After going through multiple rounds of interviews, impressing the hiring manager and landing the gig, Gen Zers are forced to turn down offered roles because of the costs associated with starting a new job, according to a 2024 study.
A survey of over 2,000 16- to 25-year-olds in the UK Prince’s Trust annual NatWest Youth Index 2024 the cost of living is making today’s youth worry about their future and limiting their career aspirations.
From having to pick out a new uniform (or rather, work-appropriate clothes) to splashing out a boarding pass to get to work, it’s all telling. One in 10 unemployed Gen Zs has had to give up a job because of such costs.
Worryingly, money confidence has fallen to the lowest level recorded in the 15 years since the index began tracking the wellbeing of young people in the UK – with more than half of those surveyed fearing that they will be financially insecure, and thinking. money is enough to stress over a third of them.
This is particularly acute among young women, with 60% worried that the rising cost of living will prevent them from achieving financial security. Meanwhile, half fear they don’t have enough to support a family. By comparison, around 45% of young men have the same concerns.
TikTok Tips
So where do they turn for money advice? TikTok, of course. The number of 16- to 25-year-olds surveyed for lessons like turning to the social media platform. “Loud budget” has doubled since 2022, according to the study.
The trust said the findings revealed that current economic conditions are having a “harsh effect” on the “confidence, well-being and future aspirations” of young workers, particularly those from poorer backgrounds, and affecting their mental health more generally.
“This trap, where poor mental health and employment struggles are mutually reinforcing, threatens to close in this generation unless we take immediate action,” said Jonathan Townsend, UK chief executive of the Prince’s Trust.
Mental health is the second biggest killer of dreams
Townsend points out that unemployed young people find themselves in a vicious circle where being unemployed is detrimental to their mental health, but at the same time their mental health affects their ability to work.
A staggering 40% of respondents said they experience mental health struggles and a third worry it will prevent them from achieving their career goals.
For a large proportion of young workers, their mental health is already getting in the way of their work: one in five have missed school or work in the past year, 18% felt too scared to even apply for jobs, and 12% couldn’t face going to interviews.
Meanwhile, one in 10 young people from poorer backgrounds have left work this year due to mental health problems.
Separate studies have echoed that even when young workers show their faces, a whole majority miss them. the equivalent of one day’s work each week. Basically, they’re coming to the office, but they’re so mentally absent that they really struggle to get anything done almost 50 days a year.
How employers can help
Despite the grim findings, the study “presents a window of hope,” according to Townsend, as Gen Z figures out how employers can step in to help them.
Help to secure work experience, advice on CV writing and interviewing and training on how to build specific job skills for a third of respondents.
“The overwhelming majority of young people tell us that they remain passionate about achieving their goals,” concludes Townsend. “However, what they require is practical support and guidance to overcome the challenges they face, particularly as the world of work continues to change rapidly.”
A version of this story originally published Fortune.com on February 5, 2024.
