Does Gen Z Have An Employability Problem?
Is Gen Z Unemployable?
The oldest members of Gen Z are now in their late twenties. As such, Generation Z has been in the workforce for a number of years now — even longer for members of this generation that immediately began working after high school. Yet, a Wall Street Journal opinion piece from September poses the question: “Is Gen Z Unemployable?” The basis of this question relies on data found by the author of the piece, NYU Stern School of Business Professor Suzy Welch, which found that “a mere 2% of Generation Z members hold the values that companies want most in new hires.” These values, being achievement, learning and an unbridled desire to work, are not prioritized as highly by members of Gen Z. Welch found that workers of this generation ranked the values of achievement at 11th, learning at 10th, and workcentrism at ninth in terms of most importance. For businesses, this seems to be indicative of Gen Z being unwilling and unable to grow up and work in the real world. For hiring managers, these revelations might mean they need to hone in on finding those 2% of hardworking employees. A highly rated comment on the article reads:
“This generation is a product of participation trophies. Pumped full of ideology, drugs, and anxiety. Everything has to be stress free and sunshine and rainbows or they will emotionally fall apart. Good times bring weak men... We are in that cycle.”
It may seem as though Gen Z has some PR work to do, however, this perception of the next generation being lazy or spoiled is not unique to Gen Z.
This data, which is being used to solidify previous beliefs and create new conclusions about Gen Z, should instead be used to examine what kind of working conditions Generation Z is entering today. What is driving Gen Z to prioritize other values and what can we do to create an improved work experience for all?
Why Isn’t Work Better?
The 40-hour workweek became law 85 years ago, with incremental labor wins made beforehand which culminated in the victory that was the Fair Labor Standards Act. We know work can be improved, we’ve seen it happen throughout history. So why have improvements to our worklife stagnated post-1940?
The biggest reason Americans had the labor victories that we did in the 1930s was due to powerful militant labor unions. These unions lead strikes across the country in various industries, resulting in big gains for workers. Since the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which greatly restricted labor union power, and the McCarthyism of the Cold War era which purged left-wing labor leaders from unions, union power has been on a steady decline. Without unions to check the power of massive corporations, private enterprise has been able to treat workers in whatever way maximizes profit: poor working conditions, long hours, no benefits, and more.
Unions, of course, still exist today. With their power neutered due to Taft-Hartley, right-to-work laws, and outsourcing of unionized industries to cheaper labor markets abroad, however, unions are a shell of what they were in the 1930s. Alongside a consistent decline in union membership, unions are not positioned to regain the power they once had. Without a well organized entity that prioritizes the workers’ interest, there is little pushing employers to adjust to what employees of today are seeking from their jobs.
In Class Struggle Unionism, Joe Burns argues that: If Gen Z and American workers as a whole want to see changes in employers that reflect the things we value most, a revitalization of the militant labor movement is a prerequisite. Achieving something like a 32-hour workweek won’t be handed to us, it must be fought for.
These changes will not happen overnight and won’t be easy. But if we don’t want to work for 40+ years at a job that doesn’t enrich our lives, with no guarantee of a retirement, we have little choice.
Gen Z’s Values & Work
It is no mystery that the job market today is not great, causing serious anxiety within the newest generation entering the workforce. Beyond the stress caused by not having a job — not knowing how you’ll afford food, shelter, healthcare and other necessities — being employed doesn’t make life automatically amazing.
Credit: Jigar Swaminarayan
Many workers, such as those in healthcare, are overworked and underpaid based on their labor output. Additionally, half of college grads are working jobs that don’t utilize their degrees. It is no surprise then that Gen Z does not have working for work’s sake at the top of their list of personal values. How can young people wake up excited to work in jobs that either overwork and underpay them, or in jobs that aren’t related to fields they find interesting? Older workers without solid retirement plans are forced to cling to jobs, limiting openings for Gen Z workers. Additionally, with the erasure of entry level positions, Gen Z has little opportunity to enter fields with higher wage potential.
With the increasing retirement age, it is almost laughable to expect Gen Z to happily comply with participating in a workforce for 40+ years. A workforce which seldom brings fulfillment for the vast majority of workers nor a guaranteed standard quality of life. It is fair, however, to say that not all jobs need to provide a source of happiness, as long as they pay the bills and allow for life outside of work. Yet, due to wage stagnation, many entry level and physical labor jobs are not paying the bills. This has forced more and more Americans to work multiple jobs, leaving little time for personal leisure and pleasure. According to Welch’s research, she found that the values Gen Z holds highest are personal pleasure, expressing authentic individuality, and selflessness. These values may not align with what hiring managers are after, but that doesn’t mean that the other 98% of Gen Z cannot be contributing members of a workforce.
Gen Z should be able to participate in a workforce that enables them to live their lives outside of work. Refusing to engage in “workcentrism” does not mean workers cannot be good at their jobs, it just separates work and life. Increasing time spent at work prevents us from social connectedness causing loneliness, leading to deteriorating mental health. When our lives only consist of work, we are alienated from our communities. Having healthy lives outside of work can in fact lead to better worker output.
Companies wouldn’t need to rely on “workcentrism” to find motivated workers if they provided adequate pay and benefits to employees. A job that enables people to do the things they want outside of work can serve as sufficient motivation to do well. This is the type of work environment Gen Z wants to participate in. They understand that there is more to life than creating value for shareholders. If companies want a committed Gen Z workforce, they will need to adapt to these demands.
According to a June 2025 survey by Handshake, a Gen Z-focused career social network, Gen Z’s top priorities for their jobs are: stability and job security, opportunities for skill building, location, and benefits that sustain work-life balance. These are reasonable expectations from a job, but are seldom fulfilled by employers. Workers experienced an improvement of quality of life after being allowed to work remotely or hybrid during the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, employers are demanding a return to office, some for a full five days. Gen Z is experiencing a skills-gap crisis due to lack of mentoring opportunities available at work, and wages have not kept up with inflation increasing the frequency at which workers must change jobs to stay afloat. Why is it so difficult to find jobs that meet these standards?
Working Conditions & Profits
The economic mode of production impacts various aspects of our lives: from how housing is distributed and access to healthcare, to how cities are planned and society is organized. It also affects working conditions. In America and other capitalist countries, production is carried out with the aim of obtaining a profit. What drives profit is the surplus value generated by a worker's labor, or the excess money that workers generate above their salary rate. Employers can stretch surplus value by extending the work day or forcing employees to work more efficiently in the same amount of time, negatively impacting working conditions for an employee. When it is cheaper to pay fines for labor violations than it is to materially improve workers’ conditions, it is more profitable to cut corners on worker safety and wellbeing, making these deteriorating conditions more common across the economy. With this understanding, it becomes clear why workplaces are disincentivized to provide the things Gen Z workers are looking for: doing so impacts a company's bottom line.
Stability and job security are hard to come by when workers are often the first thing to get cut when a company isn’t doing well. Investing in employees’ skillbuilding can be seen as ‘risky’ for an employer, but many do provide these kinds of opportunities. And there are jobs that provide a stable work-life balance, but this is far from the norm across almost all American industries. The profit motive puts the wants and needs of workers on the backburner, and in many cases, the improvement of a work environment is directly opposed to maximizing profit.
It may be some time before employers adapt to what Gen Z wants out of work, if ever. But this doesn’t mean that Gen Z must accept this reality. Rather, we can organize to have work better serve us and future generations.
A second comment on the WSJ article provides a different take:
“Sounds to me like the youth have looked at the rigged system that keeps workers poor and subservient to sociopathic businesses leaders, [seen] how it’s screwed over their parents and grandparents, and said ‘no, the values that allow that to happen are not for me.’”
Followed by a reply which garnered a higher number of upvotes:
“Then, they can go jobless or start their own business. We live in reality.”
It is up to Gen Z to change that reality.