As the unprecedented multi-generational workforce continues to operate, CFOs working in it have a front row seat to the generational shift currently playing out inside nearly all organizations.
Baby boomers are staying in the workforce longer, but they want flexibility and balance on their terms. Millennials and Gen Z, meanwhile, are shaping workplace culture through their use of technology like artificial intelligence. New data shows both groups bring value, but each presents risks that future-cognizant finance leaders cannot ignore.
FlexJobs, a remote and hybrid hiring platform, recently surveyed more than 1,000 workers aged 50 and older, while Cox Business, the commercial services division of Cox Communications, recently conducted a workplace technology survey of Millennials and Gen Z with a sample size of 1,007. FlexJobs found that flexibility outranks every other factor when older employees consider a job, while Cox Business found widespread AI adoption among younger workers, coupled with secrecy about how much of their output is AI-assisted.
The findings, when analyzed together, tell CFOs where turnover costs, productivity gains and compliance risks will show up in the future. While some baby boomers are sticking around workplaces longer than expected, their inevitable aging out of their positions over the next decade will require CFOs to balance two different sectors of their workforce with similarly rooted, but much different demands for what work looks like.
Older workers trade pay for flexibility
For employees 50 and older, flexibility is a non-negotiable. Survey takers said the most popular form of workplace flexibility was being fully remote (83%), followed by having a flexible schedule (72%).
Older employees are not only asking for flexibility, but they are also willing to exchange pay to get it. Almost a quarter (23%) said they would take a 10 to 20% pay cut in exchange for flexibility. Another 17% said they would forfeit vacation time or health benefits, while almost a fifth (15%) would give up employer retirement contributions.
For CFOs, that presents both a cost lever and a cultural one. Organizations that extend flexible arrangements could retain those with more experience at a lower total compensation cost, but failure to act risks losing critical institutional knowledge to competitors.
FlexJobs found that more than three-quarters (77%) of older workers would be more loyal to an employer that offered flexible work. On the other side, 27% have already left a job because of inflexibility, 15% have considered leaving and 12% are currently looking for new jobs for the same reason. For finance chiefs, those figures may translate directly into turnover costs. Recruiting and retraining, particularly in finance and accounting, can exceed the savings of ignoring flexibility demands.
Only 7% of older workers said they are most effective in the office during regular business hours. Nearly six in 10 said they do their best work from home on important tasks, citing fewer distractions, fewer interruptions and less office politics as the drivers.
Nearly all (97%) of older workers also said flexibility improves quality of life, 87% said it reduces stress and 79% said it makes them healthier. Absenteeism, medical claims and burnout can all wind up in the cost column if not proactively addressed, making workplace design an important decision for CFOs who are taking a holistic leadership approach across the business.
Despite financial motivations, many baby boomers are staying on because they want to. Two-thirds of older workers said they remain employed not only out of necessity but because they like the sense of purpose and contribution. Using flexibility as a retention tool that keeps late-career employees engaged long enough to transfer institutional knowledge to the next generation of leaders may be a wise tactic for business leaders balancing employee sentiment with leadership handoffs across the organization.
Younger workers keep AI in the shadows
Just as older workers value flexibility, younger ones value technology. The Cox Business survey found AI has already become embedded in how millennials and Gen Z approach their jobs. They use AI to summarize meeting notes, brainstorm ideas and write code. However, many are doing so in secret, as nearly half are reluctant to disclose how much of their work is AI-generated.
The reason for not disclosing their AI usage is fear, with 47% of younger workers worried that AI could replace their jobs. Another 30% said they are either unfamiliar with company AI policies or believe their company has none. For CFOs, this presents a compliance gap. Productivity gains from AI are real, but when usage is hidden and policy is unclear, the risks fall on leaders responsible for controls, disclosures and governance.
The technology risk extends beyond AI, with 63% of Gen Z and millennial employees saying they use personal apps or software to get their work done. Seventy percent said they feel overwhelmed by the number of company-provided tools, and 65% said their personal tools are faster, easier and more familiar. From a finance perspective, that means money may be spent on software employees underutilize while security risks rise from unapproved alternatives.
A workforce in transition
The surveys show how different generations are reshaping the workplace in ways that all business leaders, but particularly CFOs, cannot afford to overlook. Older employees are extending their careers and delivering experience, but they expect flexibility in return. Younger employees are experimenting with AI and relying on personal technology, but often without approval or oversight. Both highlight gaps in company policy that become CFO problems if left unaddressed.
The solution lies in bridging policy with practice. CFOs who frame flexibility as a cost-control tool and treat technology adoption as a return-on-investment exercise will be better positioned to navigate the generational shift. Baby boomers bring a sense of purpose and accumulated experience. Millennials and Gen Z bring fluency with AI and an expectation that technology should be fast, simple and intuitive. For CFOs, the task is to build systems that can accommodate both.
The workplace is in transition. For finance leaders, that transition is less about managing generational differences and more about designing workforce strategies that align cost, productivity and risk. All of the data shows employees across generations are willing to compromise, but only if companies meet them halfway. CFOs who get that balance right will not just manage the handoff from baby boomers to millennials and Gen Z; they may be able to turn it into a competitive advantage.
