No Need for Promotion... Why More Office Workers in Their 20s and 30s Are Avoiding Leadership Roles

Survey on Leadership Perceptions Among Office Workers in Their 20s and 30s
"47.3% Say They Do Not Feel Anxious About Not Taking on Leadership Roles"

The tendency among office workers in their 20s and 30s to avoid taking on leadership roles is becoming more pronounced.

According to the "2025 Leadership Perception Survey of Office Workers in Their 20s and 30s" conducted by the University Tomorrow 20s Research Institute on May 19 with 850 office workers aged 19 to 36, 47.3% responded that they do not feel anxious even if they do not take on a leadership role. This is more than double the percentage who said they do feel anxious (22.1%).

This result is interpreted as reflecting the recent increase in phenomena such as "Unbossing" and "leader phobia," where employees are increasingly reluctant to seek promotion or advancement within the workplace. The University Tomorrow 20s Research Institute explained, "It shows that office workers in their 20s and 30s feel less need to take on leadership roles."

As for the main roles of middle management, "strengthening communication and teamwork" was cited most frequently (47.4%), followed by "internal and external collaboration and coordination" (37.3%), and "task adjustment and distribution" (36.9%).

By company type, large company employees most frequently viewed "setting goals and direction" (36.3%) and "strategic decision-making" (28.6%) as leadership roles. Public enterprise employees most often cited "creating a positive work atmosphere and organizational culture" (40.4%) and "performance management" (25.8%). For mid-sized company employees, "strengthening communication and teamwork" (46.2%) ranked first, followed by "creating a positive work atmosphere and organizational culture" and "motivating and encouraging team members" (both at 33.9%) tied for second place.

The responses were nearly evenly split on the desire to take on a middle management position, with 36.7% saying they would like to and 32.5% saying they would not. The top reasons for wanting to become a leader were "salary and welfare benefits" (41.4%) and "recognition within the organization" (33.3%). In contrast, the main reasons for not wanting to take on a leadership role were "burden of responsibility for performance" (42.8%) and "increase in workload" (41.6%). Additionally, 33.7% said it was because "it does not suit their personal disposition."

Among large company employees, the most common reason for avoiding leadership roles was "expectation of an actual increase in workload" (47.1%). For mid-sized and small company employees, "the burden of being responsible for the team's or organization's performance" was cited most frequently (48.1% and 42.8%, respectively). For public enterprise employees, "the burden of being responsible for team members' growth" was the top reason (48.6%). Furthermore, large company employees were more likely to say that "growing as a field expert is more important" (26.5%), while public enterprise employees were more likely to cite "burden of external image or reputation" (20.0%) compared to other company types.