Graduates and Gen Z Want in-Person Jobs

• Companies want workers to return to the office, but many employees are not happy about it.
• Surveys show Gen Z and class of 2023 graduates want an in-person experience.
• In-person work can provide young workers with community, keep them engaged, and enhance their early workplace learning.

Major companies from Amazon to Disney want employees back in the office even if they’re not coming in every day, but many workers are not happy about it. Not so with Gen Z and the class of 2023.

“I wish I could have an internship or another job where I’m working fully in person,” Christine Mok, a graduating 22-year-old with a communications major from Santa Clara University, told Insider.

Mok worked as a fully-remote communications specialist intern at Robert Half, a global staffing agency, last summer, which led her to realize she wanted to work in an office after graduating. 

“There are times where it’s a little bit difficult to learn certain things if you’re only learning them through, like, Zoom or Teams,” she said, wishing she got to learn from her manager in person.

Remote work also dampened her motivation. 

“I did find it a little bit more difficult to be productive when I’m literally in the same room where I sleep,” she said.

She may not be the only graduating senior looking for in-person jobs.

Numerous surveys show that college students graduating want to work in person at least some of the time. That’s good news for employers who are eager to bring workers back but face resistance from their employees who enjoy working from home. This generation wants the community, learning opportunities, and engagement that in-person work can provide — although some young professionals aren’t a fan of in-office roles and prefer remote work.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers reported in May that “42% of new college hires will work in the office full time while 48%” will be working hybrid, closely matching their work preferences.

ZipRecruiter‘s survey of graduating seniors gave similar results: 44% prefer a hybrid model, and a third said they want to work completely remotely. Handshake, a site that students can use to find work, reported that over 3 out of 5 respondents surveyed from the class of 2023 “when given the option, prefer to work in a hybrid environment.”

According to a recent survey by A.Team, a future of work consulting company, 57% of those getting a bachelor’s degree in the class of 2023 prefer a flexible hybrid work model, while 7% are looking for fully remote work.

“For this class and this generation in general, it’s not a surprise to me that many at this point in time are interested in having hybrid work and being back in person as well,” Christine Cruzvergara, chief education strategy officer at Handshake, told Insider.

In-person connection matters, and not just for making friends

“There’s an element of the human connection that is just so core and critical to who we are as human beings,” Cruzvergara said.

70% of those graduating in the class of 2023 with a bachelor’s “would take a pay cut if it meant working with teammates they love,” A.Team found. A survey from Cigna, a health insurance company, found that 48% of Gen Z, ages 18-24, say work “feels transactional without the ability to bond” with coworkers.

Mok said she realized she wanted that in-person human connection after working fully remotely for Robert Half.

“It was difficult to really connect with the people because I feel like that was still there, but it definitely is lacking in comparison to working in person,” she said.

Courtesy of Christine Mok.

“This was the experience that really changed me to want to have an internship in person, or at least some sort of hybrid model,” she said, because “it’s a really great group of people and it’s such an amazing community, but I would only communicate with them online.”

Though Mok said she “was definitely able to build” a strong relationship with her manager, “I didn’t have as much of an opportunity to understand not just my manager and get to know her, but also the company culture overall.”

The experience reminded her of virtual classes when in college.

“It’s really hard to make friends when you’re online because you just log off and you’re done,” she said.

In contrast, Mok said it was “very enjoyable for me being able to actually see people face-to-face” when she interned at BlackBerry on a hybrid work schedule while finishing her senior year.

Though she met coworkers for lunch, she mentioned, “even if someone does want to work in person and come in person, there’s not a lot of people that are working there.”

Still, there’s “more of a sense of community” being in person, she said.

“The little times that you spend working together or eating lunch together with your coworkers is really important,” she added.

Human connection can also help with workplace learning, experts told Insider.

“When you’re starting your career, being able to be face-to-face and with those around you allows you to pick up on social norms and company norms faster,” Cruzvergara said. “And so when you’re learning, and you’re ideally hopefully getting lots of feedback as well, being in person allows you to build some of those really core and key relationships that can help you advance within your organizations.”

Luke Pardue, economist at payroll and HR platform Gusto, also told Insider “there’s been a lot of conversation among new grads about some of the advantages of being in person.” That includes mentorship opportunities and “gaining the connections that are really important early in life.”

“It’s really important to be able to have that in-person aspect when you’re first entering the workforce,” Mok said. “You need to learn people skills, right? Like being able to communicate with people, soft skills, like how to build relationships. And I think that being online definitely takes away from that.”

Hybrid is a compromise between flexibility and the benefits of working in person

“Requiring employees to come into office at least two or three times a week is good,” Mok said, just “right now it’s really difficult to do that because people are so used to being online or people are so used to working remotely.”

But most Gen Zers still appreciate the flexibility of working from home part of the time. A.Team said 57% of college graduates in its class of 2023 survey said they “would search for a new job if their employer issued a return-to-office mandate.”

“I think it’s really about options and it’s about optionality,” Cruzvergara said. “This class, this generation, wants optionality. They don’t want to have to choose between what they view as false dichotomies, but rather how can I have the best of both? So I want to be able to go into the office, I want to have these in-person relationships in this community, and I also don’t want to have to go in five days a week.”

Mok agreed, calling the hybrid model the “best of both worlds” where “you’re still able to be flexible and have a lot of time where you’re just at home,” which she said has allowed her to go the gym everyday for her mental health.

“I’ve also met people that wanted to be fully remote” so that they can travel and “work from literally anywhere that they want,” Mok said.

“Especially for new grads, they should balance the flexibility that they have for remote work and finding new opportunities with some of the benefits of in-person work,” Pardue said.

As for Mok, she said she’s definitely looking for a post-grad job or internship where “there’s at least some sort of in-person aspect to it.”