Gen Zs like Flynn are happy to career hop until they find a job that makes them happy

Flynn Phelan is one of the many generation Zs who have career hopped early in their working lives in an effort to find a job that makes them happy.

It’s a tactic that has started to put pressure on employers. 

Mr Phelan graduated high school at 17 and, like many young people, decided to complete an apprenticeship.

But he started craving something new after five years as a soil tester working in central Queensland.

“I looked at myself in the mirror and I said, ‘What are you good at?'” he said.

Mr Phelan said he realised he liked talking to people so he swapped his boots for suits to give real estate a go.

“I’m a lot happier, I love my job, and I actually like coming in [to work],” he said.

Mr Phelan, 23, is one of a growing cohort of gen Z and millennials who are changing careers five, 10 or 15 years into their working lives.

A 2023 study by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) estimated that one in four workers under the age of 30 were considering a career change, equating to nearly 700,000 people. 

RMIT Online chief executive Nic Cola said there had been a “seismic shift” in people’s attitudes towards work.

“Almost 30 per cent of Australians under 30 were saying that in the next year that they were looking to actually move careers,” Mr Cola said.

“That’s actually quite a big, big shift in the workforce.”

In Rockhampton, Jessica Jones also decided to change careers in her 20s.

The 28-year-old millennial was a barista in the small WA town of Geraldton before taking up a trade as a painter one-and-a-half years ago.

Ms Jones said she decided to switch careers because she wanted to be more fulfilled and happier at work.

“I can see the end result of the [the work] I am putting the effort into,” she said.

She said she had not looked back.

“I think that it is our generation now is clueing on to that the fact that there are other options … we can do something that we enjoy because we have to be there for the majority of our day,” she said.

Happiness more important

Mr Cola said pay and job satisfaction were the big motivators for career changes.

He said younger Aussies did not have the same career loyalty of previous generations.

“They’ve got different needs and different value drivers at different points in their career,” Mr Cola said.

Mr Phelan said he could see the generational shift.

“My parents were more so ‘Let’s get a job so we can pay the bills and what not’ whereas I want to find something that makes me happy,” he said.

“[It is] because we’re still so young, we want to change and understand what we actually want to do, not just stick with one thing.”

Gen Zs can expect to have as many as 17 jobs and up to seven careers over the course of their working lives.

How is this impacting employers?

Capricornia Chamber of Commerce president Jason Foss said the trend had already impacted employers.

“If you’re constantly training new people up or having them leave and move on, as an employer that becomes frustrating,” he said. 

“That adds to the cost of running the business and the quality of the service.”

He said industries that required skilled workers were most affected by the trend, but it was being felt across the board. 

Mr Cola said companies had to adapt to the needs of younger workers, such as offering upskilling and flexible working arrangements, to keep them in the organisation for longer.

“Most of the strategies are really about how do we get an extra two, three, five years by moving this generation across different roles within the organisation,” he said.

Mr Foss agreed.

“If your staff are looking to upskill, you should be grabbing that with both hands,” he said.

Mr Phelan’s manager, Matt O’Brien, said hiring people from different industries was advantageous.

“It just means they’ve got some life experience,” he said.

Gen Z a ‘savvy cohort’

University of Technology Sydney Enterprise Learning Strategy director Fiona Anson was the chief executive of a tech company that focused on job creation, supply, and demand for nearly a decade.

She said gen Z were the most savvy cohort of workers because they were willing to jump ship for better working conditions.

“They’re looking at well, ‘What’s in this for me? How do I climb the career ladder? How do I find organisations that align with my goals? How do I make sure that I’m being adequately rewarded for my time?'” she said.

Ms Anson said millennials were the first cohort of workers who began to question the work-life balance.