Gen Z isn’t buying the fully remote dream

For years, remote work has been the young worker’s dream: being able to skip the commute and wearing real pants.

But new data shows Gen Z is quietly changing the narrative. While younger employees say they enjoy remote work more than older generations overall, they’re also the most likely to say “No thanks” to going fully remote.

• According to Gallup, only 23% of Gen Z workers who could work remotely actually want a fully remote setup, compared to 35% of older generations.

Why the preference shift?

A recent study offers insight into what younger workers are experiencing. Researchers tracked software engineers at a Fortune 500 company from 2019–2024 to see how collaboration changed across remote, hybrid, and in-office teams.

Their biggest finding: employees who worked in person at least occasionally received ~20% more feedback and delivered higher-quality work compared to those who worked entirely remote.

The increased in-person time also unlocked several other advantages:

• Clearer promotion paths: Managers could more easily see who was growing, contributing, and ready for bigger responsibilities
• Easier follow-ups: Questions were answered much faster in-person compared to digital messages.
• Improved “osmosis learning”: Younger employees absorbed norms and workflows by watching coworkers work.
• Better networking: Spontaneous conversations were more common—and more helpful—when workers shared the same space.

Big picture: Hybrid work has officially taken over as the dominant model in the US, while fully remote work has fallen sharply since the early pandemic, according to data from Gallup. Among employees who are capable of working remote: 28% are fully remote, 21% are fully in person, and 51% have hybrid work schedules.