20-somethings learn to love their corporate jobs
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Connor Hubbard spends his days as a senior benefits analyst at a manufacturing company like any other cubicle drone. Except that millions of people watch him do it.
Some days Hubbard, 29 years old, leaves for lunch at 11 a.m. sharp, walking to the office elevator and heading home to microwave a meal. Others, he visits a fast-food drive-through, eating in his car and back in his office swivel chair by 11:50.
In videos of his routine posted to TikTok, he flashes a thumbs-up to the camera and gets back to work. The viewers who follow and comment on Hubbard’s mundane slices of office life in Dallas say they enjoy watching someone who is so calm at work or wish for a role like his. Hubbard and self-described “corporate girlies" and guys show how Gen Z and younger millennial workers—often viewed by their elders as “quiet quitters" and difficult colleagues—are loudly embracing corporate life and the stability of a paycheck.
Gen Z has overtaken baby boomers in the workforce this year, with 21 million of them employed full time in the U.S., according to an analysis from job-ranking site Glassdoor. They account for more than a third of all hires and 16.8% of the total workforce, according to payroll and HR data analyzed by ADP Research. The oldest members of Gen Z are 27, three years shy of the big 3-0.
The youngest are 12, long from their office years. Young workers in previous generations have questioned the value of corporate life before ultimately settling into the 40-hour workweek. Today’s junior employees say they are pleasantly surprised with their office jobs and the structure they offer, especially when jobs are harder to get.
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