Generation Z workers are the least likely of any generation to prefer exclusively remote work, according to the latest Gallup polling.

The company reported Wednesday that just 23% of Gen Z employees responding to a recent survey said they preferred “exclusively remote” work compared with 35% of respondents from all other generations.

Gallup analysts Ryan Pendell and Sangeeta Agrawal chalked up this divide to adults born in 1997 or later being “the loneliest generation.”

They pointed to other survey data showing that Gen Z workers are the least likely to see co-workers face-to-face or to have children at home requiring their daily attention.

“Parenting plays a role in shaping views on remote work,” Mr. Pendell and Ms. Agrawal wrote in a summary of the findings. “Very few Gen Z workers are the parent or guardian of a child younger than 18.”

Most adults who completed Gallup’s questionnaire said they preferred a hybrid schedule of in-person and virtual work. 

That included 71% of Gen Z participants born in 1997 or later, 60% of millennials born from 1980 to 1996, 56% of Gen X respondents born from 1965 to 1979, and 54% of baby boomers born from 1946 to 1964.

Just 6% of Gen Z, 4% of millennials, 9% of Gen X, and 10% of baby boomers said they preferred an entirely on-site job.

While Gen Z respondents were the likeliest to say they wished co-workers worked remotely less often, millennials were the likeliest to say they wanted more remote work.

Gallup conducted a randomized national web survey of 19,043 part-time and full-time employees through a preselected panel from May 7-16. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.