours.

This trend is becoming a growing challenge for businesses, many of which are already struggling to develop their next generation of leaders.

“Looking at global research, only around 6% of Generation Z want to take on senior management roles and become bosses. For organisations and their structures, that is a very big problem,” Tomasz Szklarski, CEO of Enpulse and an expert on workplace engagement, told Euronews.

According to the expert, young workers' reluctance to take on managerial roles is driven above all by the growing responsibilities that come with the job.

In recent years, the number of employees reporting to a single manager has increased significantly, with the average team size doubling from around six to twelve people.

This is putting managers under increasing pressure. On the one hand, they are accountable to boards and senior executives for meeting business targets. On the other, they are expected to support the development, motivation and wellbeing of increasingly larger teams.

“Generation Z has carefully weighed what work-life balance means against the sacrifices required to become a boss. Young people can clearly see the burden that comes with management. A manager is accountable both to their superiors and for increasingly large teams that require constant support,” Szklarski said.

A problem that could hit Europe particularly hard

The declining interest in managerial roles is not just a problem for individual companies, it is a global trend that could prove particularly challenging for Europe, where demographic change is already shrinking the workforce.

"There will be fewer and fewer people working, especially in Europe. If we do not train a new generation of managers and prepare people to take responsibility for teams, we will face growing challenges in maintaining organisational efficiency," the expert warned.

Although AI is making ever deeper inroads into the business world and automating many processes, Szklarski believes it will not solve the shortage of managers.

The expert argues that it remains unclear whether employees would be willing to take instructions from algorithms or whether AI could effectively fulfil the role of a manager.

Leading teams still require skills that are difficult to replace, including empathy, relationship-building, motivating employees and making decisions that take the human side of an organisation into account.