China’s Gen Z is giving bosses headaches and rattling the corporate cage, surveys find

If the top bun of a hamburger were to represent her company’s executives – most being members of Gen X – and the bottom bun represented their Gen Z subordinates, then Grace He would describe her team as being sandwiched in the middle, almost uncomfortably so, but an essential part of the burger.

A millennial herself at 37 years old, He is the administrative director at a Guangdong-based advertising firm. And she says it serves, in part, as a necessary role in the modern workplace, by helping to connect cross-generational employees who have differing mindsets and approaches to work.

“We need to only briefly explain how to execute a task when working with millennial colleagues. But when it comes to Gen Z colleagues [typically those born around 1997-2012], it takes extra time to carefully explain the meaning of the task – not only for the company, but also [to align with] their values,” she said.

As more and more members of Gen Z enter the workforce, 85 per cent of Chinese employers are of the thinking that cross-generation collaboration poses a degree of difficulty in the workplace, according to a 2025 China salary survey report released in December by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.

Compared with previous generations, China’s Gen Z receives more financial support from their families, are better educated, and are more individualistic. They also have significantly more say in the wealth distribution within their families than their peers in other countries.