Glassdoor Survey: 68 Per Cent of Gen Z Not Interested in Becoming Managers

Jakarta, KOMPAS.com - Gen Z is changing the way they view the world of work. While previous generations were synonymous with the ambition to climb the career ladder to managerial positions, this younger cohort of workers is now considered more pragmatic.

A recent Glassdoor report describes this phenomenon as ‘career minimalism’, an approach to work that places the primary job as a means of financial stability, while ambitions and passions are channelled outside of working hours, including through increasingly promising side hustles.

Quoted by Fortune on Thursday (26/2/2026), a Glassdoor survey of more than 1,000 professionals in the United States showed that 68 per cent of Gen Z respondents said they would not pursue management positions unless motivated by salary or status.

Morgan Sanner, a Gen Z career expert at Glassdoor and founder of Resume Official, describes this change with a different metaphor.

“We have replaced the rigid career ladder with a flexible career stepping stone,” she said.

She describes this approach as a path where one can directly move towards any opportunity that best suits them at the moment.

Although the latest survey shows scepticism towards managerial positions, other Glassdoor data presents a different picture.

Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s Chief Economist, said that the bi-annual Worklife Trends report found that Gen Z is entering management at the same rate as previous generations.

Zhao refers to the concept of “conscious unbossing”, or conscious relinquishment of control, and the notion that young people are reluctant to become bosses because they no longer see it as the ideal path.

The report also notes that millennials are now the majority of managers for the first time, while Gen Z accounts for about 10 per cent of all managers.

“Management is not for everyone, and that’s okay. But it is still seen as the best path to climb the career ladder,” said Zhao.