Half of Zillennials Steer Clear of Gig Work

Among younger generations, zillennials prove uniquely hesitant to engage with the connected economy when it comes to work.

For PYMNTS’ study “The ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Series: Meet The Zillennials,” we surveyed a census-balanced panel of nearly 4,000 United States consumers to better understand zillennials, the “bridge generation” between millennials and Generation Z, a group comprised of 30 million consumers born between 1990 and 2000. The results reveal that zillennials are more hesitant than others close in age to dive into platform gigs or to do their work remotely.

Specifically, the study found that just 50% of zillennials engage in platform work, finding gig jobs through platforms such as Uber, Care.com or Upwork. While this share is larger than the population-wide average of 38%, it is significantly lower than that of other younger generations. In fact, 59% of Gen Z workers, 54% of millennials and even 52% of bridge millennials reported engaging in platform work.

Similarly, people in this bridge generation are less likely than other young consumers to work from home. Only 56% of zillennials reported doing remote work — notably lower than the nearly two-thirds of those in other young generations (64% of Gen Z, 63% of millennials and 64% of bridge millennials) who stated that they work remotely.

Interestingly, despite zillennials’ relatively low engagement with remote and platform work, they are no more likely than comparable generations to work in positions that require them to be physically present. Eighty-five percent of zillennials reported working in person, a share about equal to that of millennials, slightly lower than the 86% of bridge millennials who said the same, and significantly lower than the 91% of Gen Z workers who do their jobs on site.

As such, it seems that while zillennials are less likely than comparable generations to engage in connected work, they are no more likely to work in person.