Gen Z embraces lily padding, hopping jobs to boost pay and skills

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put median tenure for workers ages 25 to 34 at 2.7 years in January 2024, while median tenure for all wage and salary workers fell to 3.9 years, the lowest since January 2002. For Gen Z, lily-padding is less about restlessness than leverage. Young workers are moving between roles, companies, and even industries to build skills, chase higher pay, and avoid waiting years for a promotion that may never come.

What lily-padding really means

The phrase describes a deliberate career pattern, not a passing mood. It captures younger workers who treat each move as a stepping stone, using a new role to accumulate experience, credentials, and bargaining power.

The tenure numbers complicate the loyalty debate

The data do not support the simple story that younger workers are uniquely disloyal. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 22 percent of wage and salary workers had one year or less of tenure with their current employer in January 2024, and the median tenure for workers ages 55 to 64 was 9.6 years, more than three times the median for workers ages 25 to 34.

The National Institute on Retirement Security has argued that younger workers today show retention patterns that closely mirror previous generations at the same stage of their careers, and that economic conditions, not generational attitude, drive turnover. In its comparison, workers ages 25 to 34 in 2024 had a median tenure of 2.7 years, only slightly lower than Baby Boomers at the same age in 1983.

Why younger workers keep moving

The strongest reason for lily-padding is not impatience. It is the belief that a move can do what a stalled job cannot: deliver a raise, open a promotion path, or supply the missing experience needed to qualify for the next step. A 2025 FlexJobs survey found that 69 percent of respondents had changed or considered changing career fields in the past year, and 27 percent said they were less loyal to their employer after the pandemic.

McKinsey found that 45 percent of employed respondents open to a new job said needing more or different work experience, relevant skills, credentials, or education was the top barrier to changing occupations.

The clearest version of lily-padding is the worker who changes jobs repeatedly to build a resume with measurable gains. A person who has moved 10 times in 10 years is making a calculation that each hop should add something concrete, whether that is pay, responsibility, a new skill set, or a better specialty.

The skills race is changing what commitment looks like

The work itself is changing fast. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 draws on input from more than 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million workers across 22 industry clusters and 55 economies, and it points to major workforce transformation between 2025 and 2030.

Younger workers are adapting to that reality in ways that look different from the old employer-loyalty model. Deloitte’s 2026 Gen Z and millennial survey found that younger workers are prioritizing mentorship, meaning, financial security, and skill-building even as they redefine commitment and linear career paths.

How to judge whether a move is worth it

Lily-padding works best when each step leaves a stronger foundation than the last. The useful test is whether the next role expands your options, or just changes your title while leaving your skills stagnant. In a labor market where 22 percent of wage and salary workers had been in place for a year or less in January 2024, the real cost of staying can be the missed raise, the delayed promotion, or the skills gap that widens while you wait.

Before making a move, the decision usually comes down to a few practical questions:

• Does the new role add experience that your current job cannot provide?

• Will it improve pay or shorten the path to promotion?

• Does it help you close a skills or credential gap, the kind McKinsey found keeps many workers from changing occupations?

• Can you handle the instability of another reset if the company or sector slows?

The upside is faster advancement, broader skills, and a stronger position in wage negotiations. The downside is weaker employer loyalty, less tenure, and the strain that comes from repeatedly proving yourself in a new environment.