Zoho CEO says Gen Z didn't invent flexible work, we've done it for 30 years

Is Gen Z really changing the way we work? Zoho CEO Mani Vembu isn't convinced. He argues that flexible working predates Gen Z and has been a workplace philosophy for Zoho for decades.Zoho CEO Mani Vembu says flexible working isn't a Gen Z inventionDid Gen Z break the norm of 9-to-5 jobs and invent flexible work culture? If you are the CEO of Zoho, then the answer is no. According to Mani Vembu, his company—Zoho—has been practicing flexible work schedules for years, breaking the stereotype of 9-to-5 jobs long before it became the buzzword that it is today—all thanks to Gen Z who maybe a bit more vocal about the concept than anybody before. Reacting to a post on X that claimed the traditional 9-to-5 workday is “on its way out” because Gen Z employees prefer more flexible schedules, Vembu said Zoho has been operating this way since long before Gen Z entered the workforce. Contrary to popular opinion, flexible working is not a “new Gen Z culture,” according to Vembu. “We've been working this way at Zoho for nearly 30 years. Interesting that it's been framed as new Gen Z culture,” Vembu wrote on X. He added that the shift—in work culture—has little to do with age and more to do with what people have always wanted from work. “I think this is more about human beings. We always preferred flexibility, as long as work gets done.” Vembu's comments came in response to a post from a startup founder who said 90 per cent of his team belongs to Gen Z and that fixed office timings of 9-to-5 or 10-to-6 may soon be a thing of the past. The post argued that younger employees are happy to overlap during certain hours for meetings and collaboration, but increasingly want the freedom to decide when they start and end their workday.However, Vembu argues that flexibility should not be viewed as a generational demand but as a long-standing workplace practice built on trust and accountability. Rather than focusing on when employees log in or out, he believes the emphasis should remain on whether the work gets done. In a separate discussion on X, Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu also questioned the tendency to define people by generational labels.“I come across a large number of people of various age groups, and I don't find categorising generations based on age all that meaningful,” Vembu wrote on X.To make his point, Sridhar Vembu shared the story of a 19-year-old employee whose biggest priority is helping her parents repay loans and supporting her younger siblings. “That is her foremost priority in life. She buys only low-cost clothes, she mends her broken footwear and so on because she wants to save every rupee.” he noted. He also spoke about two employees in their mid-20s who recently got married and chose to keep their weddings simple after taking his advice not to spend excessively. Referring to these stories, Sridhar Vembu argued that qualities such as responsibility, financial discipline and family values are not unique to any one generation.“These attitudes are timeless. I find them equally in Gen-Z,” he added. - EndsPublished By: Divya BhatiPublished On: Aug 3, 2026 19:12 IST