Millions of Gen Z are jobless - are useless university degrees to blame?

[Win7user]

Most, Gen Zs are mostly dangerous, indoctrinated individuals. They, were taught what to think, rather than "how" to think. Critical Thinking Skills, comes to mind. Remember, I said most, not all.

 

[yannus]

Just watch Justin Awad's channel on Youtube and you'll understand why they are jobless. Except for brands and celebrities, they know nothing about anything. I'll add Joeybtoonz channel to the list to understand why you would never hire any woke person in your company and sadly, many young people are quite woke.

 

[kiwigraeme]

What a lot of trash comments - sorry guys, my usual rant coming

Typical of many of you boomers

Remember in the 1960s, 1970s you could walk out of a job tuesday morning and have a new job same day

Remember when a labourer and stay at home mum could buy a roof over your heads

Remember when you didn't need crazy amounts of experience

A degree , any degree got you a job in a bank , corporation etc

Easy to crap over the young today , but this is the USA you chose . Reagan first and Trump second . Where you the worker exists solely to make a few people very rich

What job security now , unless mission critical etc

Hell DOGE hates middleclass professionals providing govt services. people who take pride looking after paks , caring for Vets , keeping your skies safe, your resources pure

Yet typical failing MAGA need 10 trans people competing in sport to blame , Immigrants who commit less crimes than them , Govt workers who got science degrees who are all so la de da

Stop being w***kers and acting so superior , many of us had it easy. Apprentices. career paths etc

Yes the young have yo be smarter etc . I hope they break free and make up their own economy


Even if now a great engineer , bean counters say too many , say moving to another State, to another country , out source , AI can do your job

Bet you all think you never goofed of at work on friday afternoon . No us MAGA heads down always working , didn't even go to the toilet on THE MANs time.

Have some honesty please

Pretty sure none of you worked during great depression

Congrats won't be many gandkids except in welfare RED states

If young in your country can't become new middleclass except with huge parental help and legups , it does not bode well

Least you will get 5 new car factories built in The USA next month , so just need to wait till May for them to come of the production line , I"d thought June , but MAGA here told me with now no red tape it will be very quick

 

[Megalomaniac]

"Millions of Gen Z are jobless – are useless university degrees to blame?"

Is this a rhetorical question?

 

[Megalomaniac]

As a Millennial who grew up in the 80's, I didn't have anywhere near as much pressure or distraction as Generation Z or Generation Alpha.

We had no computers until the 90's. I had to learn the skill of typing and perfecting my work because corrections were difficult. I had no cellphone: I had to memorize numbers. I had no Tik Tok to distract me.
There was no "useless class". Every single class had a reason and a value.

Now:

I call what we are living with the SCHOOL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.

You have the military industrial complex which soaks up money to perpetuate war - preferably against countries that can't fight back.

You have the prison industrial complex that shuns death penalty and prefers long-term imprisonment since it creates more jobs even at the risk of recidivism.

Now you have the School industrial complex. Almost 2 Trillion in student loans which subsidized college professors that taught useless courses - or at least courses that the students couldn't easily get jobs in. Corporations waiting with their hands out so they can "get into the classrooms".

Go into a classroom and do a 360. Count the number of Corporate names you see. Corporations want contracts from your kid's school - no different than the food vendors in prisons - no different than the defense contractors.

The SIC is probably bigger than the military and the prisons as it effects you from infancy through adulthood.

I should write a book and call it out.

 

[Eflow]

The unemployable Gen Z's are victims of wokism.

The woke destroyed education as a whole, not only the universities.
The 'no child left behind' policies, the drastic lowering of standards, participation trophies, the destruction of AP classes because they're 'racist' and the treating of failures as victims of something other than themselves ... all that, along with dozens of other idiocies created a generation where too many kids are entitled whiny brats incapable of doing something useful or even taking care of themselves.
Unfortunately, part of the horrible damage done to so many young people is irreversible.

AP class availability and testing have actually steadily increased over the past couple decades, despite whatever fear mongering you might be seeing on conservative media.

I'm guessing that fear mongering also plays a big role in the rest of your anti-woke word salad.

 

[Vulcanproject]

David Mccullough Jr. "You are not special" commencement speech feels more useful every year that passes.

 

[candle86]

So this is from My own family member specifically my sister she's in HR director for a medium size company down here in Texas.

The bigger problem she runs into with brand new college graduates specifically the ones under 28. Then keep asking for mental health days they keep complaining about mandatory over time they refuse to do training outside of work hours even when it's been paid because they want to complain about a work-life balance and then they want to complain that they're not getting good reviews and raises. An example she gave me once was they hired a brand new person in the graphics design department and they wanted to send them to a seminar and they let them know that this was a job requirement in a seminar with 6 months away and they would be required to go because it was about their industry and might give them ideas ability to connect with other people in the field and just you know be useful. This person then decided to schedule a vacation around that time because their family always goes on vacation then because they wanted to go with their mother and father when they go on that vacation and they didn't tell them that when they took the job they decided to tell them that 3 weeks before.

Well of course the vacation request was denied and the tickets were bought to send them to this conference with the rest of their team and this person didn't show up at the airport and they reported back to work two weeks later wanting to know why they had been fired because how dare the company decide that it's needs were more important than it's their vacation even though they knew 6 months ahead of time.

Now this is just an example my sister gave me she said this is fairly consistent this person was 27 they're old enough to know better. At this point she just doesn't hire college grads if you want a job as a recent college grad you'd better be over 30 and have some work history behind you because she won't hire you otherwise she literally just sends the resume to the recycle bin

Let me be clear she doesn't reject all college graduates just the ones that come in randomly if your mom or your dad works at the company or your aunt you should give you a shot but if you don't have some sort of edge in the door with a family member that already works there she doesn't care she's not willing to take the chance anymore because it's expensive to continually retrain.

 

[candle86]

As a Millennial who grew up in the 80's, I didn't have anywhere near as much pressure or distraction as Generation Z or Generation Alpha.

We had no computers until the 90's. I had to learn the skill of typing and perfecting my work because corrections were difficult. I had no cellphone: I had to memorize numbers. I had no Tik Tok to distract me.
There was no "useless class". Every single class had a reason and a value.

Now:

I call what we are living with the SCHOOL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.

You have the military industrial complex which soaks up money to perpetuate war - preferably against countries that can't fight back.

You have the prison industrial complex that shuns death penalty and prefers long-term imprisonment since it creates more jobs even at the risk of recidivism.

Now you have the School industrial complex. Almost 2 Trillion in student loans which subsidized college professors that taught useless courses - or at least courses that the students couldn't easily get jobs in. Corporations waiting with their hands out so they can "get into the classrooms".

Go into a classroom and do a 360. Count the number of Corporate names you see. Corporations want contracts from your kid's school - no different than the food vendors in prisons - no different than the defense contractors.

The SIC is probably bigger than the military and the prisons as it effects you from infancy through adulthood.

I should write a book and call it out.

Really really simple solution All those college graduates that can't pay off their student loans join the military do your 8 years in the military will help pay them off or if you want to go to college and list do a 6-year enlistment Go to college for free.

With the bonus that you won't be just a recent college graduate you'll be one that completed a military enlistment and then they know you have characteristics that make you dependable and reliable

 

[Mokona]

Worthless degrees have always been worthless.

A big issue nowadays is there aren't really as many "entry level" jobs where a company will put effort in to train you up themselves.

Basically anything that isn't flipping burgers is going to ask for not just a bachelor's but 5 years of related work experience as well.

That's the big 'chicken or the egg'-style conundrum so many find themselves in:

For a new graduate to get a job in their field today, far too many companies are insisting on a degree AND experience - but you can only get the experience through working in the field, which you won't get, because you have no experience in the field.

Most higher education programs intentionally aren't intended to train you for a job, but rather to give you a solid foundational base of knowledge that will allow you to quickly learn and understand the specific knowledge and skills the position you end up working requires.

The degree is intended to communicate to your potential employer that you have a certain set of base competencies and familiarity with general core concepts of the field, and that there won't be any glaring holes in crucial fundamental knowledge or skills required for your position that may not show themselves immediately. It's essentially the academic version of passing Basic Training. You've made it to the starting line.

...well, assuming your Bachelor's can function as a terminal degree, anyway. If you graduated with one of the many functionally non-terminal degrees out there (psychology, sociology, physics, etc), whose main value is in qualifying you to start working on one of the associated advanced degrees, your Bachelor's is more of a "I'm at least skilled and intelligent enough to be able to get this degree" qualification, and, while you might still be at the starting line, you're also wearing some kind of lead shoes.

There are "vocational/skill-based" degree programs, mostly Associate's degrees, but many companies are wary of them as well, as they often focus on teaching very specific sets of knowledge, skills and procedures rather than a wide base, and, more often than not, those procedures taught don't align with how they do things, and the very specific knowledge and skills you were taught are out of date the moment you graduate (or earlier). As a result, not only do you not know how to do the job, but you were taught what, from their perspective, is the wrong way to do it, all without proper fundamentals, meaning they don't just have to train you, they have to RETRAIN you, which requires even more effort.

I understand that, in this current (insane, unsustainable) corporate culture, shareholders are aggressively pushing for impossible perpetual short-term growth, and that any costs that can be cut will be, but refusing recent graduates, on the basis that it will cost them money to train them on-the-job to gain experience, is one of the most obvious mistakes that will definitely come to bite them in the a**.

Sorry for the long rant, I have a fever and always tend to keep going on and on whenever I do...

 

[Hotlynx16]

My son got a 4 year BA degree and is now packing boxes for an online pest control company! He said the only good thing about it is that it is not stressful!

 

[p51d007]

It's called the law of supply and demand. There are x jobs available for college graduate, but only y
jobs available. That makes it an EMPLOYER job market which allows them to keep the salary down.
Whereas, "labor" type jobs I see signs all the time with hiring bonuses, free this or that because there
are not enough "skilled labor" people available, which makes it an EMPLOYEE job market.

 

[Northy]

My son got a 4 year BA degree and is now packing boxes for an online pest control company! He said the only good thing about it is that it is not stressful!

A BA has been known to stand for "bugger all" for decades, he can't really be surprised when that's all he has to offer.

Most, Gen Zs are mostly dangerous, indoctrinated individuals. They, were taught what to think, rather than "how" to think. Critical Thinking Skills, comes to mind. Remember, I said most.

Maybe you spend a bit too much time on the internet. There's lots of factors at play here in terms of broader intellect and critical thinking ability, but "most" individuals no matter what age just want to get along in life, feel loved and have it not hurt too much when they face the world.

Really really simple solution All those college graduates that can't pay off their student loans join the military do your 8 years in the military will help pay them off or if you want to go to college and list do a 6-year enlistment Go to college for free.

With the bonus that you won't be just a recent college graduate you'll be one that completed a military enlistment and then they know you have characteristics that make you dependable and reliable

I've always thought public service a great way to mature people as well. It doesn't necessarily have to be military, there's many branches of government that could use a lot of young and not so eager people to get a lot of things done.

The individuals gain discipline, experience, respect and a sense of accomplishment whilst important functions get done. So many wins.

I can imagine the cries by the extraordinarily vocal minority though, how it's slavery and breaking their human rights and lord knows what else.

 

[WhiteLeaff]

Truth be told, even people with experience and postgraduate degrees are having problems getting suitable jobs, unless they lower the bar...

 

[wizardB]

The biggest blame goes to mom and dad who never taught their special little prizes a work ethic. That whole generation thinks they should get paid for standing around and playing with their phones.

 

[Gars]

University? that was fast
start from the college or even lower
tell me the few things you remember from that education that you are using irl?
then cut the rest and add something useful
anyone with "diploma"" an end in itself is not capable to change light bulb himself
and this guy is coming to get your place coz his good at smiling, talking and taking every1s attention
and that with zero skills for the job
/rant

 

[jam4t]

Perhaps, but is the idea of employing people who do not work or produce just so they can have a job any kind of solution?

Sometimes its a choice of paying people to work, keeping crime down, tax receipts up, training for the individual etc. or letting half your population rot away so they are un-employable.

 

[Peculiar]

There are a million news sites that write on politics already, can we please please keep this a tech website?

 

[Draconian]

There are a million news sites that write on politics already, can we please please keep this a tech website?

Because of generative AI, computing and coding degrees aren't the guarantee of a lucrative career that they used to be.

 

[pnntmp]

AP class availability and testing have actually steadily increased over the past couple decades, despite whatever fear mongering you might be seeing on conservative media.

That's exactly what I meant when I said AP classes were destroyed!
You obviously share my view. Thanks for further proving my point!

The purpose of AP classes was to select the best and the brightest and help them reach their full potential at their own pace. After making AP classes 'inclusive' and dumbing down the admission standards so that everyone can fit, they no longer serve that purpose.
Now the best and the brightest (and pretty much everyone, actually) is forced to study at the pace of the dumbest, because 'no child left behind' sounds so progressively heartwarming. The problem is that's extremely destructive for anyone who's not dumb, and changes nothing for the dumbest anyway.

 

[noblody]

My son got a 4 year BA degree and is now packing boxes for an online pest control company! He said the only good thing about it is that it is not stressful!

My first years after graduating computer science I worked for small companies and packing books, flowers or booking airline tickets for the websites we built was part of the job. It didn't seem below me and I believe it was good to see how it worked, what problems our clients faced. Pay wasn't great compared to todays standards, but it was amazing for me at the time (compared to the 0 before) and it mostly got better over time. Maybe the biggest problem today is that most people expect big money from the start even though they basically can't do much. What you learn in school is a foundation for what you need to become productive, but it doesn't replace real life experience.

 

[Puiu]

Worthless degrees have always been worthless.

A big issue nowadays is there aren't really as many "entry level" jobs where a company will put effort in to train you up themselves.

Basically anything that isn't flipping burgers is going to ask for not just a bachelor's but 5 years of related work experience as well.

Trust me there are many companies that are desperate to get fresh blood. From personal experience, after putting a lot of time and money into training new employees (fresh out of college), they just end up leaving as soon as the work gets serious. So many quit even after a month.

I don't get it. During college I was desperate to make money and build my CV. The conditions they are getting today is something I could only dream in 2010. How did they become so weak willed? Is the parents? Social Media?

 

[dalpilot]

Several reasons.

1. Companies want a master degree in what it specializes in and want to pay someone min wage to work that job. it cost the college kid 100s of 1000s of dollars in predatory loans to make others rich and it doesnt lead to a paying job even if its a good degree.
2. College is too expensive. Folks are realizing that college doesnt gaurantee wealth or success because wages are not going up and companies dont want to pay.

College cost has gone up 100x in the past 30 years and wages have remained stagnant. Degrees are only a way to secure a lifetime of debt now instead of a lifetime of wealth they used to offer.

I know I am older (68) and Old Fashioned so the idea of personal responsibility is also out of fashion. Why take responsibility for our actions (picking a college I couldn't afford, getting a degree that had no job path, taking out loans you had no ability to repay, etc., etc.) when blame on someone else or that big, rich (large endowment ______) university.

I worked hard, got outstanding grades in High School, received a full Scholarship for college, worked my way through my Masters, and had a very full & active life & now have a comfortable retirement.

It's not too late to train for a real job (Einstein once said "If I wasn't a great scientist I would have been a Plumber".

Get off your fat, lazy a** and get a job - almost every place in my town has openings @ $15-19/hour.

 

[lonetac]

I know I am older (68) and Old Fashioned so the idea of personal responsibility is also out of fashion. Why take responsibility for our actions (picking a college I couldn't afford, getting a degree that had no job path, taking out loans you had no ability to repay, etc., etc.) when blame on someone else or that big, rich (large endowment ______) university.

I worked hard, got outstanding grades in High School, received a full Scholarship for college, worked my way through my Masters, and had a very full & active life & now have a comfortable retirement.

It's not too late to train for a real job (Einstein once said "If I wasn't a great scientist I would have been a Plumber".

Get off your fat, lazy a** and get a job - almost every place in my town has openings @ $15-19/hour.

At your age a min wage job afforded to keep up a whole family on a single income affording a house, car, sending kids to college and other luxuries.

Something the older generations dont understand is cost of living now days. its not about being lazy. Statistics show the american work day is getting longer, not shorter.

College costs went up x1000 wages have remained stagnant. Save me your archaic understanding of how the world works (and we are not too far off in age).

I also worked hard. I started working at the age of 12, 4 days a week to afford clothes and food. I graduated at the top of my high school class. There were no scholarships, there was no affording college, it was work work work. Working hard is meaningless. The poorest people are amongst the hardest working people. The only thing wealthy folks have in common is they got lucky. Hard work guarantees absolutely nothing anymore. Selling that story is a massive lie that is so easy to poke through.

And I am doing fantastic now. I have a comfortable life style. Hard work helped, but nobody who gets to where you and I are did it on hard work alone. We got lucky.

Why do older generations always think newer generations are lazy when they had it so frigging easy... You were compensated, you had a government working for you and your cost of living was a fraction of what it is today while making the same wages as folks today.

 

[Nobina]

Millions of Gen Z are unable to do any work because they are incompetent and believe they should have the best jobs with the best pay instantly, a result of being conditioned by social media. On the other side, employers are basically looking for slaves - people with experience who are willing to work for peanuts.