Gen Z is changing the rules of work—and the results are redefining what professional success looks like in 2025. According to a new Glassdoor report, “career minimalism” is at the heart of this shift: younger workers see their jobs as a means to financial stability, saving real passion and ambition for hours off the clock and increasingly lucrative side hustles.
Zhao told Fortune in a more recent interview that it’s important not to generalize about whole generations or cohorts of people, but at the same time, “many younger workers and Gen Z feel like the job market isn’t working for them so some of these more traditional paths to success feel like they aren’t open in the same way that they might’ve been 10 to 20 years ago.”
If Gen Z isn’t less ambitious but also isn’t thrilled about corporate management, where’s that energy going? The report cited Harris Poll findings that 57% of Gen Z currently have a side hustle compared to 48% of Millennials, 31% of Gen X-ers, and 21% of Boomers and said Gen Z is a “true side hustle generation where work identity lives outside of traditional employment.”
Side hustles aren’t viewed as distractions or fallback options; they are central to Gen Z’s identity, offering creative, entrepreneurial, or activist outlets that main jobs cannot supply. For many, the “day job” simply finances the “passion project”—as one Glassdoor community member, an Iowa high school teacher, put it, “I always joke that I don’t dream of labor … If people were truly passionate about their job, it wouldn’t pay anything. Passion is for your 5-9 after the 9-5.”
A research analyst offered that “While having a job that you’re passionate about is really cool, it’s important to have other interests that are not tied to your work life.”
When Gen Zers do move into management, Glassdoor finds that they’re rewriting the traditional playbook. Work-life balance is a non-negotiable, not a perk: 58% reportedly dial down work in the summer, compared to 39% of older peers, while 31% expect flexible hours from Gen Z managers.
“Gen Z is reconsidering what it means to be successful at work in this moment,” Zhao said in the report. He added that “They’re not rejecting ambition — they’re redirecting it toward sustainable career paths that prioritize both financial security and personal fulfillment.”
In conversation with Fortune, Zhao said there is ample evidence of workers feeling anxious, overworked and burned out. “This is not because of laziness,” he said. What the data suggests, he added, is that Gen Z is making a rational turn away from a job market that hasn’t treated them well. “It’s not because people aren’t capable. it’s because in this current moment, many workers feel like they aren’t being rewarded for the level of effort and performance that they’re putting out there.”
While critics accuse Gen Z of laziness or entitlement, Glassdoor’s findings paint a more nuanced picture. Gen Z is setting boundaries, diversifying their professional portfolios, and putting mental health ahead of relentless advancement. They view AI as both a pathway and a potential threat, adapting to rapid disruption with agility and skepticism.
The Glassdoor report suggests that older generations have more than a few things to learn from Gen Z and this trend toward “career minimalism,” writing that it “isn’t about doing less work. It’s about being strategic about where you invest your energy.” In other words, this could be a preview of the future for everyone.
Gen Z’s approach offers a new answer to the question: “What if there’s a better way?” Their formula is simple: stable jobs for security, side hustles for passion, and strict boundaries for sustainability. Professional success no longer demands that work eclipse every other aspect of life.
As the workplace continues to change, the rise of career minimalism—fueled by Gen Z’s values—will reshape not only how people define success, but how they experience fulfillment. The future of work, it seems, may belong not to the climbers, but to those content to hop from interest to interest with purpose and self-awareness.
