Today’s employment landscape has changed, and its growth isn’t done yet.

Much of its evolution is due to the pandemic. Priorities shifted and access to digital assets improved – a perfect storm for employees to demand more flexibility in their day to day.

But other factors emerged too – and most of them align with what the younger generation values: more emphasis placed on mental health and well-being, receiving feedback and mentorship from peers and upper management, and prioritizing quality over quantity in terms of the time spent on work and projects.

So how can the workforce evolve based on new talent and their demands? Leger, one of Canada’s polling, market research and analytics firms, recently conducted a survey to determine exactly how millennials and Gen Z cohorts are working now, so businesses can determine how to best motivate and retain talent.

Overall, the study confirmed that young people’s priorities have shifted, and even found that work doesn’t take the top spot in what they value. Just over half of respondents said that work was an important part of their lives, but it didn’t rank number one. In fact, it was more likely that people said that work was simply a way to pay their bills (28%) over those who responded that work was the centre of their lives (16%).

But that doesn’t mean they’re interested in making a change when it comes to employment. Nearly three-quarters said they weren’t planning to leave their jobs in 2023. Compared to last year, there’s been a drop in those who were planning to quit – in 2021, 25% said they were going to say sayonara, while this year, it’s only 13%.

Of those who said they’d like to leave their job in 2023, the top three reasons were because they wanted a salary bump (48%), wanted to take on a new challenge (44%), or that there was a lack of opportunity for advancement in their company (36%).  Rounding out the bottom, respondents said their reason for leaving was wanting to move to another location (18%), that they didn’t believe in their employer’s mission (12%), or that they didn’t get along with their supervisor (12%).

When asked what their employer could do to convince them to stay, the results showed that money talks: over half (59%) said a salary increase would do it. A boost in benefits, or increased freedom in schedule and location tied for second (24%).

Now to address a controversial trend: quiet quitting. With other studies citing that work productivity is up, along with a positive correlation between mental well-being and accomplishing tasks in the workplace, Leger rounds out the feedback that debunks this myth. It reports that nearly half of young workers do more than what’s expected of them at work (47%), while another close-to-half said they do exactly what’s expected of them (48%). Only 2% said that they do less than what’s expected.

Respondents were asked about the qualities they valued most in their managers, and the results point to desiring a positive environment that promotes their development. Most respondents said they valued a manager who created a pleasant work environment (39%), with the majority of remaining responses having to do with mentorship and feedback such as being honest with them (33%), listening to their needs (29%), helping them to develop (25%) and having clear expectations (25%).

On the corporate level, young people most valued a fair salary (45%), flexibility in scheduling (29%) and providing adequate benefits and job security (28%).