Would you switch jobs or take a pay cut to achieve non-financial-related goals and have career mobility? Your answer might depend on your generation. Specifically, according to LinkedIn’s recent Workforce Confidence Index survey, younger workers are more inclined than other generations to sacrifice pay if it means a better work environment and more career mobility.
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What does Gen Z want from their workplace in 2022?
The survey, which polled approximately 5,000 US-based LinkedIn members, showed 40 per cent of Gen Z (age 24 or younger) employees would be willing to take a pay cut of between 2 and 5 per cent of their current salary if it meant greater chances of career growth — this is a stark difference to the US average of 26 per cent.
According to the survey, Gen Z is not only looking for career growth — they want to find more enjoyable work, too. The same goes for the next-youngest working generation, Millennials (which the survey defines as people age 25 to 40), with 36 per cent willing to change their current workplace to find a better work life/balance and 38 per cent inclined to leave in search of more enjoyable work.
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While Gen Z and Millennials are willing to push the boundaries and see what better career opportunities await, on the other side of the scale, it seems that Gen X (age 41 to 56) and Baby Boomers (workers age 57 and up in the survey) — while possibly looking for similar factors more in their younger years — are less likely to seek out non-cash factors now.
What does the survey data tell us? While for many, money is a priority, it is not always the root of all happiness — the survey findings are just further proof of this.
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