What We’ve Seen: Why Gen Z Employees Ignore Branded Merch

Key Points

• Gen Z employees quickly lose interest in merchandise that feels cheap, heavily branded or disconnected from their daily routine.
• Staff gifts perform better when the product feels good enough to wear, carry or use outside the workplace.
• We prefer fewer, better-chosen items with restrained branding and a clear reason for employees to keep using them.

One challenge we see HR teams facing is getting Gen Z employees to use the merchandise included in onboarding packs. Gen Z, commonly defined as people born between 1997 and 2012, now makes up a significant part of the workforce, including our own team, so we experience this challenge ourselves. In this article, we share what we have observed Gen Z employees respond to most, and why we favour fewer, better-quality items such as comfortable hoodies, reliable drink bottles and well-made bags for staff gifting.

Which Merch Are Best for Younger Employees?

Katherine Durham, one of our account managers, believes products work best when they connect with what employees already do during the day. We normally look at how the team works, what they carry, and where they spend most of their time before narrowing the merchandise range.

As a Gen Z employee, these are some of our preferences:

• We love hoodies more than polo shirts.
• T-shirts are also great, especially if we’re exhibiting or joining a trade show (but the comfy ones).
• Insulated bottles or cups also work because we love coffee.
• We find tech accessories like ergonomic mice or mousepads really helpful for a welcome pack.

Account Manager’s Take for Everyday Staff Merchandise

Our account manager, Mary Aguirre-Cruz, prefers drink bottles and tumblers, notebooks and pens, and comfortable hoodies for her own daily use. Her recommendations also focus on matching merchandise to the client’s branding, budget, and purpose, especially for corporate events, conferences, campaigns, and employee gifting. For example:

• Drink bottles and tumblers: Good for office and hybrid teams who keep water or coffee nearby throughout the day.
• Notebooks and pens: Useful for onboarding, training, and teams that still take handwritten notes during meetings.
• Comfortable hoodies: A strong option for hybrid teams, casual workplaces, and staff who value practical apparel they can wear beyond the office.

For hybrid office teams, I suggest you stock drinkware and hoodies for the team. Notebooks are perfect for onboarding and training sessions. If you want something fun, go for sticky note shapes (we love to keep them!).

What To Note

Gen Z employees pay close attention to whether a staff product feels useful, comfortable, and well chosen. They quickly recognise merchandise created mainly to carry a logo, especially when the quality or design gives them little reason to use it after the first few days.

We prefer a focused staff pack built around products that already fit the team’s routine. Better materials, thoughtful branding, and the right product type give employees more reasons to keep the merchandise in circulation. That regular use is far more valuable than filling a welcome box with extra products that spend most of their life in a cupboard.