Gen Z @ Workplace: Loyalty Redefined

She made a post in LinkedIn and asked, “why do we have to give reasons for taking leave? Can’t we simply say we are on leave?” And then this post perplexed me when he said, “why does the boss need to shout to show that he is in command? Why can’t he simply leave us alone and wait for the results to come? Whereas, strict discipline and accommodating seniors’ rigidity were always considered flipside of workplace environment, the Gen Z has tagged it as workplace toxicity. At times certain comments leave us wondering whether the previous generations were actually living the right way! The candid and outspoken Gen Z is often tagged as lazy, highly volatile, uncommitted, and lacking loyalty. As a counter argument, these digital-natives consider themselves as smart workers, digitally savvy, capable of bargaining for self-wellbeing and respectful work culture. In this backdrop, the article tries to explore the neo-reality of a workplace that hires Gen Z.

Generation Z (Gen Z) is the cohort that comes after Millennials and before Generation Alpha, generally defined as people born from the mid to late 1990s to the early 2010s, with 1997–2012 being the most commonly used range. Globally and in India, they are often described as “digital natives” because they are the first generation to grow up with widespread internet, smartphones, and social media from childhood.

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Generation Z’s entry into Indian workplaces is recrafting the meaning of work, careers, and loyalty. Digital fluency, a strong preference for flexibility, and a demand for meaningful work and mental well‑being make their behaviour visibly different from earlier cohorts. They are often found uncomfortable with hierarchy, monitoring, and “9‑to‑5” discipline. At the same time, research and large‑sample surveys suggest that Gen Z is not anti‑work; rather, this cohort is intensely focused on growth, autonomy, and ethical alignment, and is prepared to walk away quickly from environments that do not meet their expectations. 

Studies on Indian Gen Z professionals show a pattern of high ambition combined with low tolerance for outdated systems and opaque leadership. They engage more actively when work is collaborative, tech‑enabled, and outcome‑oriented rather than process‑heavy and ritualistic. They expect informal, approachable relationships with managers and are more likely to challenge decisions or ask “why” instead of accepting instructions. 

Research on work values in Indian IT/ITeS and service sectors finds Gen Z scoring higher on desire for variety, learning, and purposeful work, and lower on deference to hierarchy and long‑tenure security compared with older generations. Surveys also indicate that they are more willing to switch employers or even industries to maintain alignment with their own wellbeing and values, which manifests as job hopping but is linked to a strong internal performance and growth orientation. 

Across Indian and global surveys, Gen Z’s expectations cluster around four themes: flexibility, growth, wellbeing, and fairness. Their key expectations include, flexibility and work–life balance; learning and career mobility career growth, and freedom to stretch roles, and real‑time feedback. They also expect workplaces to demonstrate genuine commitment to mental health, inclusion, and ethical conduct rather than lip‑service. Gen Z’s expectations highlight a preference for cultures that are inclusive, diverse, and psychologically safe, where questioning, experimentation, and speaking up are not penalised. Compensation and financial security remain non‑negotiable baselines, but engagement depends more on whether the role offers purpose, respect, and growth. 

With so many demands in the air, employers may find them compulsive and impatient. However, the positive side of engaging them includes getting a high‑value contributor in terms of innovation, adaptability, and digital enablement. Their comfort with matrix structures, cross‑functional collaboration, and asynchronous work also supports more fluid, project‑based ways of organizing work that many firms in India are moving toward. In addition, their insistence on ethics, inclusion, and sustainability can push organisations to strengthen ESG practices and employer branding. 

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Overall, the Gen Z mindset does not mean they reject organisations outright; instead, they view employment as one component of a broader, diversified career portfolio. That orientation reinforces their willingness to change roles, negotiate boundaries, and avoid over‑identifying with a single employer, which can appear as low loyalty through a traditional lens. Gen Z’s engagement and loyalty might have to be re-evaluated and appraised not in terms of working hours or length of tenure, but in terms of projects completed and innovative contributions.

In hierarchical Indian settings that still equate obedience with professionalism, there needs to be paradigm shift in the way the Gen Z loyalty must be viewed. Their approach work, values and ethics must be seen through the lens of ‘here and now’ rather than ‘in and for the future’. Given that the upcoming times don’t have options; the Indian employers have to bring about a change in their POV as for the Gen Z it is “Che sara sara; what will be shall be!”