It’s not long commutes, “laziness,” or even social media that’s making Gen Z and millennials want to avoid the office. Bosses looking for something to blame for young people’s love of working from home might be advised to look at their four-legged friends.
New research shows that despite having only just joined the working world, some millennials and Gen Zers are ready to reject big paychecks and corporate careers in the office to stay at home with their pet more.
The financial services firm Empower found that over a third of the youngest generation of workers would take a pay cut for a job with flexible hours to spend more time with their furry friend. Meanwhile, 34% of millennials would even turn down a higher-paying job to be with their pet more.
Although younger workers were most likely to pick their pets over higher-paying office-based jobs, Empower’s survey found that flexibility is a big priority among most workers with pets.
A staggering 57% of pet owners would switch jobs for the same pay, but more pet-friendly benefits and “pawternity leave” wouldn’t go amiss for a third of those surveyed.
Meanwhile, nearly four in 10 consider pet care costs when evaluating a job offer, and the same percentage would be more likely to follow a return-to-office mandate if they could bring their pet to the office.
Yes, pet-friendly offices are a thing now
Millions of households—a staggering 23 million in the U.S. alone—adopted a pet during the pandemic.
Now, as the economy recovers and workers threaten to quit rather than return to offices full-time, some employers are trying to make them—and their pandemic pets—happy.
Half of C-suite executives surveyed by Banfield Pet Hospital said they planned to start allowing pets in the workplace, joining the likes of Google, Amazon, Uber, Mars, and more.
“Dogs aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and the preferences of coworkers should always be respected. But I know that on our team, having dogs around makes for a happier workplace,” Molly Johnson-Jones, Flexa Careers CEO, previously told Fortune.
In her eyes, dogs at work can bring mental health benefits to everyone at their desks—even coworkers—and remove “a lot of the corporate stuffiness” that makes being in the office a drag.
“Modern-day workers want to feel like themselves at work, and sharing the space with pets can help make that easier,” the CEO said.
However it’s clear that not all leaders agree—keep in mind the other half of C-suite executives surveyed by Banfield Pet Hospital who won’t be allowing pets in their offices.
One Utah tech CEO even went as far as to praise an employee for getting rid of her pet to meet a new in-office mandate.
For most of those who would never dream of rehoming their pet to comply with rigid return-to-office mandates, they’re being left with an expensive choice to mull over: Bite the bullet (and invest in dog sitting, as many are increasingly having to do) or be more like Gen Z and potentially sacrifice salary for pet-friendly hours.
