Gen Z are over having their work ethic questioned, per FORTUNE: ‘Most boomers don’t know what it’s like to work 40+ hours a week and still not be able to afford a house’
Gen Z are over having their work ethic questioned, per FORTUNE: ‘Most boomers don’t know what it’s like to work 40+ hours a week and still not be able to afford a house’, per FORTUNE.
The reason Gen Z and millennials are expressing frustration, according to Scott, isn't due to a lack of work ethic compared to previous generations, but rather because their efforts haven't yielded the expected results.
Scott asserts, "What's challenging is, we're holding up our end of the deal. We're staying in school. We're going to college. We've been working since we were 15, 16 years old... doing everything that y'all told us to do so that we can what? Still be living in our parents' homes in our late 20s?"
Millennials, considered the most educated generation in history, with Gen Z following closely, face financial prospects and employment opportunities significantly less favorable than those of Gen X graduates.
Compounding the issue, after incurring substantial student debt, young individuals are now being informed by executives that their degrees carry minimal value, with the suggestion that, in 90% of cases, they could have secured a job without one.
Unsurprisingly, 24% of Americans with student loan debt cite it as their biggest financial regret, according to a Bankrate survey.
Moreover, when these young individuals secure employment, they discover that their salaries do not provide the same financial flexibility as those of their parents.
To afford the median-priced home of $433,100, Americans require an annual income of approximately $166,600. However, the median household earns just $74,580, according to Home Bay, with entry-level positions paying around half of that.
Adding to the challenge, home prices have surged over twice as fast as income since the turn of the millennium. As a result, young workers today find themselves juggling multiple jobs—three or more—to keep pace with the escalating cost of living.
Scott emphasized, "I know people in their mid-30s who have been working for 20 years... That’s like 70% of their waking life they have been working, and they still cannot afford to purchase their first home."
“Millennials and Gen Z are working more than any other generation ever has,” he added. “We are also making considerably and disproportionately much less than any other generation has.”
'They sold us a lie'
Given the evident disparity between the opportunities available to today's graduates and those of preceding generations, Scott's viral video resonated with young individuals who felt they were encouraged to pursue an unattainable dream.
"I will forever regret going to college," one user commented. "They sold us a lie."
"My first job at 16 paid $7.25 an hour. 10 years later I have a bachelor's degree and am making $14 an hour," another echoed.
Even a Gen X viewer acknowledged that today's workers face greater challenges than ever before: "I'm 44, and I'm telling you — we are NOT working the same 40 hrs as we did when I was 25. We're doing the work of 2-3 people now."
Meanwhile, another person attributed blame to young individuals for pursuing college degrees, stating, "y'all go get these stupid degrees that don't get good-paying jobs, then cry about it being everyone's fault."