Millions of U.S. Gen Zers are neither employed nor engaged in education or training, with young men facing more difficulty finding opportunities compared to women. Currently, 9.1% of men aged 20 to 24 are unemployed, while the rate for women in the same group is just 7.2%. This disparity has persisted since the height of the pandemic. As more women enter AI-resistant fields like healthcare, men continue to seek jobs in tech and financial services—sectors increasingly affected by automation.
Gen Z graduates are entering an especially tough labor market marked by slow payroll growth, “ghost” job listings, unresponsive hiring managers, and fewer entry-level positions, partly due to AI’s impact. These conditions have frozen many young workers out of potential roles, disproportionately affecting men.
Despite facing similar post-college challenges, young men remain unemployed at higher rates than women. For several years, women have outpaced men in education and employment. In the first quarter of 2025, 9.1% of men aged 20 to 24 were jobless compared to just 6.6% of women; by the second quarter, unemployment for men held steady at 9.1%, while it dropped slightly to 7.2% for women. Over the past five years, women in this age group have maintained employment rates 0.6% to 2.5% higher than men. The shift began in the third quarter of 2020 during lockdowns, when men’s unemployment rates overtook women’s—a trend that has continued well before the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022.
Across many industries, finding work has become daunting. White-collar job seekers have often submitted more than 1,700 applications and sometimes spent over a year searching without success. Men seem to face greater difficulties partially because they are less likely to enter recession- and AI-resilient fields like healthcare.
Historically, men flocked to lucrative computer science roles, but these jobs are dwindling as AI automates programming and engineering tasks. Meanwhile, women have consistently moved into healthcare, a sector less vulnerable to automation and economic downturns. Since before the pandemic, healthcare jobs like home health aides, doctors, and nurses have grown by 162%, with physician and surgeon openings up 90%. In contrast, employment in computer programming recently hit its lowest point since 1980. Tasks in healthcare, such as sterilizing surgical equipment, are much harder for AI to replace. In 2021, women made up nearly 78% of the 21.2 million workers in healthcare and social assistance. Healthcare is a classic recession-proof industry due to constant demand, and with the aging U.S. population, job growth is expected to continue with roughly 1.9 million openings annually over the next decade.
Meanwhile, fewer white-collar jobs are available for graduates, and many young men have become NEETs—Not in Employment, Education, or Training. In 2022, around 4.3 million U.S. Gen Zers fell into this category, a problem reflected globally where nearly 20% of 15- to 24-year-olds are disconnected. Though college has traditionally been a path to stable work, its benefits appear to be fading. In June 2025, unemployment among recent graduates was about 4.8%. Studies show that young men with college degrees face unemployment rates similar to those without degrees, prompting many to pursue blue-collar trades like plumbing or nursing, which offer steady jobs and six-figure earning potential without the burden of costly college.
British podcaster Peter Hitchens criticized universities in March, stating they often produce “worthless degrees” that don’t lead to fruitful careers. He argued that many young people would be better served by apprenticeships in trades such as plumbing or electrical work, which can provide more abundant and satisfying lives.