Clear career paths, strong onboarding can turn young employees from flight risks into potential future leaders: experts
Younger workers in Gen Z and Gen Alpha are often accused of swiping right on jobs with the same commitment they bring to dating apps, with the expectation that they don’t stick around very long.
A recent US survey of employees and hiring managers seems to support this view, as more than half of Gen Z professionals said they took a job they knew was short-term and low-commitment, while only one in four said they’re invested in their job long-term.
But HR leaders who write off early-career churn as proof that young workers just aren’t loyal are missing the real drivers of that behaviour – and taking on turnover costs they could soften, according to Lindsay Coffin, principal research associate at the Conference Board of Canada, which will change its name to Signal49 Research as of Jan. 26, 2026.
“Our data suggests that the strongest predictors of movement are tenure, pay, and job quality — not age,” says Coffin. “The behaviour isn’t unique to this younger generation — it’s consistent with what we’ve always seen earlier in a career as historically, people earlier in their careers have always changed jobs more often.”
Why should HR care about younger worker retention?
Alexandra Tillo, senior talent marketing consultant at Indeed Canada, believes in the importance of focusing on younger workers in an organization’s retention strategy. “When you have someone in your company and they understand your culture and the organization, it costs a lot of money to have to have to hire and onboard someone [to replace them],” says Tillo. “You want to take care of the people you already have and encourage longevity — it’s been a bit of a buzzword, but companies are really trying to invest in upskilling and ways to elevate their workforce and keep them longer.”
The US survey, by Gateway Commercial Finance, also found that less than half of young professionals believe that staying loyal to one employer is rewarded in today’s job market.
Tillo says that employers are mistaking structural realities for moral failings.
“I really think that’s a perception that Gen Z lacks loyalty, because what we’re observing is shorter job tenure among the younger generation,” she says. “When you’re younger, you’re looking for career mobility, so if they don’t find career mobility in their current company, then they’re going to look elsewhere.”
Coffin agrees, noting that the Conference Board of Canada’s own survey conducted last year reveals that younger workers are disproportionately impacted or are in roles that naturally have higher turnover — for example, nearly six in 10 younger workers earn less than $50,000 annually, while only 21 per cent of other age groups do. “An average tenure for the 18-to-24 age group is about two years, and 41 per cent of employees with less than two years in their role, regardless of age, say that they're more likely to search for a job,” says Coffin.
The first two years: where employers have leverage
If companies are serious about moving beyond the “situationship” for promising young workers, they need to focus on the first two years of tenure, according to Coffin.
“Organizations can absolutely influence retention early in the employment relationship,” she says. “That first two-year window is really important, but it’s also where employers have the most leverage.”
Coffin suggests that HR leaders can focus on things like developing clear career pathways, strong onboarding, mentorship, and competitive starting compensation, which can all measurably reduce early — and costly — turnover and help organizations keep promising young employees, who down the line could make valuable contributions or factor into succession planning.
Tillo agrees that having visible career paths is a key ingredient to build loyalty from the younger generation of workers. “It's around career progression, so when I onboard someone, is the onboarding structured and am I explaining correctly the organization’s development in an internal mobility program?” she says. “It’s not just basic benefits, it’s how do you perceive the employee in your company moving in the longer term — I think that's a big miss for some companies.”
What young workers actually want from work
According to Coffin, opportunity for career growth is a strong predictor of whether people plan to leave an organization. “Dissatisfaction with career progression is one of the strongest predictors of turnover intentions, and that's across all employees,” she says. “So having a robust career progression or career pathways within your organization can help reduce that turnover, because individuals see that they can progress within an organization.”
Despite the noise about “lazy” or “entitled” young workers, the younger generation’s priorities are straightforward, says Tillo. “The number one, no surprise, is salary, and the second one is how much they enjoy their job,” she says. “With the older generation, the salary was the main motivation, but the younger generation is very into, ‘What does it bring for me, does it align with my values, and am I actually enjoying what I'm doing?”
According to the Gateway survey, salary is the top reason for younger workers to consider leaving their job, with mental health and advancement as the next two factors.
Tillo believes that the onboarding process needs to be very clear about what the tasks entail and how that job aligns with the company's mission, as it’s something that resonates with younger workers.
Pay matters, but so do other things
Many employers respond to rising turnover intent by tweaking pay bands and throwing in a few new benefits, but Coffin suggests that’s a narrow and often ineffective response, based on a 2025 Conference Board study on turnover intentions.
“Yes, salary matters,” she says. “But more often than not, those who are leaving are leaving because of things like poor leadership, toxic or hostile work environments, work-life balance — things like that are really influencing people to look for opportunities elsewhere,” she says.
Tillo sees similar trends in Indeed’s Job Hopping and Trends Survey from early 2025, where the top motivators for younger workers after pay were enjoyment of their job and job security.
A particular element that separates younger worker from older generations is that they leans toward more time in the office rather than remote work, according to both Coffin and Tillo.
“Our research shows that younger workers actually prefer more in-person days than other age groups,” says Coffin. “That likely reflects that need for learning, mentorship, structure, social connection — all those kinds of things that young workers benefit from being in an in-person environment.”
“Eighty-two per cent of Gen Z respondents feel that it’s a positive impact on their experience to have some time in the office,” says Tillo, referring to Indeed’s survey. “They really appreciate having a mentor and having someone to build rapport in the company to help them, sharpen their skills and understand the market better, and build that sense of belonging.”
Identifying levers to support early-career employees
Coffin also points out that HR has more information than it often uses about what might convince workers who aren’t as tethered to put down stakes. “Employers now have access to far better data,” she says. “It can give them really clear insights into the levers that can help support early career employees and improve that retention within their organizations — what that looks like will vary from organization to organization, but organizations collect tons of data, so if they take a strategic look at why folks are leaving, it might give them insight to where they can improve at an organizational level.”
While younger workers have always been more mobile and frequently move between organizations, recognizing their motivation and incorporating that knowledge into organizational strategy might be enough to entice young employees to stay and fuel the organization’s success as their career develops, according to Coffin.
“Turnover is expensive, so improving any kind of retention strategies is something that organizations should absolutely invest in,” she says. “It’s worth investing in — you can't totally eliminate it, but you can stabilize it.”
