Client

Case study · 2026

What Gen Z wants from the workplace and why companies still don't know.

We combined qualitative in-depth interviews with active Gen Z and a quantitative survey among mainstream Gen Z. The result is data across four sections (Mindset, Work, AI and Environment) that AV Media uses as a sales argument for companies that want to build spaces for the young.

Scope

Qualitative + quantitative research

Method

In-depth interviews + survey

Output

2 reports + data interpretation

0 + 0

respondents in total, quantitative and qualitative

Gen Z segments: active (entrepreneurial) and mainstream (study + part-time jobs)

thematic data sections on how Gen Z thinks, works and where it wants to be

01·Context & challenge

When the space stops working for the generation that uses it most.

AV MEDIA has supplied audiovisual technology to offices, meeting rooms and event spaces for over three decades. But the market started changing faster than project proposals, mainly because of a generation that has different expectations of the workplace than anyone before. The goal of the project was to give AV Media hard data they can lean on in the sales argumentation for their clients.

Who is the client

AV MEDIA is the largest Czech supplier of audiovisual technology for companies. It is behind the displays, sound systems, video conferencing and complete fit-out of meeting rooms, huddle rooms, presentation and event spaces. It works for the largest domestic and international companies that need their space to work for everyday work, presentations and gatherings.

Why this wasn't a routine project

Space as a strategic investment

The work environment stopped being just an interior. For companies fighting for talent it is a tool of culture and retention, and Gen Z reacts to it differently than previous generations.

Hybrid is the default, not a perk

Gen Z doesn't expect flexibility as a bonus. It treats it as the standard by which it measures whether it's even worth coming to the office at all.

Wi‑Fi, sockets and whiteboards are must‑haves

Basic equipment is no longer an argument; it is an absolute standard. If it is missing, the space fails before any work even starts.

Meaning > status, time > place

Gen Z doesn't care about the prestige or social status of work. It cares about meaning. And rather than home office, it values the time flexibility that lets it live its own rhythm.

Our brief

Build a data foundation for AV Media about what Gen Z really expects from work, environment and tools. Combine qualitative depth with quantitative validation, separate active and mainstream Gen Z, and hand over the results so that both the sales and product teams can use them immediately in conversations with clients.

02·Our approach

Three steps from a questionnaire to a usable strategy.

We proceeded methodically: from depth to breadth. First we listened, then we measured, then we interpreted the data directly with the AV Media team. Every recommendation therefore has a double backing: the voice of specific people and the power of numbers.

Qualitative research

20 in-depth interviews with active Gen Z who already run a business or are accelerating their own career. Goal: understand how they think about work, space and tools.

Quantitative research

A survey among 318 representatives of mainstream Gen Z, mostly high-school and university students. Validating interview insights at scale, identifying the strongest patterns.

Interpretation & presentation

A live workshop with the AV Media team. We went through the data section by section and translated it into concrete business angles: where and how to use it in sales pitches.

What exactly we assessed

We structured the research into four thematic sections that together give a complete picture of how Gen Z thinks about work and the environment it wants to function in.

Mindset

Values, motivation, attitude to authority, relationship to meaning and status, career expectations.

Work

What Gen Z really wants from a job, how it perceives flexibility, compensation and team relationships.

AI

How Gen Z uses AI in everyday life and study, what it expects from it at work and what signals it reads from an employer.

Environment

What the physical workspace should look like, which zones Gen Z looks for and what puts it off the office.

03·Key findings

Four findings that change workspace design.

From dozens of data points we pick four (one from each section) with the biggest business impact for AV Media. Each has a practical consequence for how offices are designed today.

Mindset

Meaning of work > status of work

What we found

Gen Z doesn't care about the prestige of a title or the social status of an employer. It cares whether what it does makes sense to itself and to the world around it.

Why it matters

Traditional employer branding built on company size and hierarchy is losing weight. Young candidates choose companies by values and impact, not by the business card.

What it means for AV Media

The 'investment in the environment' argument is more convincing when it shows the space reflects the company's values. AV solutions are part of how a company lives its values, outward and inward.

Work

Time flexibility > home office

What we found

Gen Z prefers choosing when it works over where it works. A fixed 9-to-5 in the office puts it off more than mandatory attendance itself.

Why it matters

For Gen Z it is crucial to decide for themselves when they work. In the rest of the time they want to do sports, spend time with friends and pursue their own things. Work is no longer the centre of life, but one of its pillars.

What it means for AV Media

The space must be usable at different times of day and in different modes: morning, evening, between a workout and a meeting. Modular zones and easy switching of the AV setup between focus and sync work.

AI is already a standard, not a novelty

What we found

The vast majority of Gen Z uses AI daily. The question is no longer 'whether' but 'how deep'. For active Gen Z, AI is a strategic tool; for mainstream Gen Z, an everyday helper.

Why it matters

If a company holds AI back or can't handle it, Gen Z reads it as a signal of being behind. Conversely, an environment that fully integrates AI sends a quiet signal that the company understands today.

What it means for AV Media

Space design must account for AI tools in the meeting flow: transcriptions and voice minutes. AV becomes the carrier of AI, not just a display.

Environment

Quiet and social zones must be properly separated

What we found

For Gen Z it is crucial to have a clearly separated space for focused work and a space for meeting in the office. Open space where the two mix exhausts it.

Why it matters

If the space can't do one of the two, Gen Z either won't come, or comes and works with headphones on, disappearing from the shared life of the company.

What it means for AV Media

A key opportunity for projects that design both zones in deliberate contrast. A quiet room with quality acoustics plus a social zone with a light AV setup for informal sync.

04·Outputs & impact

What exactly AV Media got in hand.

Our work didn't end with a presentation. AV Media left with a set of outputs that their sales and product teams can reuse repeatedly on every project, not just one campaign.

Qualitative research

A report from 20 in-depth interviews with active Gen Z. Sections Demographics, Online, Offline, Spark, AI and RAW data, plus an AI guide that lets you search the data conversationally.

Quantitative research

A report from the survey among 318 representatives of mainstream Gen Z. Structured into four sections (Context, Work, Mindset and AI) with RAW data for your own analysis.

Live presentation of the results with the team

A workshop where we walked the AV Media team through both reports, explained the context of each finding and opened space for questions across sales and product roles.

Data interpretation & insights

Translating the data into business consequences for AV Media, with concrete angles on how to use it in sales pitches and in arguments for workspace design.

AV Media had a strong intuition about where the generation is heading. Our job was to give that intuition a name, numbers and words their clients hear. When sales holds the voice of three hundred Gen Z people in hand, the conversation is completely different.
The GenZ Consulting team

05·Why GenZ Consulting

We do one thing. And we do it properly.

We specialise in Gen Z and connect it with consulting work for brands and HR teams. We work with our own research data, which we update regularly. Our recommendations never rest on feelings.

Data in the background

We back every recommendation with our own research among Gen Z. We work with current data about this generation, not estimates or trend reports from the internet.

Big picture and detail

We work at the strategic layer (segmentation, content pillars, brand positioning) and on individual wordings and recommendations for space design. Both in one team.

Gen Z native

Our recommendations come from direct knowledge of how Gen Z thinks and communicates. We don't have to study this generation from the outside; we're part of it.

Contact

Adam Daleckýadam.dalecky@genzconsulting.cz

Want similar results?

Book a no-obligation call and we'll find out how we can help your company.

Back to case studies