Gen Z will give up $5,000 in pay to log off at 5—but still expects a corner office

According to the professional firm’s Winter Intern Pulse Survey, Gen Z will sacrifice on average $5,000 of their salary to achieve a better work-life balance. At the same time, a staggering 92% expressed at least some interest in achieving a C-suite or senior executive role.

Still, the survey, which includes responses from 361 KPMG U.S. winter interns across the firm’s various sectors, found that nearly a quarter (24%) say they want the “always available” mentality eliminated from the list of traditional workplace practices. Another fifth want to ditch the 9-to-5 entirely.

“Gen Z is redefining what success looks like,” said Derek Thomas, national partner-in-charge of university talent acquisition at KPMG, in a statement. “They want to reach the top professionally, but they want a life outside of work while they’re getting there.”

Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z came of age during strange days. The COVID pandemic upended any concept of workplace normalcy as millions were graduating high school, college—or entering the workforce—during a time defined by remote work and shifting expectations. The resulting Great Resignation had many leaving the workplace to prioritize the downtime they got a taste of during the pandemic. Now, even as the generation prioritizes the corner office, many are finding it hard to leave those boundaries at the door.

“It’s the want versus the reality of what it takes to actually accomplish it,” Thomas told Fortune. He attributed the contradiction partly to inexperience: most Gen Zers don’t yet grasp how long the climb really takes. “You go from seeing your career as a sprint coming out of school to realizing it truly is a marathon,” he said.

AI Is Threatening the Rungs on the Ladder

Eight in 10 respondents are at least somewhat concerned about the technology’s impact— and 10% are extremely concerned. That’s partly because AI is threatening to take the very entry-level roles that young workers are looking to assume to get their foot in the door and start their trek up the corporate ladder. 

The unemployment rate for recent college graduates is now higher than the rate for all workers, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And a recent Stanford University study found workers ages 22 to 25 in highly AI-exposed occupations, such as software development and customer service, saw a 13% drop in employment since 2022.

Still, nearly 4 out of every 5 respondents said they feel at least somewhat prepared to work alongside AI agents, or autonomous systems that can tackle personalized tasks.

“There’s certain trepidation around AI and the impact it’s having in the workplace,” Thomas said. “The Gen Zers are really leaning into AI. Like they know there’s an impact there, but they recognize that this is a shift that’s here to stay.” 

The ‘monkey bars’ to success

Thomas said AI is actually helping interns overcome the barriers that challenge entry-level workers, allowing them to focus more on human-centered skill development like communication and problem-solving. “It’s helping them get through a learning curve probably faster than they have in the past,” he said.

As for what that looks like on the ground, KPMG is launching a pilot program at Lakehouse, the professional firm’s $450 million training and innovation center in Orlando, for audit interns to address the shift toward an AI-driven workplace. The program specifically targets the growing gap created by the disappearance of entry-level tasks by using simulations and competitions to help interns gain the experience they need to navigate the workplace. The program includes sessions on how to utilize AI tools to generate the best possible outcomes for the company’s clients.

It’s all part of the shifting job landscape that Thomas says Gen Z must identify to succeed in their career. He said the current career outlook requires a paradigm shift: out with the corporate ladder, in with the more-dynamic corporate “monkey bars.”

“Your career isn’t just like a ladder. It’s like the monkey bars,” he said. You’re kind of going from here to here,” he said, gesturing as if climbing monkey bars. “But you have to be willing to adapt and pivot with it as you go.”