People who work from home could be hurting their career in the long-term, especially Generation Z.

Founder of Clearview Coaching Group Jane Downes was responding to a survey, which found more than one-third of young people want to avoid human contact at work.

Researchers from recruitment firm Robert Walters found that 37% of Generation Z, those aged 18 to 24, preferred AI and computers to people.

Some 34% of young workers say they do not like working in a team environment, and half claim that they 'work better alone'.

Two-thirds of managers claim collaborative working has declined since Gen Z entered workplace, and 42% feel they lack adequate communication skills.

Ms Downes told The Pat Kenny Show people's careers will take a hit.

"We need to be interacting with people in order to progress our career," she said.

"In the long-term gain of your career, in order to build up to that leadership space, you need to be in a place to able to deal with people."

'Character and empathy skills'

Ms Downes said a balance with hybrid working is important.

"Working from home can really benefit for a lot of people, and we do want to make work work for us, but we are missing out on culture," she said.

"We're trying to get the balance between maybe some hybrid working, so you are interacting with people... a few days a week and doing those nice cosy days at home.

"However we do need to be advancing our career.

"In order to develop yourself you need character, you need to have empathy skills and you need to be interacting with others."

'Think more long-term'

Ms Downes said belief around not being a team player is misguided.

"It's a very short-term approach," she said.

"It's a very bold statement - 'I don't need to be a team player' - well we do.

"In order to progress long-term to be a team player will really help."

She has advice for Gen Z who want to try and go it alone.

"I say to them: think more long-term," she said.

"I think while it's tempting to remove all noise of people, we really need skills to develop ourselves.

"We need emotional regulation, we need to be able to handle conflict, we need to be able to problem-solve and we need an interactive workplace at times.

"So while it might work for you right now, we've got to think more long-term in our career," she added.