47% of Gen Z get better career advice from ChatGPT than from their managers

Thanks to technology, young workers have answers to all types of questions at their fingertips. But when it comes to career planning, they would still prefer the help to come directly from employers. 

Fifty-four percent of employees feel completely on their own at their organization when it comes to career development, according to a recent survey from career development platform Intoo. Gen Z employees have even started to look for support elsewhere, with nearly half of young professionals claiming they get better career advice from AI programs like ChatGPT than they do for their own manager.

"Gen Zers are having a different experience as they go into their careers," says Mira Greenland, chief revenue officer at Intoo. "This generation more than any other before is really craving meaningful work, rapid opportunities and regular feedback. They've grown up with these vastly different digitally connected environments where they have everything so immediately available and personalized. They're looking for management to treat them in that same way."

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Sixty-three percent of all employees say their employer cares more about their productivity than their career development, according to Intoo's survey, and 62% of Gen Z said they would like to talk about their career more with their managers, but their manager is always too busy.

"Generally speaking, it feels like companies may be growing their company faster than they're growing their leaders," Greenland says. "Middle managers are getting promoted into leadership roles because they were the best in their role, but they're not being given the guidance to lead, such as teaching them how to build strong communication or coaching skills, which is both a shame for their team and also for the manager." 

This causes a significant issue when 84% of Gen Z considers learning and development opportunities just as or more important than a promotion or a title change, the survey found. And as a result, of the 25% of employees that claim they will likely change jobs in the next six months due to a lack of support, 44% are Gen Z. 

But there are solutions that keep young talent from fleeing, according to Greenland, one of which is prioritizing more tailored approaches that satisfy both young employees' needs to be heard and their desire to progress their careers, such as coaching and mentorship. 

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"There is a convenience about relying on programs such as Chat GPT [for younger workers] — it's available 24/7 and employees are free to seek advice on career concerns or ambitions free of judgment or negative consequences," she says. "But Gen Z does still want that human connection at work, which is why it's important for managers to be trained to invest time and effort to build and earn trust with their younger team members."

And while many employers feel hesitant to invest significant amounts of money into new L&D strategies due to high turnover rates, implementing tailored approaches does pay off in the end, according to Greenland, whether those employees stay at the company or not.  

"If everyone's pouring into their younger employees, it all comes around anyway," she says. "We need to think of learning and development programs as a larger system where we're all adding to the collective."