For young people, growing financially and taking on a management position are no longer synonymous Christin Klose/dpa-tmn/picture alliance Growing your career, earning more and achieving good benefits is the dream of practically every worker. But, for younger people, this path does not always involve a leadership position. This is what global surveys indicate, such as the survey by consultancy Deloitte, carried out in 2025. Only 6% of respondents from Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2010) and millennials, or generation Y (born between 1978 and 1994), said that their main professional objective was to reach a management position. On the other hand, the same study reveals a growing concern about finances. Among participants, 48% of Generation Z and 46% of millennials said they did not feel financially secure. In 2024, these rates were 30% and 32%, respectively, which represents a significant worsening in just one year. In this scenario, earning more money and taking on a management position are no longer necessarily interconnected objectives. This is a global trend that is also reflected in Brazil. Why do young people quit their jobs more often? See how each generation thinks Leadership, yes — but under certain conditions Rejection of leadership is far from being a general rule. For Lina Nakata, professor and researcher at FIA Business School and author of the study Incredible Places to Work, it is a myth to say that younger generations do not want to lead. In the first half of this year's survey that he coordinates, young people are 32% less likely to want leadership positions compared to the average professional. Among those interviewed aged 18 to 22, leading is a priority for 15%. Among those aged 33 to 39 — the age group that shows the greatest interest in management positions — the percentage rises to 23%. “As we advance in our careers within companies, this expectation of leadership increases,” he says. According to her, at the beginning of their professional career, occupying a management position is not always among workers' main ambitions. For Nakata, young people have not stopped wanting to lead; they only wish to do so under certain conditions. "They will want leadership as they identify with the organization. When they realize that they agree with what the company proposes and that the institutional discourse is aligned with the company's practices", he analyzes. The researcher also points out that labeling younger people as "disinterested" in leadership is far from being new. The same criticism, he says, was directed at millennials when they entered the job market. "When each young group arrives on the job market, they adapt. Being in that environment changes perceptions and evaluations, and people start to see other possibilities. At the beginning of their career, there may be less interest in leadership, but this changes over time. When generation Y arrived on the market, exactly the same thing was said", he says. Although the financial situation is a concern for young people, the researcher points out that there is a greater preference for benefits and quality of life Viorel Kurnosov/Zonar/picture alliance Change of priorities, not lack of ambition Currently, according to the survey, 15% of young people see leadership as a factor in professional fulfillment, which, for the teacher, relativizes the idea that there is a widespread rejection of management positions. "It doesn't mean that no young people want to be a leader. It just means that there is a smaller proportion of young people who seek that leadership." The first point to understand, according to Nakata, is that the drop in interest in management positions does not reflect a lack of ambition, but a change in success criteria. "I wouldn't say it's a lack of ambition. They are different expectations and beliefs about what success is in life. Decades ago, there was a more standardized model of professional success, based on reaching higher positions and higher salaries. Today, we see that the perception of achievement and what is considered satisfactory for life and one's professional trajectory has changed", he explains. The professor states that young people tend to question the assumptions that the job market itself establishes as synonymous with success. For her, this is positive because it avoids the naturalization of ideas such as that "being a workaholic is cool" or that "being stressed is part of the routine". Furthermore, topics such as mental health began to be discussed more openly. Social media Mateus Araújo, 28 years old, is part of this group. He turned down a proposal to coordinate his team because he considered that the new position required a different profile than his. "I didn't imagine that I would be considered as the next name in the succession. Despite doing a good job, I believe that the profiles are different." According to him, the main reason for refusing the proposal was to discern that the responsibilities of the position offered were quite different from those he held until then. Furthermore, the change would mean giving up a routine that I already considered consolidated and under control. Today, his professional priorities include stability, quality of life and flexibility to carry out freelance work "in a calm routine". Still, he does not rule out taking on a leadership position in the future. Young people nowadays tend to evaluate the pros and cons of taking on a higher position more than previous generations Channel Partners/Zoonar/picture alliance The impact of longevity According to Nakata, this change is also related to increased life expectancy. Deloitte research showed that around 40% of Generation Z and millennials worry that they will not be able to retire financially comfortably. With people living longer — and, consequently, working longer — quality of life began to influence career decisions from an early age. "Today we have