NEW INC. MAGAZINE COLUMN FROM HOWARD TULLMAN

 

4 Reasons Gen-Z Employees Are Finally Returning to the Office

Business owners looking to attract, engage and retain these critical workers need a hybrid plan in place and a comprehensive program to address all of their needs, desires, and expectations.

 

EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @TULLMAN

Aug 19, 2025

A new Gallup report suggests that the work-from-home tide has decisively turned among younger employees, and the Gen Z newbies in particular are now the group of employees most interested in flocking back to the nest—at least on a hybrid basis. It seems that the bloom is finally off the rose and the gig economy fantasy of working—occasionally in your PJs and according to your own schedule and timetable—has collided with many of the immutable facts of life concerning how the world and especially hierarchical and bureaucratic organizations actually operate.  

I’ll detail these epiphanies and painful discoveries later because smart employers need to address them, but, as the pitiful saying among the now-disgraced and departed heads of some of our grandest academic institutions used to go: “the context matters.” And the story starts with COVID, which for about half the country’s workforce looked for a moment like this century’s great emancipation.    

If you asked owners and managers about their entire COVID experience, many would tell you their biggest issue was they couldn’t get rid of their kids quickly enough by sending them back to their schools which were closed. As a result, they had to deal with childcare issues that they had never imagined. Pets were much less of an issue since you could just bring them to the office, as long as you had an office to go to rather than a grocery store or a factory floor.  

This is why the Gallup survey showed a rock-solid 35 percent of Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials who were perfectly happy to continue working exclusively at home. They had their homes, their positions and perks were secure, they didn’t feel like they had a lot that was new to learn, they were totally invested in preserving and protecting the status quo, and frankly, they really didn’t want to deal with all the noise, angst, confusion and anger that’s a growing part of the new normal in the workplace.

On the other hand, less than 25 percent of those born after 1997 which is to say the bulk of the workforce of the future — were interested in remote employment and permanent WFH. The overwhelming  majority of Gen Zers—more than 70 percent—said that a hybrid solution was the only way to go. They also clearly said that they don’t want to return to the office full time. In fact, between 4 percent and 10 percent of all the cohorts surveyed said that they had no interest in ever returning to the office on a full-time basis and working on-site again.  

So, it’s abundantly clear that new business leaders — along with any entrepreneur or business owner looking to attract, engage and retain these critical workers and their inchoate talents — needs to have a hybrid plan in place and a comprehensive program to address all of the needs, desires, and expectations of the new wave of workers as they return to the office.  

Of course, planning in a vacuum without clearly understanding what these folks are looking for is like winking at your date in the dark. You know what you’re doing, but no one else does. You can plan all the plans you like, but you can’t plan results without the appropriate inputs and data.

Here are the four most repeatedly expressed concerns that are driving the Gen Zers back to the office. Your plan, approach and strategies should address as many of these issues as possible. In addition, regularly acknowledging these issues and reinforcing the newbies’ belief that they are critically important matters is crucial to your success in demonstrating to these team members that you’re listening, that they’re being heard, and that you’re taking action to address each of these areas. 

1. There’s no one at home to learn from. There’s no watercooler.  

It turns out that you can’t learn everything from books, manuals or YouTube. You learn a great deal by doing, but the real key to stepping up your game is by watching, listening to, and learning from older, smarter and more experienced players in your company. Examples, war stories, tried and true solutions to recurring problems, and even just gossip around the watercooler or the Keurig machine are all essential tools and channels to gather additional knowledge, “tricks of the trade” and important cautions and instructions on how and when to deal with certain others in the firm or tough customers out in the wild.  

Needless to say, you get next to none of this at home sitting in front of your monitor. It’s long been known that far more communication and intelligence is passed between peers before and after meetings (or Zoom sessions) than when the meeting is going on and the whole world is listening and watching what’s being said. You’ve got to be there to be part of the informal conversations which is where the real action always is. 

2. There’s no one at home to share the ups or the downs with.

Entrepreneurs learn early on that it’s not smart, helpful or productive to bring your problems home from work. Sharing the pain and the bumps in the road just multiplies the people with bad stomachs and sleepless nights. And frankly, new business builders also learn that bragging about the wins doesn’t buy you much goodwill at home either. Doubling the sales at Smart Mart doesn’t really matter to a spouse stuck at home with a sick kid while you’re locked in the basement on a customer call.  

It’s your peers and buddies at the office—the other soldiers in the struggles—who can really understand and appreciate what you’re going through and what you’ve accomplished as well as the sacrifices that those things have entailed and required. Company, community and camaraderie are a far more important emotional component of our work which we don’t appreciate and value enough until we’re without these things. 

3. No one’s a hero at home. Out of sight is out of mind.

Not surprisingly, feats of remarkable salesmanship, clever coding solutions and great marketing ploys aren’t really understood or appreciated at home by your spouse and kids. You just don’t get the strokes. They’re civilians, not sophisticates, supplicants or soldiers. There’s no one at home who sees how hard you’re working or frankly always understands why it matters.  

And, even more importantly, absence these days doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, it makes you forgettable and invisible to the guys in charge, the ones handing out new projects and assignments, and those making promotions. It’s dawning on people sitting on the sidelines that the bus is passing them by. 

4. There’s no one at home to keep you on task. It’s too easy to lose focus.

Chores, calls, errands and kids are all flow busters and make it far too easy to get distracted, interrupted and pulled away from getting the work finished that needs to get done in a timely and professional fashion. It’s no longer cute to have your kids or your cat busting into your conference calls. It’s a reminder to others – like it or not and accurate or not – that you’re not fully engaged, totally focused, and a serious player anymore. It’s also too darn easy to take a break, spend an hour online doom scrolling, watch a zillion videos on YouTube, catch a ball game, or just kick back and take a crack at your favorite video game.   

Needless to say—productivity problems aside—none of this is a good look for those looking to get ahead. Boston Consulting Group released a report a little while ago that 75 percent of employees working at home were just as or more productive than they were in the office. I’d like some of what they’ve been smoking.  

The bottom line is, the newbies are coming back because they’ve realized that it’s lonely at home, that you can’t do much of anything important all by yourself, that your friends and family aren’t a substitute for being an important part of the team at the office, and that, if they want to get ahead, they’ve got to be in the rooms where it happens.  

NEW INC. MAGAZINE COLUMN FROM HOWARD TULLMAN

 

Spaced Out: Why Startups Are in a Better Rental Position Than Their Workers

The uncertainty created by the Trump administration has caused people to stay put. Result: in big cities, residential rents are rising.

 

EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @HOWARDTULLMAN1

May 20, 2025

 

While the media have obsessed for the last month over the 100-day milestone in Trump’s second term, civilians nationwide have been dealing with the traumatic realization that we’re stuck with this corrupt convict for nearly four more painful years.  We knew from his last time in office just how screwed we were likely to be, although no one really understood how bad it could get, how flagrant and overt the grifting would be, and just how low this clown could sink.

We also grossly underestimated the unfettered damage that our favorite felon, enabled by a submissive Congress, could do this time around. The on-and-off tariff nuttiness, especially with China, is a prime example—consumer prices have no place to go but up.

We’re now beginning to see secondary reactions and systemic changes across the broader economy as the consequences of this calamity start to spread from the business community to the heads, hearts, and decisions of the public at large. Office and apartment lease activities are akin to canaries in the coal mine and serve as leading indicators of consumer and business confidence. We’re seeing dramatic changes in both the commercial and the residential marketplaces.

Things are looking up for business lessees, but it’s going to be a few difficult years for apartment renters.

The new reality of office leasing, and office life.

I have spent countless hours over the last year with entrepreneurs who are angry with their landlords and fully intent on exiting their leases, moving to new smaller spaces where hard-pressed developers with empty floors are offering great new terms and buildouts. CEOs and senior managers are reluctantly acknowledging – once and for all – that the days of having the whole team in the office five or six days a week are long gone.

Pulling your people in so they can sit morosely at their desks staring at screens on Zoom calls is a costly waste of time and a culture killer. All the free pizza in the world on Fridays for lunch won’t get the job done. Managing your people’s time these days is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree and just as slippery and futile.

So, while times may seem tough for commercial landlords – especially operators of Class B buildings with crappy views, tired carpets, slow elevators and porous security – the good news for the tenants and brokers is that there will be plenty of churn, lots of opportunities and considerable movement for quite some time. Even more importantly, from a business standpoint, and given the likely cost savings, it’s a pretty simple decision and one that isn’t likely to be second-guessed by anyone’s board or investors. While it’s true that these are ridiculously uncertain times for companies all across the country, reducing your overhead and shrinking your infrastructure still looks like a smart bet.

The conundrum facing residential renters

However, unlike relocating a business, renter families – apart from the basic financial concerns in relocating – also have to deal with moving costs, school selection and enrollment issues, neighborhood security concerns, the need to come up with a sizable cash downpayment in highly competitive markets, scarce inventory, and other questions around commuting and transportation. 

It’s never an easy process to pick up and move, but there’s no question that the shaky and uncertain economic climate constantly roiled by the Orange Monster’s tantrums, tariffs and reprisals has made consumers far more wary of making significant new commitments. These are folks who had planned to move, they’d love to move, and they basically can’t make a move now.

Apartment renters – with and without families – are increasingly afraid to make any major life changes and decisions right now. Fears around the economy, job security, tariff implications, and even their employer’s survival are keeping renters largely locked in place with no alternatives. Gallup just reported that almost 75% of U.S. employees have experienced serious changes in their workplaces in the last year. 

And, if the compounding anxiety wasn’t ugly enough, their lease renewals are going to reflect large and painful rent increases as their landlords take advantage, avoid the costs of cleaning up and refreshing apartments for new tenants, and also try to partially pass along the very sizable hits they’re going to be taking in terms of their own real estate taxes.

This is why we are seeing a significant and surprising decrease in the number of individual renters moving to new apartments, condos and houses while the commercial markets are bustling. Typically, on an annual basis, the traditional rental turnover has been about 50% of all the expiring leases; this year the number has shrunk to about 30%. This means that thousands of renters aren’t moving onward and typically upward in most major cities. They’re standing pat even if they’re not happy about it.

The lack of turnover isn’t a good thing for the economy.

While urban mayors may brag about this phenomenon as evidence that their cities aren’t losing population to surrounding suburbs and other cities, the reduced movement of renters has serious implications for business builders and operators. The paralysis in the traditional pipeline means that incoming populations (university students, recent grads, and inbound employees at all levels) will have a much more difficult time finding entry-level and affordable housing in most major cities. Attracting new talent to your business wherever you’re located is going to be tougher and more costly on both ends of the equation.

The bottom line is that it’s not just the overt unconstitutional executive orders which are costing hundreds of thousands of employees to lose their jobs that are causing the most painful long-term disruptions and permanent dislocations in the economy. It’s the spreading malaise, despair, fear and uncertainty driven by Trump’s indifference, ignorance and growing dementia that are paralyzing millions and holding them and their families back.

We’re already seeing the results in the rental markets, but it’s only a matter of time until the problems spread to other verticals and begin to impact and preclude every kind of capital expenditure, long-term commitment, and investment decision.

No one signs up willingly for a cruise on a sinking ship. Travel and tourism are already in the toilet. Bigger problems are right around the corner and there’s no relief in sight.