Salary transparency, an area that has created a generational divide among workers and CFOs alike regarding its ethics, is becoming increasingly discussed as younger workers develop new philosophies on their relationships with work and pay.

With young people being more likely to view compensation discussions among employees as acceptable, CFOs should be aware of this, particularly the trend of talking about pay at work and its legality under the National Labor Relations Act.

Some companies have already developed answers to these trends. Internal salary transparency and separating pay from performance are more common among organizations looking to control the narrative around compensation. However, as organizations seek to find the best talent within the largest possible pool of Gen Z candidates (people born between 1997 and 2012), new data suggests young people’s approach to nearly every aspect of finance — from compensation discussions at work to their investment strategies alike — is divided by ethics and worldview.

Though the data is valuable due to its large dataset of 2,000 Gen Z Americans, and specific questions about financial mindset and habits among the age group, it’s worth noting the results of the survey were developed by essay-writing service EduBirdie, which sells its services to 150,000 college students worldwide. 

Gen Z’s financial approach

Just over half (57%) of respondents said money was the key to happiness, an idea frequently reiterated among Gen Z financial professionals. However, their interest in acquiring side jobs in areas such as online gambling (26%) and subscription-based online entertainment platform OnlyFans (14%) for extra cash is increasingly notable. Both sources of income, in the context of Gen Z, have become highly discussed topics among executives at OnlyFans and leaders in the investing space.

In an interview last year, OnlyFans CFO Lee Taylor told CFO.com his company was looking to grow its adult content business with no hesitancy around Gen Z content creation. He identified the criticism of content around this age group specifically, arguing that their platforms provide a positive impact by allowing creators to earn extra money as long as they are of legal age to do so. 

“Do we believe that users have the right to 80% of every dollar generated from their content? Absolutely,” Taylor said. “There is no reason why an over-18-year-old content creator should not be putting content on our platform if they believe fans would be willing to pay for it. As long as they are over 18, we provide a platform for creators and fans, the freedom of creators to share and monetize the lawful content they produce and view in a safe and secure environment.”

Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management and colloquially known as Downtown Josh Brown, recently discussed how he believes sports gambling companies will soon make their way into Gen Z’s investment and retirement accounts. Much like their approach to services provided by OnlyFans and large sports gambling companies, he identifies another generational divide related to what characterizes an investment.

“[Charles Schwab] is going to offer sports betting, I [will] say by 2030,” Brown said. “I don’t think they want to, but their future clients conflate securities trading and prop betting on sports — they don’t see the difference. In the same way, they don’t delineate between equities and crypto.”

Brown’s comments on the growing impact of sports gambling in the investment portfolios of young people highlight how these companies may be forced to adopt this approach after a precedent set by Robinhood, which likely responded to this growing trend. Robinhood’s efforts to incorporate sports gambling into their offerings to clients have been put on pause following a regulatory inquiry earlier this month. 

“You will 100%, especially in the Trump era, have the gambling apps [going] to a congressman and saying, ‘We really need to be a part of people’s retirement accounts … so if Robinhood successfully merges sports and prop betting with stock trading, what choice will the incumbents have if they don’t want to watch the next 20 million Gen Zs open their first brokerage account there?’”

Salary transparency and compensation expectations

The youngest workers on finance teams are the most likely to be comfortable discussing pay at work, data suggests. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondents said they desire internal salary transparency at their jobs, and nearly six in 10 (58%) said they wouldn’t respond to a job ad that didn’t include a salary listing.

Their approach to money is worth noting for CFOs who are either implementing policies or being told they need to increase salaries to retain young talent. This data suggests most young people (58%) are content with salaries between $50,000 and $100,000, contradicting other reports that have said Gen Z’s financial success threshold is half a million dollars a year. Recent findings suggest the average salary in the U.S. is somewhere around $65,000 per year.