Access our findings from the 2024 Workplace Culture and Trends here.
Key findings
- Workers face a disconnect between career growth and ambition. Workers remain ambitious in their careers, but face few opportunities for growth. Younger workers are also adopting different habits for their career progression: they are more willing to leave their current job to advance their careers, but also believe that good performance in their assigned duties warrant promotion.
- The rise of the “side hustle”: workers are increasingly looking beyond a 9-5 job, with the majority either pursuing or considering pursuing additional income sources. A few notable factors drive this trend: saving for specific financial goals, needing extra income to cover basic expenses, and an overall desire to develop new skills or pursue passion projects. Finances are a major influence on career decisions, with many workers delaying major life milestones until reaching a certain income level.
- Tensions arise between work-life balance and “always-on” culture: While most workers report a healthy work-life balance, most also believe sacrificing personal time is necessary for career success. A majority report both receiving and responding to work-related communications outside of work hours. Tension surrounding boundaries arise as a substantial percentage of workers feel pressured to respond outside of work hours, due to fears of negative perceptions from managers or coworkers.
- Managers balance expectations between higher ups and individual contributors: Managers face a disconnect between individual contributors and higher ups, with differences in experiences and expectations of company transparency, promotional requirements, growth opportunities, work-life balance, productivity, and effort.
Workers face a disconnect between career growth and ambition
- Nearly half of workers (43%) say there are little to no opportunities for growth at their current job
- 48% of experienced professionals or individual contributors feel a lack of opportunity, compared with 43% of entry-level ICs and only 37% of those in management positions or higher
- Gen Z workers are itching for more opportunities
- Gen Z are less satisfied and content with where they are compared to older workers:
- Only 28% are satisfied and content with where they are currently, with half actively pursuing growth or change (54%), and one in five (18%) feeling stuck or not sure about next steps
- Comparatively 38% of Millennial workers and 47% of Gen X workers are satisfied
- Gen Z workers are also more likely than older workers to pursue career growth at another company, rather than moving up at their current company (33% vs. 24% for Millennials and 22% for Gen Xers)
- Gen Z are less satisfied and content with where they are compared to older workers:
- While most workers (70%) believe that job promotions require workers going above and beyond their current main responsibilities, Gen Z and Millennial workers are more likely to think that those who do a good job with what they are assigned to do are also deserving of promotions (31% and 33%, respectively, compared with 23% of Gen X workers)
- Individual contributors are more likely than Manager+ to think that doing a good job with existing responsibilities is sufficient for a promotions (31% vs. 23%)
- Two in three workers (64%) are aiming for top leadership positions (executive, C-Suite, owner) sometime in their career
- Gen Z workers are especially ambitious, with 80% saying they want to reach top levels, compared with 70% of Millennial workers, and 57% of Gen X workers
- Individual contributors are much less interested in top positions, compared with Manager+ (58% vs. 76%)
- Women show less interest than men in reaching top positions (58% vs. 68%, respectively)
- Workers who are not interested in top positions (NET do not really or absolutely do not want to) are split between maxing out as an individual contributor or as a supervisor, manager, or team lead (37% each)
- Financial security or status, and opportunities for challenges and improvement drive worker motivation
- Nearly half of workers cite opportunities for improvement (47%) and financial security or status (47%) as their main motivations for doing their best work in their current job
- 42% cite working with others that inspire them
- 41% cite positive perceptions from others
- 37% cite career growth
- 36% cite work-life balance
Rise of the side hustle: workers pursue income sources outside of their primary job
- Beyond the 9-5: workers yearn for passive income (e.g. investments, real estate) and owning their own businesses as an alternative to their standard job (46% and 42%, respectively)
- One in four (26%) Gen Z also consider a career as a social media influencer or content creator
- Three in four workers (72%) have a “side hustle” or are considering one
- 37% have one, 35% are considering pursuing one
- Most have or consider a side hustle for saving up for specific financial goals (48%), needing extra income to survive (44%), or developing new skills (37%)
- 70% of workers overall believe that workers should also be looking for income sources beyond their main job
- Finances are also a main driver for job and career choices (job choice, ambition, working hours): two in three (66%) say money has a major influence, while 27% cite a minor influence
- Most workers (88%) are also waiting to reach a certain income level before pursuing major life milestones
Work-life balance/communication
- Most workers have jobs that provide a healthy work-life balance (78%), but the majority (65%) also believe that sacrificing work-life balance is necessary to have a successful career
- Hustle culture: more than half of workers (55%) say working long hours and being “always-on” is prevalent at their company (NET Most or all teams / Many teams but not universal)
- An overwhelming 85% of workers say they receive work-related communications (e.g. emails, messages, calls) outside of standard work hours at least a few times a month; 60% receive them at a few times a week or more frequently. Among those who receive communications:
- Three in five (58%) respond outside of working hours at least a few times a week (30% at least once a day, 28% a few times a week). Only 6% say they never respond outside of work hours
- Workers are split on responding to all communications right away, or only for urgent messages (46% each). Only 7% wait until the next workday to respond
- Workers largely don’t mind receiving emails, calls, or messages outside of work hours:
- 30% expect them and don’t mind
- 30% are indifferent
- 25% feel appreciated or needed
- Gen Z is more likely than Millennials or Gen X workers to feel appreciated or needed (30% vs. 24% and 23%, respectively)
- 10% feel happy
- Gen Z is more likely than Millennials or Gen X workers to feel happy receiving work communications outside of standard hours (19% vs. 11% and 7%, respectively)
- 18% feel annoyed
- 14% feel anxious or stressed
- Some workers feel pressured to respond: one in three (34%) feel that not responding to messages will lead to negative perceptions toward their job performance from managers or coworkers
- The majority of workers have worked while sick within the last year (74%)
Managers balance different experiences and expectations between higher ups and individual contributors
Managers face a disconnect between individual contributors and higher ups, with differences across nearly all aspects of the workplace experience
- Expectations of company transparency - individual contributors are less comfortable inquiring with senior leaders about company strategy and direction
- One in three individual contributors (32%) think senior leadership would be fully supportive and transparent when being asked about company strategy and finances, lower than the 56% of senior leaders who think so
- Promotional requirements - senior leaders have higher expectations for the type of work that deserves a promotion
- 31% of individual contributors think doing a good job with what they are assigned to do warrants a promotion at work, compared to only 22% of senior leaders
- Individual contributors are less optimistic about growth within their company
- 53% of individual contributors say there are growth opportunities available to them at their company, compared to 68% of senior leadership
- Senior leaders are more likely to expect workers to sacrifice work-life balance if they want to succeed
- 63% of individual contributors think that workers generally need to sacrifice work-life balance to have a successful career, compared with 74% of senior leaders
- Individual contributors experience different challenges in their productivity compared to senior leaders
- Individual contributors more often experience burnout or low motivation (33% vs. 20%) and a lack of clear priorities (31% vs. 19%) as their main productivity roadblocks, while senior leaders more often point to unnecessary meetings (31% vs. 22%), and general workplace distractions (30% vs. 22%)
- Individual contributors are motivated differently than senior leaders
- They are more likely to be driven by financial security (51% vs. 42%), working with others that inspire them (44% vs. 37%), being recognized by others (44% vs. 35%), advancing their career (39% vs. 30%), and having time outside of work (39% vs. 30%)
Remote work confessions
- Three in ten workers (31%) have worked remotely from a location significantly different from their usual work setup: Half of those who work hybrid (57%) or mostly/fully remote (48%) admit to doing so, while one in four (27%) of those who work mostly in person have done so in the last year
- Two in five workers admit to having ever taken a work call from a car (44%), while one in three (35%) admit to doing so while on personal vacation
- 30% have done so in bed while not dressed for work
- 23% have from a coffee shop or public space
- 19% from the bathroom
- 18% from a party of social gathering
- 14% on public transportation
- While working in a public setting,
- 45% have taken a work call
- 31% have discussed work with colleagues
- 21% joined a video call
- 14% accessed work documents over public Wi-Fi
- 11% worked with their screen visible to others
- 7% shared their screen during a meeting using public Wi-Fi
- Four in ten (40%) workers admit to pretending to be busy at work while doing something unrelated to work (32% once in a while, 9% regularly).
- Remote workers are equally likely as in-person workers to do so (40% vs. 39%, respectively), while hybrid workers admit to doing so at a higher rate (56%)
Workers' top workplace pet peeves
- Workers are most annoyed by meetings that could be replaced by emails or messages: 22% of find unnecessary meetings to be the most annoying workplace behavior
- 13% cite taking too long to respond to messages
- 12% cite coworkers taking too many breaks
- 11% cite unnecessary “Reply all” email responses
- 7% cite excessive use of corporate jargon or buzzwords
- 7% cite interactions where others message “Hi” but wait for a reply before sharing any other details
- Only 4% cite messages or emails that are too casual
- When asked what workers find to be the most unrealistic workplace expectations,
- 18% cite unlimited PTO and frequent mental health breaks
- 18% also cite constant expectations of praise or validation
- 14% cite switching jobs every 1-2 years for a raise
- 11% cite working at the same company for life
- 11% cite fully remote work
- 5% cite 4-day work weeks
- Boil the ocean is seen as the most outdated or meaningless corporate buzzword (32%)
- 27% cite “Thinking outside the box”
- 26% cite “Synergy”
- 25% cite “Low-hanging fruit”
- 24% cite “Move the needle”
- 22% cite “Circle back”
- 20% cite "Bandwidth"
- 18% cite "Touch base"
Workers use AI to do work without notifying managers or clients
One in five workers (20%) have used generative AI for work without telling their manager, and 15% have done so without explicitly notifying customers or users of their product or service. Managers are more likely than individual contributors to admitting to both scenarios:
- 29% admit to using AI to do their work without telling their manager, compared to 14% of individual contributors
- 23% admit to using AI to do their work without explicitly notifying customers or users, compared to 10% of individual contributors
Low salary and poor company reputation drive job applicants away
10% cite job applications that require cover letters
- Low salary, negative company reputation are the leading red flags when applying for jobs
- 63% of workers say job postings that offer salaries too low for the expected experience and skills make them less likely to apply
- 54% cite negative brand or company reputation
- 49% are less likely to apply to jobs that do not provide salary or wage information
- 44% cite unclear job descriptions or postings
- 34% cite irregular or nonstandard work schedules
- 20% cite job applications that require them to manually re-enter information
Methodology: This SurveyMonkey study was conducted between July 25 to August 3, 2025 among a sample of 3,573 full time workers in the US. Respondents for this survey were selected from a non-probability online panel. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 2.0 percentage point. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the overall demographic composition of the United States.
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