Why Gen Z Is Facing A Job Market Collapse (Shocking Truth)

Why gen z is facing a job market collapse — the shocking truth

Why gen z is facing a job market collapse is a question that reveals a systemic failure decades in the making. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Gen Z graduates are experiencing the worst job market in over a decade, with 90% of employers refusing to hire Gen Z workers. As the total cost of college has nearly doubled over the past two decades, student loan delinquencies have reached an all-time high, leaving an entire generation questioning why a college degree went from a guaranteed path to success to leaving Gen Z ghosted by minimum wage jobs.

The historical context of the college promise

The GI Bill and the birth of the middle class

To understand why gen z is facing a job market collapse, we must examine how higher education became the default path to success. The GI Bill fundamentally redefined opportunity in America, providing nearly half of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II with educational benefits. With 2.2 million receiving college degrees and more than 5.6 million enrolling in vocational training or on-the-job programs, America’s robust middle class consisted of both blue and white collar workers living side by side.

The Cold War education shift

By the late 1950s, the Cold War began reshaping the nation’s education system as Sputnik ignited fears of Soviet superiority, pushing science and mathematics to the forefront while sidelining traditional vocational pathways. This set the groundwork for Lyndon B. Johnson’s Higher Education Act of 1965, expanding federal financial aid under the assumption that loans could easily be paid off as a degree practically guaranteed upward mobility.

The consumerization of education

Despite institutions quickly exploiting the influx of government money by raising tuition and reframing students as consumers, the nation continued to place increasing importance on the four-year degree, treating it as synonymous with economic prosperity. This relegated vocational training, associate degrees, apprenticeships, and community colleges to lesser alternatives, cementing the entrenched belief that college was not merely one pathway to success, but the only acceptable one.

The generational pattern of broken promises

Baby boomers: the first generation sold on college

Baby boomers became the first generation in American history to be raised under overwhelming pressure to “just go to college.” However, they have miraculously forgotten that in the 1980s, rather than simply pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, they were the ones voicing their frustrations as their college degrees failed to get them into their desired fields. Take the case of Mark Mixarchski, a 1979 graduate whose story sounds almost identical to what is being said today.

Gen X: repeating the same struggles

Gen X, adhering to the same societal promise their parents had received, once again voiced unbelievably similar concerns throughout the 1990s. As John Conway, an intellectual property lawyer, reflected in 2001: “We are stuck in entry-level jobs, and the income didn’t increase with the cost of living. Everything is delayed from home buying to child rearing. In the middle of the game, the rules changed, and the bar for success was raised beyond our means once again.”

Millennials: the most educated, most struggling

By 2008, millennials became the most educated generation in history with 70% pursuing higher education by the age of 25. Yet within a year, unemployment for young adults soared to 19.2%, double the national average. By 2016, the global financial crisis resulted in millennial families being 34% below wealth expectations. But instead of confronting how the system had failed, older generations dismissed the outcome as nothing more than laziness and entitlement.

The staggering cost of education today

Tuition inflation vs. wage stagnation

The numbers reveal why gen z is facing a job market collapse more clearly than any anecdote. In 1989, tuition fees and room and board at a 4-year state university cost $4,274, or $11,138 when adjusted for inflation. A student earning the minimum wage of $3.35 an hour (or $8.73 today) could cover a year’s tuition with 1,276 hours of work. Today, with the average cost of attendance at a public university at $27,146 a year, that same student would need to work 3,744 hours at the federal minimum wage of $7.25—nearly triple the time required in 1989.

The debt trap

Even at $15 an hour, it would take 1,810 hours to cover a year’s tuition, making a debt-free degree nearly unattainable. Yet, every time these numbers are raised, it is continuously repackaged as Gen Z being lazy. The reality is that Gen Z is strapped with immense student loan debt for a degree that now costs more than twice what it did for previous generations, only to then compete for entry-level jobs already being replaced by AI.

The perfect storm of economic factors

Gen Z faces a failing dollar, stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, and a job market where 90% of employers refuse to hire them, all while being blamed and mocked for getting a college degree. This represents a terrible place for the future of our country to be in, with real people living through these impossible circumstances.

Real stories from the front lines

Mora’s experience: qualified but rejected

Mora, a 23-year-old recent college graduate from Iowa City, exemplifies the disconnect between qualifications and opportunity. Despite winning journalism awards in high school, working as a news producer at her college station, doing live newscasts for presidential elections, and completing real client work for nonprofits, she struggles to find employment. Her experience includes redesigning websites, producing videos, and growing a college’s marketing campaign by over 100%—all measurable, real-world achievements.

The communication skills paradox

As Mora explains, “Communication is always relevant. There’s not been a single company in existence who didn’t need some kind of communication team. If they didn’t have it, they either had to hire one or they went out of business.” Yet despite these universally needed skills and proven experience, she faces rejection after rejection, often dismissed for trivial reasons like having a nose ring.

The internship arms race

The job market has created an impossible standard where young people need paid internships, unpaid internships, multiple internships, and extensive experience just to qualify for $50,000-a-year jobs. This represents a fundamental shift from when being a human being with basic qualities, moral standards, and respect for yourself was enough to get a job with proper training and guidance.

The systemic failure of the college model

Why the college promise never worked

The truth is that the college promise largely never worked beyond the immediate post-World War II period. The societal talking point that college graduates make more than those without degrees ignores the fact that we’ve gutted the systems that were supposed to help those who didn’t go to college. The higher earnings of college graduates aren’t because college creates value—they’re because we’ve systematically destroyed alternative pathways to success.

The circular logic problem

We tell young people they need college to get good jobs, then make college so expensive they need good jobs to pay for it. We create a system where 18-year-olds must decide their entire life trajectory based on a promise that has consistently failed for decades, leaving them with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt and no safety nets or guidance.

The trade school trap

Now society is pivoting to “go to the trades” as the solution, but this creates the same problem. If everyone goes to trade school, we’ll have a surplus of blue-collar workers who can’t get jobs. We’re repeating the same pattern that created the college crisis, just in a different sector.

The real cost of this failure

Lost potential and human capital

Behind all these numbers and stereotypes are real people like Mora who have valuable skills, proven experience, and genuine passion for their work. They represent lost potential and human capital that could be driving innovation and economic growth if given the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the workforce.

The generational wealth gap

Each generation emerges into adulthood facing worse economic conditions than the generation prior, creating an ever-widening generational wealth gap. This isn’t about individual choices or work ethic—it’s about systemic failures that compound over time, making it increasingly difficult for young people to achieve the same level of economic security as their parents.

The social contract breakdown

The social contract that promised education and hard work would lead to economic security has been broken. Young people are told to invest in their future through education, then blamed when that investment doesn’t pay off due to factors entirely outside their control.

What needs to change

Redefining success pathways

We must stop telling everyone to go to college and instead create multiple viable pathways to success. This means investing in vocational training, apprenticeships, and alternative education models that provide practical skills without the crushing debt burden.

Addressing the cost crisis

The cost of education must be addressed at a systemic level. Whether through tuition reform, increased public funding, or alternative financing models, we cannot continue to saddle young people with debt that prevents them from participating fully in the economy.

Creating real opportunities

We need to create real opportunities for young people to gain experience, develop skills, and contribute to the economy. This means rethinking hiring practices, creating more entry-level positions, and providing the support and guidance that young people need to succeed.

The path forward

Having productive conversations

As the video creator emphasizes, we must begin having productive conversations about these issues. Pointing fingers and dismissing young people’s struggles as laziness or entitlement only perpetuates the cycle. We need to listen to the real experiences of young people and work together to create solutions.

Supporting alternative pathways

We must support and fund alternative pathways to success, including vocational training, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship programs. This requires investment in infrastructure, education, and support systems that can help young people develop the skills they need to succeed in the modern economy.

Creating a more equitable system

Ultimately, we need to create a more equitable system that provides multiple pathways to success and doesn’t leave entire generations behind. This requires systemic change, not just individual solutions or band-aid fixes.

Live example — user point of view

I graduated with a communications degree and $45,000 in student debt, only to discover why gen z is facing a job market collapse firsthand. Despite having three internships, published articles, and video production experience, I applied to over 200 jobs and received only 5 interviews. Most positions required 3-5 years of experience for “entry-level” roles, and many were being replaced by AI tools. I finally landed a job paying $35,000—less than what my parents earned in the 1980s with just high school diplomas. The monthly student loan payments consume 40% of my take-home pay, making it impossible to save for a house or start a family. Meanwhile, my friends who went into trades are earning $60,000+ with no debt. The system failed us, and we’re paying the price for decisions we made at 18 based on promises that were never kept.