The youngest generation of workers is feeling down.
Mass federal workforce layoffs, stagnant wages and a deceptively complicated job market have all conspired to set Gen Z on edge, and they’re feeling the full weight of a fearful economic environment.
Less than half of workers overall feel optimistic about the future, according to Glassdoor’s Employee Confidence Index published earlier this month. But that number reached a record low for entry-level employees in particular—only 43.4% of that cohort is positive about the 6-month business outlook for their employer, the lowest number since Glassdoor began collecting data in 2016.
“Entry level workers have less job security. And so as they see these economic headwinds on the horizon, there’s an understandable concern that they might be the first ones to lose their jobs in a recession, or they’ll be left out in the cold when trying to find a new job,” Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s lead economist, tells Fortune.
The latest numbers from Glassdoor mirror other surveys that show the confidence of American workers has taken a major hit. Recent data from LinkedIn showed that U.S. workers feel even worse about the future than they did during the height of the pandemic in April 2020; two major drivers of worker anxiety are a slowing jobs market and the impact of AI.
The latest stock market volatility this week certainly won’t help workers gain back their confidence. After President Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” took effect, global markets plunged Wednesday, sending business leaders into panic mode. Although Trump announced a 90-day pause on those tariffs later in the day, with the major exception of China that got hit with an even steeper levies, economists warn that major damage has been done. Markets seemed to reflect that on Thursday, as stock prices dropped once more amid trade worries.
“Many employers are pulling back on budgets, promoting less, hiring less, and that all adds up to less opportunities for entry level workers to climb the career ladder,” says Zhao.
But he argues that it’s imperative for young workers especially to tune out chaos as best they can, and focus on what they actually have power over. That includes things like careful budgeting, and working on adding to and improving their skill sets in a quickly-changing hiring environment.
“There’s a lot of noise in the headlines right now and a lot of economic uncertainty flying around,” he says. “But ultimately none of us have control over that.”
