Why are Zoomers Finding It So Hard to Find a Job?

Every day, Zoomers enter the workforce. They are full of ambition, determined to make an impact, and challenge the status quo. Unfortunately, for them, many companies are not even giving them a chance to succeed in the workplace. This is unsustainable for the future leaders of America. Upon graduating from college, Zoomers are entering an uncertain economy and a terrible housing market. Zoomers are now resorting to moving back in with their parents to save up money just so they can afford to move out. On top of those two circumstances, the majority of Zoomers are graduating with thousands of dollars in student loans to pay off. Society is doing an extremely poor job of setting up these young workers for a successful future.

According to a recent survey, 6 out of 10 companies have cut ties with their youngest employees due to a variety of factors. This includes the inability to communicate, unprofessionalism, or lack of readiness in the workforce. While companies are always looking for employees, letting go of Zoomer employees because they “lack readiness in the workforce” does not teach them anything; and it says more about the employer than the employee. A big reason for this is that skills-based hiring is in high demand. Companies want their future employees to already have the experience so they do not have to train them during their onboarding. There are two factors that these companies fail to understand.

First, skills can always be taught. Instead of hiring based on skills, companies should be hiring based on work ethic. A candidates willingness to learn, receive feedback, and professionalism in the workplace should hold more weight than the skills listed on their resume. Second, companies should do a better job of training employees. According to recent report, only a quarter of the information is retained by new hires in training without any follow up training after two weeks. Thus, companies should be investing time ensuring that their new hires are retaining the information learned. In addition companies should be willing to train new hires again if they feel that an initial training is not enough.

With these kinds of circumstances, it makes it impossible for a Zoomer to achieve the American dream. As I mentioned in my last piece, the American dream is out of reach to so many Americans because of the high cost of living and the terrible housing market. In certain industries, like within the media world, companies are doing layoffs because they are bloated, so the number of potential employees looking for work has skyrocketed, making finding work in that space difficult.

Zoomers, like all workers, are looking for a job that provides a solid work-life balance—something that Baby Boomers deemphasized. In a society where the whole world revolves around the Internet, many Zoomers prefer to work from home. Don’t get me wrong, working from home is not for everyone. I enjoy working in the office so I get that face-to-face interaction with my coworkers. That is the biggest benefit of working in the office. If there is something that the pandemic did teach us, working remotely is the new norm. It gives employees the flexibility to work from wherever they want. This is important for all those young moms and dads who have a young child to take care of. Baby Boomers tend to enjoy working in person because they have been used to it for a while. Hybrid work models would be the most beneficial to Zoomers due to their tech-savvy personalities.

If you are a Zoomer and are struggling to find employment, do not be discouraged! You are not alone. It is important to have a nice side gig to have while looking for your next role so you at least have some cash flow coming in, or you could pick up a part-time job just to make ends meet. Most importantly, take care of your mental health and remind yourself every day that everything is going to be OK. This is a big time of uncertainty, but the best way to keep the faith is to appreciate where you are right now in life and trust God that he has a plan for you!