Market Data 
- MrBeast says the value of a long-term employee is “unfathomable.”
- Yet loyalty appears to be decaying across the workforce, and Gen Zers are increasingly disengaged.
- The top YouTuber also likened employees who share his tilted work-life balance to “unicorns.”
MrBeast’s videos are often measured in minutes, yet behind the scenes, the YouTube star prefers to think in years.
The creator, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, recently told “The Diary Of A CEO” podcast that he doesn’t want to train someone for six months only to see them leave his company a few months later.
“The eighth wonder of the world is investing heavily in an employee, and then they stick around for a decade,” 26-year-old Donaldson said.
He called that kind of value “unfathomable.”
But loyalty to an employer can be hard to come by in the current market. The median number of years US workers had been with their employer was 3.9 in January 2024 — the lowest since 2002, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It’s perhaps a sign that job-hopping doesn’t necessarily carry the same stigma it once did — and also that what Donaldson is seeking in tenure and devotion to the work is something not everyone is willing to give.
There’s evidence that many GenZers are more disillusioned and disengaged than their older counterparts and that many young workers often “work to live” after having seen prior generations suffer.
Loyalty is “maybe more the exception these days than the norm,” said Christopher Myers, the faculty director of the Center for Innovative Leadership at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. But it can benefit workers and employers alike.
Myers said Donaldson appears to understand that to keep workers for long periods, he needs to not just invest in them but give them opportunities to demonstrate the know-how they’ve developed.
For his part, Donaldson said he likely spent four years training and working with Tyler Conklin, who writes and directs many of his videos — including speaking with him five to six hours a day. Now, Donaldson said, Conklin can practically run the show.
“He knows exactly how I think, what I value,” Donaldson said on the podcast.
A ‘shared sense of purpose’
Margie Warrell, a leadership consultant and author of the book “The Courage Gap,” told BI that that investment in Conklin and his loyalty to Donaldson are examples of what can happen when workers feel aligned with leadership on why they’re doing the work.
“My guess is that MrBeast creates a lot of shared sense of purpose,” she said. That, in turn, leads workers to give their best — not out of obligation but because they love the work.
A representative for Donaldson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In addition to showing loyalty, Donaldson said some of the company’s top performers — including editors — often put in the same amount of hours each week as he does.
Donaldson said it’s “hard to find” the kinds of people who match his hard-charging approach to craft and admittedly tilted work-life balance.
“When you do, you’ve got to treasure them and recognize that they’re unicorns,” he said.
Warrell said that founders and top execs often don’t operate on a “balanced, 40-hour week.” Instead, she said, many people in such roles try to integrate their work as best they can into their lives.
“When you’re doing something that’s exciting and inspiring, you do work a lot of hours,” Warrell said.
She said that while it’s likely not a good fit for everybody, it appears to be an attractive proposition for Donaldson’s long-serving employees.
“He’s saying, ‘Here’s part of the value exchange: I develop you, and I want you to hang around because I pour a lot into you,'” Warrell said.
