Deloitte has been running its Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey for fifteen years now, and if you manage a team that includes younger workers, it’s one of the more useful reads you’ll come across.
The latest results are out, and as with most years, the picture is a little complicated.
The headline numbers look encouraging. 63% of Gen Z respondents and 66% of millennials rate their mental health as good or extremely good, which is a meaningful jump from 52% and 58% respectively just a year ago.
About four in ten say their mental well-being has actually improved over the last twelve months.
That’s genuinely good news, and it’s worth acknowledging.
But Dig a Little Deeper
The rosier numbers get complicated pretty quickly when you look at what’s underneath them.
About a third of respondents, 35% of Gen Zs and 30% of millennials, say they feel anxious or stressed most or all of the time.
And nearly half of all respondents say they feel burned out. That’s 47% of Gen Z workers and 45% of millennials.
So what’s going on? How can mental health be improving while burnout remains this widespread?
Deloitte raises an interesting question about this. They ask whether mental health is truly getting better, or whether the baseline has simply shifted, with stress now so common that it’s just accepted as a normal part of daily life.
It’s an honest question, and probably one worth raising with your HR team.
What’s Actually Driving the Stress
When it comes to what’s causing the anxiety, long-term financial security tops the list for both generations.
44% of Gen Zs and 39% of millennials name it as their primary stressor. That’s been the case since 2022 and it’s not surprising given the economic climate most young workers have grown up in.
Work itself is also a significant contributor. And the two biggest workplace stressors? Long working hours and lack of recognition or reward, cited by about half of those who say work contributes to their anxiety.
That combination should get the attention of any manager reading this.
There’s also a newer stressor worth noting. Despite most respondents feeling broadly positive about AI and what it means for their careers, 58% of Gen Zs and 54% of millennials say they regularly experience what Deloitte calls “digital fatigue.”
The constant alerts, the switching between platforms, the always-on feeling that modern work tools can create. It’s real, and it’s adding up.
The Good News for Employers
The survey isn’t all cautionary.
Seven in ten respondents believe their organizations take employee mental health seriously, and 65% have seen actual policies put in place to support it. Both of those numbers are significantly higher than they were two years ago.
Confidence in managers’ ability to support mental health is also improving, which matters more than most people realize. A manager who creates genuine psychological safety, where people feel comfortable raising concerns without fear of consequences, makes an enormous difference in how a team weathers stress.
What Deloitte Is Recommending
Deloitte’s advice to employers goes beyond just having the right policies in place. They’re pushing for what they call “conscious work design,” actually rethinking how work is structured, not just adding wellness programs on top of a stressful environment.
That means things like designing roles around realistic workloads, setting clear priorities within teams, and providing training that builds not just technical skills but judgment and collaboration.
The goal isn’t just to help employees cope with stress. It’s to build workplaces where chronic stress isn’t the default in the first place.
For managers who want to start somewhere, recognition is a good place. It’s one of the top workplace stressors when it’s absent, and one of the more straightforward things a manager can actually control.
If you’re looking for ways to build a more consistent recognition practice, take a look at our employee recognition awards or browse our full range of employee gifts for some ideas on where to start.
Fifteen years of this survey, and the story is pretty consistent. Younger workers want to feel valued, supported, and recognized. That part hasn’t changed. The question is whether employers are keeping up.