Gen Z is a generation of failures. And no one wants to hire them.
It’s time to stop lying about why.
A recent study by Hult International Business School found that nearly all business leaders are struggling to find talent, yet 89% avoid hiring recent graduates. Of those who did bite the bullet and hire recent grads, 78% admitted to firing some of them within a year.
Of course, this went viral as students and professionals leaped to point a finger at institutions. Yet, this very belief that it’s always “the system” and never the individual is exactly why Gen Z is set up for failure. They have been coddled so much that they can’t do anything at all if they aren't spoon-fed. Who wants to hire a helpless child? And how could a helpless child keep a grown up job?
I’ve worked with students since 2018, the vast majority who complained of the same issues cited in the study:
Regrets about their degree, and feeling “doomed to fail because they chose the wrong degree”
Feel their degree did not prepare them for their job
“Believe their college (79%) and high school (72%) guidance programs / counselors are at least ‘a little’ to blame for their degree choice”
All of these above problems stem from a fundamental misunderstanding about college. Parents and school counselors with no clue about today’s college process are certainly providing horrible advice. Back in their day, degrees were not given like candy. The job market was as simple as Marketing degree = Marketing career at the same company for a decade. It makes sense that they believe a degree has anything to do with success today.
Note that college is only misunderstood by the poor and “middle class.”
However, this jig has been revealed time and time again. Students have been warned and told exactly what to do. I was making content about it 5 years ago. Gen Z can get on the Internet for everything else but is suddenly inept when it comes to navigating life as an adult. And we should feel bad for them I guess.
Gen Z’s predicament becomes laughably obvious when viewed through a broader economical and cultural lens. Follow the money to understand the “why,” watch the culture to see the “how.”
Our economy requires a vast population of Poor and Ignorant. It was simple to maintain this structure when access to information and resources was limited. For all of Gen Z’s lifetime, information has been more available than ever before. College “education” is also more available than ever before. So, we need to cripple Gen Z with learned helplessness and anti-intellectualism. That way, it doesn’t matter how much information is available. They will ignore it. Even hate it.
Chronically online Gen Z is bombarded with content encouraging mass panic, despair, and misery, disinterest in thinking too hard, antisocial behaviors, and whining. Many admit to having “brain rot.” Their worst thoughts are amplified through an infinite scroll because, well, that’s literally how algorithms work. Idiots in an echo chamber cycling ideas that actively harm Gen Z’s ability to grow up and get a job.
My favorite Gen Z delusions:
I don’t dream of labor
I shouldn’t have to “beg” an employer for a job (begging = applying)
College is a scam
It’s not that deep who cares what you do just live life
Why didn’t school teach me this basic skill I could Google or that my parents should have taught me? (often asked by someone who regularly skipped class)
These all perpetuate entitlement. Someone else should have to work, not me. The jobs should fall out of the sky with no effort from me. College was supposed to magically get me a high paying job. I am entitled to do what I want and there should be no consequences, everyone should just love me as sloppy as I am. Why would I look anything up? Someone should have spelled it out for me.
Waiting for magical fairies to hold your hand and make you happy is not how life works. Surprise!
The Resourceful become the 1% and the rest fall to the bottom of society. As it must be.
The very few resourceful Gen Zers hardly have competition. Employers can’t find someone who will submit a thoughtful application, let alone turn the camera on or show up dressed like an adult for an interview. While the Chronically Online are still whining that there’s “no way to get experience,” the Resourceful are showing up with a full resume. That doesn’t even include the truly privileged who are being (correctly) coached every step of the way.
Helpless Gen Z cries and whines that “they only got this because of their parents!” or some other excuse. Again, willfully choosing to look away from the solutions sitting right in front of them. They will never see the solutions while they are looking for someone else to blame. Perfect!
My original thesis here was about Gen Z blaming the system, yet I immediately explained that this is all a game. People forget that systems are…people. Games require participants. No one is forcing people to keep crying on the internet nor keep engaging with that content.
No doubt, we can point a finger at some institutional culprits. Anti-intellectualism is the handiwork of the American education system. But many years of voting decisions led to that. After the voting was done, parents perpetuated it. Nothing was taught in the home, schools turned into daycare. As those children became adults, they then blamed childhood for their lot in life.
The inconvenient reality is that adults are responsible for their failures and poor decision making.
How ridiculous to be 50 years old with nothing because you spent your 30 years of adulthood blaming high school for your problems. Go to therapy. Read. Learn about something other than conspiracy theories. Work those three little brain cells the best you can.
Personal accountability - personal action - is the only way to “beat” “the system.” I hate to tell you that the American education system isn’t going to be miraculously fixed by complaining about it on social media. Sadly, you have to go outside and be a functioning human in society. Dismantling systems requires critical thinking. Someone that can’t figure out how to show up to a job interview probably isn’t going to dismantle much.
But Gen Z really shouldn’t worry about all this job stuff anyway. AI will replace the Helpless.
The market is well aware that AI can largely replace entry-level jobs. The only benefit of an entry-level job will be leadership development and that will be saved for the Resourceful.
Students can hardly write coherently or read for comprehension and application. They are literally using AI to think for them. What high-paying job will be available for someone dumber than a basic AI model?
None. And that’s why they aren’t being hired.
Can you enable transcription for audio playback going fwd? I’m always interrupted every time I try to read them .
Which demographic within Gen Z do you feel is a model example of how to navigate the job market? Who is doing it right?