The next generation is watching what ownership does to your life.

When employee-owned AEC firms ask why younger professionals seem less interested in becoming owners, the conversation often turns to money. Housing costs, student loans and the challenge of saving for an equity buy-in. Sometimes it turns to values, with suggestions that younger generations don’t have the same appetite for financial risk or the same ambitions as those who came before them.

Those financial barriers deserve serious attention. But I wonder whether we also need to turn the light toward ourselves and ask what ownership looks like from the other side of the table.

We describe an opportunity to shape the firm, build wealth and have a greater say in its future. Younger professionals may see principals burning the candle at both ends, carrying client relationships, delivering projects, managing and growing people all the while expected to be fully on  during vacation. They see the financial rewards, but they also see the exhaustion, the missed family time and the responsibility that never quite switches off.

From that vantage point, “Would you like to become an owner?” can sound a lot like “Would you like the life I’m living?” We need to do better in putting ourselves in the audience's shoes. 

That is an uncomfortable question for those of us who have found meaning, opportunity and considerable satisfaction in employee-ownership. Many principals care deeply about their people and their clients. Their workload reflects that commitment, alongside habits and expectations that have become difficult to escape. Yet the next generation can admire that commitment and still wonder whether the bargain is right for them.

Perhaps some of the hesitation we interpret as a lack of ambition is a thoughtful assessment of what we are asking people to buy into. They may want influence, responsibility and a financial stake, while also wanting a life with room for family, health and interests beyond the firm.

A hard question I have asked myself is: if we want the next generation to choose ownership, are we building a version of it we would want our own children to choose?

Making ownership attractive therefore requires us to look at how responsibility is shared, how leaders are supported and whether success depends on a few people being constantly available. Financing the buy-in matters. So does making the role sustainable.