How Gen Z is Pushing for a Culture Change in Financial Services

It’s September 1987, and Francisco Negron has just graduated from college. He’s eager to accept his first full-time job. In retrospect, perhaps too eager.

The temporary call center role at T. Rowe Price paid entry-level wages and offered no health benefits. Nonetheless, 21-year-old Francisco, who was drawn to the opportunity to stay at the firm after the temporary role ended, accepted without hesitation.?

“I distinctly remember telling the recruiter, ‘Yes, that sounds great! Do you want me to start this afternoon?’” Laughing about it now, he recalls that “I didn't even think to question whether it was a fair wage or if it offered career progression. I was grateful for the opportunity, willing to keep my head down and do the work.”

35 years and two generations later, Francisco’s eagerness to accept that role would likely be in stark contrast to the Gen Z associates he now works with as Head of Client Services at our firm. While young Francisco may have been uncomfortable negotiating compensation and probing about career progression, today’s young workers aren’t and often prompt candid discussions with their employers.

Aside from higher pay and clear pathways for advancement, young workers’ heightened expectations range from greater diversity, equity, and inclusion both inside the workplace and as part of community outreach efforts, to company cultures that prioritize employee well-being. These conversations are particularly important for firms like ours, given that the financial services industry can be slow to embrace change.

New generation, new expectations

Francisco’s realization of these generational differences, as well as his understanding that substantive, sustained change doesn’t happen overnight or without collaboration, has led him to serve as an important cross-generational bridge among our associates. Though we’ve made strides in recent years, we keep an open dialogue to ensure we’re always evolving and growing as a firm.

This dialogue often happens at the regular roundtable discussions Francisco started leading two years ago with members of his team to better understand the needs of young associates and their views on what's working well for them at the firm. “These conversations are important to me and our leadership team when I’m thinking about doing something different in the organization," he says. “I always want to make sure that I have a full grasp of what every group expects and needs.”

Doing so is certainly critical for companies today. Though many employers may struggle to understand and act on the generational differences, there can be consequences for those that don’t attempt to listen and find common ground – even when viewpoints are at odds.

“There’s a huge culture shift happening,” said Danny Martinez, who is a millennial and a senior retirement consultant at T. Rowe Price. “You have this new group of Gen Z workers that are coming straight out of college, and they’re working alongside people who have been in the workforce for decades. Of course, there are going to be disagreements.”

Well-being over wages

Among the many cultural shifts that Gen Z has helped lead is the increased willingness to discuss mental health and burnout in the workplace – one of a variety of factors that affect holistic employee well-being (along with physical, financial, and social health).

Considering the toll that burnout has taken on employees—and particularly young ones—addressing mental and physical health is critical : 67% percent of Gen Z say they’re worried about their mental health , and 49% say they’ve experienced burnout at work , according to two recent surveys. And while burnout impacts workers of all generations, Gen Z has been assertive in the prioritization and boundary building between their personal and professional lives. When asked why they chose their current employer, one-third cited a need for increased work-life balance .

“Older generations are accustomed to working 60 hours a week, waking up at six in the morning, getting home at six at night. But that is so crazy for us to think about,” said Tristian Kuddar, a Gen Z associate and senior representative on our Contact Center Services team. “Gen Z is a lot less interested in that life.”

Tristian’s views are shared widely among his Gen Z colleagues. When we asked early-career associates about their most significant challenges at our firm, many cited concerns regarding work-life balance and well-being. That feedback informed important changes such as our mental health benefits and our work-from-home policy (which we discuss more below). For example, in response to associate feedback, we’ve piloted an on-site therapist program, giving associates an accessible way to speak to mental health professionals.

Tristian understands the role that employers play in either hampering or enabling work-life balance. In 2021, before he joined our firm, a severe case of COVID-19 and pneumonia landed his father in the hospital. Tristian, who lived more than a hundred miles away, asked his previous employer if he could take a week off to be with his family. His manager’s response was that he could go, but Tristian would need to work remotely the entire time.

For Tristian, who at the time had to work an additional job as a night shift restaurant server, the conversation was eye-opening. “I totally understand where they were coming from. After all, I had a job to do,” he said. “But at the same time, I didn’t think they recognized that we have lives outside of work. Mental health, family emergencies – that stuff matters so much more.”

A desire to work at a firm that supported him both inside and outside the workplace is one of the many factors that brought Tristian to T. Rowe Price. Though he was eager for a job early in his career, he also wanted to work somewhere that fostered a welcoming, respectful community and supported his desire to constantly learn and grow.

Up until joining T. Rowe, I never had a work-life balance or worked at a company that really cared about its employees and their well-being.”

Navigating the hybrid work era

Hybrid work has also surfaced in the well-being conversation. One of the most contentious topics between employers and young workers today is the evolving role of the office. Citing the benefits of in-person collaboration, employers are eager to see their employees working in person, but the employees are far less enthusiastic. According to a recent survey, 64% of Gen Z would consider looking for a new job if their employers asked them to return to the office full-time.

“This feels like an obvious thing to say, but the reality is that people are just more comfortable in their own homes,” says Danny, explaining his point of view on why employees aren’t eager to return to the pre-pandemic office-first culture. “If you're working and you feel like you’re getting stressed out, you can just sit on your couch for a minute. It’s familiar, and it’s something that can calm you down.”

Francisco, who has spent 34 years at T. Rowe Price, acknowledges that embracing remote and hybrid work hasn’t come easily to large, established firms. And in fact, some of the most vocal opponents of hybrid work have argued that employees who resist coming to the office risk jeopardizing their careers.

T. Rowe Price has embraced employee calls for increased flexibility, offering the ability to work remotely up to two days a week for most of our associates. We also offer exceptions and special accommodations for associates who need them.

“COVID pushed a lot of companies to take this giant quantum leap into something that would have taken a lot longer otherwise,” Francisco says. “Now that we’ve settled into this new normal, I’ve seen T. Rowe think differently and become more willing to say, ‘Let’s try this.’”

Paying dividends

While conversations regarding different generations tend to focus on differences, for Francisco, some of the most useful talks he’s had instead highlight similarities. For example, while Gen Z has developed a reputation for job-hopping, at our firm, he has observed factors that can drive loyalty and deeper engagement. Providing mentorship and other opportunities for early career advancement can pay dividends for younger workers and employers. Just like young Francisco, early-career associates are indeed willing to put in the work.

Consider Danny’s experience. When he joined us as a retail services associate in 2018, he says he knew nothing about the financial services business. However, he was familiar with our reputation and had heard reviews from a close friend who praised our willingness to help associates learn and grow. Danny was sold.

“My mindset was that although things may be tough starting out in an entry-level role of a business I knew little to nothing about, I knew I would have the resources and colleagues to teach me along the way and help me to grow my financial acumen,” he says.

His commitment has paid off: Over the past four years, Danny has been promoted three times, acquired four licenses, and earned his Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) designation. “I owe all of that to the things I’ve learned at this firm,” he says.

This critical nuance of younger workers’ willingness to grow and be loyal to employers is often missed amid inter-generational criticisms of Gen Z employees leaving employers that don’t meet their needs. Nearly a third of Gen Z surveyed said that learning and development opportunities were a leading reason to join their current firm, underscoring Francisco’s experience and observation that for today’s employees, particularly Gen Z, loyalty to an employer is earned, not given.

“Something that I’ve consistently observed with this generation is that when it comes to their careers, they're willing to be patient if you make it worth their while,” Francisco says. “If you have a transparent dialogue with them, if you tell them why there is value in their work, and if you tell them where you think they can go next, they’re going to be willing to work with you.”

That said, they do still expect some degree of change and want older generations to try to understand. “My dad likes to say that my generation is lazy, entitled and all that, and I always push back,” says Tristian. “I say, ‘listen dad, a quarter doesn't get anyone a movie ticket anymore – you have to work a whole hour for that. Times have changed.”?

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