Job Hopping Is a Feature Not a Bug For Gen Zers

• Younger workers are switching jobs at an increasingly rapid pace, with the traditional “company man”—who steadily builds a career at a single firm—becoming a thing of the past in an economy where gig and hybrid work are proliferating.

• Generation Z is averaging nearly one new job for each year in the workforce. This rapid pace eclipses past generations, with the gap between Gen Z and previous generations being largest in traditional industries.

• Gen Z is more likely to shop around early in their careers, trying out different roles and industries. Retention is difficult, but education-related companies and consulting firms top the list in terms of Gen Z tenure, suggesting that good pay and a purpose-driven career path are keys to getting younger workers to stick around.
  

Is the “company man” truly a relic of the past? As younger cohorts enter the workforce, their behavior is diverging sharply from that of previous generations. The traditional arc of a career—characterized by long tenure at a single company, linear progression, and decades of stability—appears to be fading. Instead, a new pattern is emerging: frequent job changes, shorter stints, and quicker transitions.

In today’s economy, workers are often rewarded with higher pay for switching jobs. Side-hustles, remote/hybrid work, and Gen Z’s focus on work-life balance and flexibility have reshaped the career choices available to them. In addition, having entered the workforce during the pandemic and the structural changes that followed, Gen Z have faced a less stable labor market. This shift away from the traditional “company man” dynamic is not just anecdotal. In today’s newsletter, we use Revelio Labs’ workforce dataset to examine how employment patterns differ across generations.

First, we look at the average number of companies a worker has been employed by over their careers (which we differentiate from part-time jobs in high school or college by only looking at positions held after the age of 21). The data clearly shows that the number of jobs per year in the workforce has steadily declined from Baby Boomers to Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. While Baby Boomers worked at an average of 3.6 companies during their 27.1 years of post-21 employment, Gen Z has already clocked 2.7 companies in just 2.8 years. Thus, Baby Boomers have averaged 7.5 years at each company of employment, while Gen Zers are averaging just one. It is important to note that our estimates may be somewhat understating the frequency of job hopping for older workers, including Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and older Millennials as they may have failed to include some jobs early in their careers in their online profiles.

The generational gap in first-job tenure is also striking. While Baby Boomers in many industries stayed in their first job for well over a decade, Gen Z averages just about a year—with the caveat that we are only considering closed positions, which would lower the tenure average by excluding ongoing jobs.

The gap between Gen Z and Millennials—who were already well versed in job hopping—in first job tenure is still substantial, ranging between 1 and 2.3 years depending on the industry. Traditional industries like Aerospace and Defense, Packaging, and Manufacturing have the largest tenure gap, while more tech and business-related services roles have the shortest.

In their first three years on the job, Gen Z workers have already moved through an average of 2.1 industries and 2.2 roles—more than any previous generation at the same stage. Millennials follow closely behind, while Gen X and Baby Boomers show more traditional and stable career starts. This pattern suggests a shift in how early careers are being navigated. Rather than settling into a single trajectory, younger workers appear to be exploring different paths early on—whether to find a better fit, gain more diverse experience, respond to changing labor market dynamics, or simply get a pay bump. For Gen Z, the first job is increasingly a stepping stone, test run, or even a side hustle. This shifting dynamic is likely to reshape how organizations approach training, retention, and long-term workforce planning.

Looking at the companies where Gen Zers tend to stick around longer, we see a number of prominent consulting firms, education nonprofits such as Teach For America, and edtech organizations including 2U. These organizations tend to offer structure, a sense of mission, and early-career development—all qualities that may resonate with younger workers navigating an uncertain job market.

While Gen Z’s career mobility is often attributed to impatience or disloyalty, it’s better understood as a response to multiple forces working in tandem: structural shifts in the labor market and a rethinking of what work should look like. Job stability has declined, and layoffs and reorganizations are more common. At the same time, side gigs, contract roles, and flexible career paths have become increasingly the norm.

Many Gen Z workers entered the labor market during the pandemic—a period that disrupted traditional career paths and reshaped expectations. Flexibility, purpose, and well-being have taken on new importance. This shift doesn’t signal a lack of commitment necessarily, but rather a pragmatic response to changing labor market conditions. While shorter tenures may foster adaptability and faster innovation, they also raise questions about continuity, institutional knowledge, and long-term workforce stability—with the overall impact on the labor market and productivity yet to be determined.