Gen Z redefines professional success with the "conscious unbossing" trend

Indeed, Gen Z continues to shake up the traditional codes of the workplace. After questioning corporate Christmas parties, young adults are reconsidering the concept of professional success with "conscious unbossing", which could be translated as "consciously submitting" or "leadership without conscious domination". With this, young people born between 1997 and 2012 are deliberately avoiding management roles, which are seen, among other things, as too stressful for too little recognition. According to a 2024 study by Robert Walters, a recruitment consultancy, 52% of Gen Z do not want to become managers. The survey also revealed that 72% of Gen Z members would prefer an individual career path to advance their careers – a path that emphasizes personal development and skill accumulation – rather than accepting a leadership position (28%).

Once seen as the pinnacle of a career, the status of manager no longer attracts today's youth as much. For Gen Z, these positions are often associated with stress, rather than prestige. Furthermore, 69% of respondents stated that middle managers are too stressed and underappreciated. Known for prioritizing mental health, Gen Z rejects the idea of sacrificing work-life balance for overtime, endless meetings, performance evaluations, or managing subordinates' administrative tasks. These responsibilities seem to boil down to simple conformity with traditional professional success codes, codes they find increasingly irrelevant. In this sense, conscious unbossing does not reject leadership per se, but refuses to adhere to the traditional path of management as it currently defines what it means to be a leader.

"Young professionals are seeking to become thought leaders and specialists. They are more interested in building their personal brand, developing niche expertise, and contributing to meaningful projects," explains Lucy Bisset, director of Robert Walters North. The younger millennials are in search of meaning and a sense of accomplishment, aspirations that cannot be fulfilled through the traditional path of career progression. Thus, companies need to reinvent hierarchical structures to meet the needs of young people by redefining the role of managers, who should become facilitators, coaches, rather than "managers" for example. In any case, it seems that young people will continue to challenge the established rules of the professional world to prioritize mental health and well-being. We can expect more lasting changes when Generation Alpha starts their careers.