New Delhi: More than one in three Gen Z professionals in corporate India are unwilling to stay in a single job beyond two to three years, prioritising growth, work-life balance and mental well-being over long-term tenure, a Naukri survey released on Tuesday found.
The finding comes from Naukri’s Voices @ Work: The Gen Z Work Code report, based on responses from over 23,000 Gen Z professionals across more than 80 industries, and points to a fundamental shift in how India’s youngest workers evaluate career stability.
Contrary to the perception that frequent job-hopping is driven by pay hikes, the report shows that Gen Z’s shorter job tenures are closely tied to unmet expectations regarding learning and work-life balance. Many respondents indicated they would consider switching roles once skill acquisition slows or work-life boundaries erode, even in the absence of immediate financial gains.
Work-life balance emerged as a central factor shaping job decisions. About 50% of Gen Z respondents said it was the most critical consideration in evaluating job offers, apart from salary. The importance of balance increased with experience, rising to nearly 60% among those with five to eight years in the workforce, suggesting that tolerance for long or inflexible work hours declines over time.
Career growth, the report found, is overwhelmingly defined as upskilling rather than vertical movement. As many as 57% of respondents equated career growth with learning new skills on the job, compared with 21% who prioritised salary hikes and 12% who cited promotions. The preference for skill-based growth was particularly pronounced in creative roles such as design and advertising, where 78% of respondents identified learning as their primary growth driver.
Recognition preferences further reinforce this pattern. Around 81% of Gen Z professionals said they value access to growth opportunities—such as training, certifications or exposure to new projects—over verbal appreciation or public praise. Only 9% considered praise alone to be meaningful. While higher earners in the ₹15-25 lakh salary bracket showed relatively greater interest in monetary rewards, growth-linked recognition remained dominant across income levels.
The report also provides a detailed look at workplace stressors affecting Gen Z’s mental health. Lack of work-life balance emerged as the leading stressor, cited by 34% of respondents, followed closely by limited growth opportunities at 31%. Toxic colleagues were identified as a source of stress by 19% of Gen Z professionals.
Notably, micromanagement ranked lowest among reported stressors at 16%, a sharp contrast to Millennials, 25% of whom cited micromanaging bosses as a major mental health concern. The divergence points to a generational shift in workplace tolerance, with Gen Z appearing more affected by structural issues such as workload and stagnation than by managerial styles alone.
Company values matter to Gen Z primarily through the lens of transparency. About 65% of respondents said transparency and fairness were the most important organisational values, far outweighing diversity and inclusion (11%), environmental policies (16%) and social impact focus (8%).
The emphasis on transparency strengthened with experience: among Gen Z professionals with five to eight years of experience, 71% ranked transparency first, compared with 63% among those with zero to two years of experience in the workforce, indicating a rising intolerance for opaque pay structures, unclear promotion pathways, and inconsistent decision-making as careers progress.