- Key Insight: Learn how Gen Z caregiving pressure is reshaping early-career retention and talent strategies.
- Supporting Data: 62% of Gen Z caregivers report caregiving reduces their job performance.
- Forward Look: Prepare for expanded caregiver benefits, remote-flexibility and eldercare tech adoption.
- Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
Processing Content
The role of primary caregiver is a tough responsibility for any employee, but for young talent, it's also pushing them out of the workforce before they've really started their careers.
Ninety percent of caregivers are showing burnout symptoms, according to a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. adults from health tech company LogicMark. And while caregiver fatigue has been affecting employees of all ages, the data revealed that Gen Z, the youngest caregivers in the workforce, are being hit the hardest — 62% said caregiving cuts into their job performance, compared to 44% of millennials and 45% of Gen X, and 50% said caregiving has damaged their personal relationships.
"For years we've always centered the caregiving topic around millennials and Gen X," said Chia-Lin Simmons, CEO of LogicMark. "We really never brought Gen Z into the discussion about caregiving and now they're getting pretty vocal about it."
Read more: Why Gen Z men are taking more mental health leave than their older colleagues
Much of the sudden shift is due to the fact that post-pandemic, according to Simmons, a growing number of seniors want to age independently at home rather than move into retirement communities, where they would traditionally be overseen by medical staff and caretakers. And while that plan offers them greater autonomy for elderly parents and grandparents, it also means there is a greater responsibility placed on the family caregivers, which are currently predominantly Gen Z. And the impact of that compromise, Simmons said, is more difficult for younger workers to manage than their older colleagues for a number of reasons.
First, Gen Z is still at the beginning of their careers while navigating student debt, starting families and navigating economic uncertainty. Many may feel forced to pass up career-advancing opportunities in favor of jobs closer to home or rely on remote work flexibility to take on caregiving responsibilities — two tradeoffs that can contribute to higher rates of burnout and disengagement.
"Employers are going to start missing out on the type of employees they want because those employees are accepting lesser salaries or more flexibility or more comprehensive benefits," Simmons said. "The question becomes what do you need to do in order to give people the tools to be effective employees and lift more of those caregiving burdens."
Rethinking caregiving support
In addition to commonplace benefits such as extending PTO and leave opportunities for caregivers, services like consultations with aging specialists and access to counseling for both the caregiver and their parents can be immensely helpful. Tech tools like 24/7 monitoring, emergency response and family alerts can also help reduce interruptions from nonemergency situations, such as loneliness or memory-related concerns and distribute some of those caregiving responsibilities across a broader support network. Offering personalized benefit consultation services should also be a trend leaders keep an eye out for, Simmons said, as young employees may want to tailor plans to their family's specific needs.
Read more: Gen Z demanding different benefits, falling short on AI skills
"Knowing that somebody's always there is a relief deserved by everybody," Simmons said. "If you can incorporate that feeling and that support into your benefits package, it's going to boost morale and improve employee productivity significantly."
Many organizations are currently pursuing plans for caregiving support and development that are unsustainable, according to Simmons. Without change, the workforce as a whole risks losing employees in droves should the gap in tools and assistance continue.
"We need to figure out a better way to help [Gen Z] employees," Simmons said. "Because right now they believe that being a caretaker is impacting how far they can go in their careers and in their lives [and it shouldn't]."
