Find out how the sluggish job market is even tougher for Gen Z, who struggle with assessing their skills and being ghosted by prospective employers.
2025 is going to be a stellar year for career prospects and job security—at least, according to Gen Z. New data from iCIMS found that 87% of Gen Z feel confident about landing a new job this year. Another 45% believe that the economic outlook will affect their job security positively.
Similarly, LinkedIn found that 58% of all employees (and 69% of Gen Z workers) plan to look for a new job this year. Twenty-seven percent of Gen Z workers expect to receive a raise or promotion at their company within the next 12 months.
Over a third of Gen Z respondents haven’t been affected by layoffs or budget cuts, which may be contributing to their rose-tinted outlook. But those who are actively searching for a new role are discovering that it’s not as easy as it might look.
LinkedIn’s latest research indicates that the job market is still sluggish, with one in five workers who were job hunting in 2024 still looking for new opportunities. Despite predictions that the market will revive soon, the job search won’t get much easier. Probably due to applicants leveraging AI in their job search process, the number of applicants per open job on LinkedIn has jumped from around 1.5 in 2022 to 2.5 as of fall 2024 in the U.S.
All of this adds up to a rude awakening for Gen Z workers, who have already faced significant headwinds in launching their careers amid the pandemic and its aftermath.
4 job search challenges for Gen Z—and the rest of us
While workers from all generations are grappling with the slow job market, Gen Z’s relative newness to the process may be making their experience more difficult. Today, this generation is trying to answer four big questions in their quest for the right job:
- Am I a good match for the job? Nearly 40% of Gen Zers report struggling to determine this.
- Which of my skills align with the job’s requirements? More than one-third say they’re unsure how to assess this.
- Am I being ghosted? Yes, according to almost half (49%) of Gen Z job seekers. Four in 10 report that it’s happening more than ever before.
- Is more really better? The numbers game—applying for high numbers of positions—is no longer a winning strategy, as 41% report applying to more jobs than ever before, but hearing back less.
With these obstacles, it’s little wonder that even Gen Z’s optimism may be faltering. Still, 51% say they’re open to a role in a new industry or area, and 25% plan to learn new skills this year to open up additional opportunities.
Challenges on the hiring end
Is AI actually creating more work than it is alleviating? Hirers may be tempted to think so, as many are finding the hiring process increasingly challenging. One-fifth of HR professionals (21%) are spending between 3–5 hours a day sifting through applications. Another 70% say that less than half the applications they receive even meet all the criteria.
AI may make it easy to apply to massive numbers of jobs, but if it’s not a good fit, it’s a waste of time on both sides of the hiring experience.
That’s where LinkedIn’s new job match feature can help. Job match lets job seekers see their match level for a job description in seconds, as well as detailed insights into which qualifications they meet and which ones they might be missing. Job match, which is available to all LinkedIn members, shows personalized match information available for every job on the platform.
When job seekers can see how their strengths line up with a potential role, they can focus on applying for the best positions for their skill sets—with any luck, freeing hirers from the glut of irrelevant applications that are slowing down the process for everyone.
A lot to learn
An additional challenge for Gen Z, not touched on in the iCMS or LinkedIn data, is the growing reluctance of some employers to hire any Gen Z workers at all. This dynamic—fueled by legitimate concerns about Gen Z’s lack of workplace etiquette, poor job preparation in college and often weak human/professional skills—will only make their job search harder, even if they’re doing all the right things.
In fact, recent research even found that some employers’ aversion to hiring Gen Z goes so deep that they would rather bring in a freelancer (45%), recruit a retired former employee (45%), have a robot/AI do the job (37%) or even leave the position unfilled (30%).
It’s evident that many Gen Z workers have a lot to learn about thriving at work—but I have no doubt they will figure it out. Their thirst for learning and development is second to none, and they make full use of online platforms to quench it.
Of course, experience is the best teacher—and this generation will get that in spades this year as they navigate the challenges of job hunting in 2025. I wish them all the best in their journey.