Tuesday 7th October 2025
The generational divide: What Gen Z and the over-25s truly want from work
NEW September 2025 survey results
In a tight labour market, understanding what employees value is a necessity for talent retention. Employee expectations change fast in a fast-evolving digital and post-pandemic world. Keeping up means actively observing, listening… and responding.
As compensation solutions specialists, the latest compensation, benefit and rewards innovation and aspiration are fascinating topics for us. We want to know how we can best meet our customers’ needs with counsel, technology and support their current and future compensation strategies. That’s why our September survey asked about priorities for extra benefits in a long-term job, with a particular focus on what’s different for the upcoming Gen Z workforce.
Our findings compare the priorities of the 16-25 age group (Generation Z) with those aged 26 and over. While foundational benefits remain essential, generational priorities differ sharply elsewhere, especially when it comes to career growth, daily work experience and financial versus lifestyle value.
Core job priorities: growth vs freedom
For Gen Z, the top priority is trajectory. A significant 38% ranked opportunities for career progression first, outpacing salary, which only 25% ranked first. This suggests that younger and incoming workers are focused on moving up and acquiring new skills to secure their future earning potential.
In contrast, the 26+ group prioritised being able to control their time. Nearly half (48%) chose flexibility in work hours first, placing high value on autonomy and being able to integrate work with established personal lives and domestic responsibilities.
There was an interesting consensus when it came to the workplace location. Having a communal destination – like a traditional company office building – was the least important of the options we offered. It’s easy to see why experienced workers might be happy working from home or on the road, to serve their flexibility goals. But we were surprised that career entrants didn’t specifically prioritise a shared workspace, as we’ve heard a lot in the media about how isolating WFH can be for new joiners. Perhaps our respondents assume that a workplace outside the home is an early career default, so it makes no sense to choose it as a perk.
The relative benefits of health, wealth… and free food
When we looked at extra benefits, we found strong agreement on the must-haves, but huge differences on the day-to-day perks. Both generations agree on the necessity of health insurance (a top pick for 71% of Gen Z and 89% of 26+) and a more generous pension plan (67% for Gen Z and 81% for 26+).
Free meals at work are a joint top choice of benefit for Gen Z, alongside health insurance. For the over 25s, only 22% picked free meals, suggesting the perk loses value as workers mature. Our hypothesis: older respondents are more likely to have their own home and partner or family and planned meals at home are important in this framework. Younger workers living in shared houses and with busy after-work social lives may prefer to eat at work, saving time on shopping and cooking, to suit a more spontaneous lifestyle outside work. They may also see food shopping as a significant budget expense on a first-jobber salary. If so, perhaps discounts on groceries or delivery services at work could be a good benefit to explore for Gen Z workers.
The desire for benefits customisation emerged as a clear necessity. Both age groups agree they would feel more motivated if they could choose the benefits they receive.
The big take-out is that in this day and age, a one size fits all package will satisfy no-one. Well done to forward-looking employers who are offering self-service benefits platforms. But are they user-friendly and flexible enough to satisfy everyone’s changing needs? Do they integrate fully with compensation solutions, so organisation have clear visibility of their benefits spends… and trends?
Summary: Plan and adapt now to motivate every generation in your workplace
The Gen Z age group wants to see a clear growth trajectory in their early career steps and they enjoy experiential perks that can enhance their daily lives and build community. The 26+ employee cohort values financial stability, but also demands flexibility and looks for a positive workplace culture.
The key to a great employee value proposition in this diverse and evolving environment is to offer highly personalised, customisable benefits that offer choice for different employees. Retaining these valuable people through different life stages, as their needs and preferences change, means empowering and encouraging them to change their choice of perks throughout their career.
What next?
Look out for our next two blogs, delving into why Gen Z puts pay ahead of enjoyment and revealing the innovative benefits that young workers would like to see.
If you’d like a free copy of our full summary of the survey data and analysis, for more detailed insights into generational preferences, email anna@compincent.com – we’ll send it to you ASAP.