All we ever hear about Gen Z (the cohort born between 1997 and 2012) is that they're "work-shy about everything except learning TikTok dance routines." But new data pours cold water straight on the theory that everyone in this age bracket is set on becoming an influencer.
Turns out, in a world where AI is crushing entry-level job opportunities and the social media landscape is fragmenting—riddled with bots, deepfakes, and general chaos—those currently between the ages of 14 and 29 are planning alternative futures that don't involve saying "Hi guys, welcome back to my channel!" or posting GRWM confessionals.
Just 5 percent of Gen Z now say they'd like to become an influencer, according to a Yahoo! poll—a stark contrast to a 2023 Morning Consult report that put that figure at a whopping 57 percent.
Instead, the most popular dream career choice is to be an entrepreneur (18 percent)—and crucially, one who isn't in the spotlight. Elsewhere, 17 percent said becoming a respected intellectual or professor is the most appealing (though does that actually just mean becoming a bro podcast host who regurgitates pseudoscience and dodges fact-checking? Let's hope not), and 14 percent would like to be a doctor. Around 3 percent are keen to become lawyers.
Earlier this year, Employment Hero, an HR firm, also noted a 16.8 percent rise in Gen Z entering the construction and trade industries—as many white-collar sectors make mass layoffs.
So what does this tell us? Well, given that just 9 percent of Gen Zers said they'd like to become famous, there's a real shift away from chasing clout and publicizing private lives in a bid to get ahead in the attention economy. Perhaps a realization has dawned that the market is overcrowded—while, simultaneously, people are craving ways to engage in "analog living." Videos, ironically, showing 9-to-5 office day routines regularly go viral. Commenters gush about how soothing it must be to have structure—to know that day after day you'll wake up, wear a crisp white shirt, carry a salad in a jar in your backpack, and sit at a desk that faintly whiffs of antibacterial spray.
There's a clear craving for stability in a world that has been anything but stable for those in their mid-teens to late 20s. Financial crash! Pandemic! AI! Cost-of-living crisis! A housing market that resembles a Jenga tower after the fateful brick keeping it together has been yanked out!
Evidently, the next wave of people entering the economy is sick of working hard for others and wants to be their own bosses, with a better work-life balance.
Maybe then the kids will be alright, after all.