It sucks to be looking for a job right now.

Hiring has slowed way down over the last couple of years with many firms holding onto their current workforces who are in turn holding onto their current positions.

It's kind of an employment deep that doesn't leave many open doors for job seekers.

- If you or anyone you kno has looked for a job recently, you've probably heard the horror about having to send out hundreds of applications and wait months just to get an interview if you're lucky.

The average time between a posting and an eventual hire is now longer than it's bee since just before the pandemic.

One out of two job posting don't result in a hire at all, up from one out of five in 2018.

Some estimates put the number of applicants for one job around 250, giving the average j a measly 0.4% chance of success.

- But this bleak landscap seems to be bleakest for Gen Z. Unemployment rates for those 25 is significantly higher than older generations, and higher than it's been for that age bracket in almost a not counting the COVID pandemic.

- Many recent college grads report sending out hundreds of applications with few responses, or having to take low wage jobs that don't require a degree or having to stay with their par until the situation improves.

- So what is it about this gener that makes it so hard for them to land a job?

Is it the Gen Z stare?

(dramatic music) - There are a lot of theories, though some of them are backed u by little more than anecdotes and finger pointing.

- So let's cut through the noise and figure out why no one wants to hire Gen Z.

(upbeat music) - The most obvious culprit, or at least the one that gets the most hype, is artificial intelligence.

In recent months, many CEOs have claimed that big layoffs were due to AI-powered productiv And there are stories abou entry level white collar jobs, being replaced by algorithms.

Surely this would explain the difficulty young people are having finding a job.

- However, despite some isolated economists have found no real data to support the idea that AI has replaced a significa of the workforce in any industry That's not to say it won't somed or that CEOs aren't hoping for i but it doesn't explain the job market right now.

If you want to know why this theory persists, check out our video on why CEOs might be lying about layoffs.

- AI has changed the way people look for jobs, and not necessarily in a good wa (upbeat music) LinkedIn reports a 45% increase in applications since 2025, thanks to their AI-powered tools while employers have their own A to sift through the slop.

Some applicants will even hide invisible text instructions in their resumes to try to trick the algorithm into moving it to the top of the And yet for most applicants and the AI arms race just means a lot more busy work, ghosting, and confusion about what's real and what's not.

- Another theory puts the blame on college degrees, specifically the fact that there are too many of them Supposedly, the decades long push to convince every kid to go to college has backfired o Now we've got way more college g than there are white collar jobs to sustain them.

- Economic data seems to support this theory.

The unemployment rate for recent college grads has risen much faster than other over the last few years.

However, this stat may b misleading because unemployment numbers only count those wh are actively looking for work.

Economists Adam Ozimek and Nathan Goldschlag, found that a large number of you without a college degree have given up looking for work, meaning their struggle is under- in graphs like this.

When you factor this in, i becomes clear that young people in general are having a tough time finding a job, which suggests that a surplus of college degrees isn't to blame.

- So it's the stare, right?

I kn I got one from my niece the other day.

It was chilling.

- Believe it or not, that is a leading theory on why employers don't want to h or rather struggle wit workplace etiquette in general.

- Surveys have found that a quarter of business managers wouldn't consider hiring a recent college grad, mainly because of a lack of soft including communication collaboration, and adaptability.

18% of managers report being so stressed by overseeing Gen Z employees that they've considered quitting.

And 75% claim that young workers require more time and effort than other employees.

30% would rather leave a positio than give it to a Gen Zer.

- These managers seem to view the average Gen Z worker as someone who scrolls through their phone during meetings, expects to come into work in the if they come in at all, and will cancel you on TikTok if you so much as look at them w Coddled since birth, raised on s and socially deprived by the pan this whole generation is lazy, e and suspicious of authority, and just plain weird.

Or so the story goes.

- But you don't have to go back too far to hear very similar complaints being lodged at millennials.

The so-called look at me generat was described as self-absorbed and entitled, lacking in loyalty and work ethi It was pretty common around 2010 to hear the media and business leaders fret about their ability to coexist in the workplace.

- And we can go back even furthe Generation X was called the slacker generation.

Lazy and listless.

Their mascots were the couchboun with Beavis and Butt-Head and Wayne and Garth.

And their heroes wer characters who gave the finger to a soul-sucking corporate care - What is it?

You want me to get a job o the line for the next 20 years until I'm granted leave with my gold plated watch?

- Even the boomers got a similar treatment.

Yes, those boomers.

On TV, Archie Bunker perpetually with his young son-in-law over his generation's aversion to good, honest work.

Films like "Easy Rider" and "Five Easy Pieces" encapsulated the baby boomer dissatisfaction with a buttoned down office job.

And in the seminal Boomer coming of age film, graduate, recent grad, Ben Braddock responds to interrogations about his career goals with a pretty good approximation of the Gen Z stare.

- Plastics.

- Okay, just throwing this out there, maybe.

Just maybe being inexperienced and uncertain about the future is characteristic of young people in general rather than these specific young people.

- It's a wild theory, and it's not helped by the fact that businesses have bee steadily decreasing the amount of on-the-job training they offe It's like they expect young peop to show up as ideal workers on d - Well, if Gen Z isn't much different than previous generations, why are they having more trouble finding work?

- To find the answer, you only need to turn on the TV, or look at your phone, or read a newspaper.

The answer is all around us.

It's uncertainty.

The war in Iran is over.

Now it' The strait is open.

The strait i The tariffs are on.

The tariffs 10%, 25%, 100%.

We've got civil unrest, attempted insurrections, attempted assassinations.

AI is coming for your job.

Or maybe it's a bubble.

- All of this has created an atm of unprecedented economic uncert We're either on the cusp of the greatest economic miracle of all time or a total financial The Economic Policy Uncertainty Index has been higher over the past year than it was at any point in the past that wasn't a full-blown recession.

- And here's the thing.

Uncertainty hits young workers h because they are an investment in the future.

Firms won't spend money and time to train new hires if they think the landscape is about to shift dramatically.

They're more likely to stick with current employees, who are less likely to retire or change jobs, because they're uncertain too.

The labor market goes into a dee an inhospitable environment to gain experience, make connections, and learn new - Of course, no economic trend has one single cause.

- AI is creating genuine tension amongst employers and employees alike.

Some people are starting to rethink the idea that a college degree is a career necessity, and excessive screen time and pandemic shutdowns have stunted social development for some age brackets.

- But none of these factors can the fundamental rule that economies need stability, and predictability to grow and p Companies won't invest in the workforce of tomorrow if they don't know what tomorrow will look like.

And that's our two cents.