Gen Z held 18% of the US labor force in the second quarter of 2024, passing Baby Boomers at 15% for the first time, according to US Department of Labor data. The same cohort met a tight entry-level market: youth unemployment reached 10.8% in July 2025. This report covers Gen Z’s workforce share, unemployment, job tenure, and workplace priorities, using figures from the Labor Department, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Randstad, and Deloitte.
Gen Z Workforce Statistics: Key Facts
The headline numbers for Gen Z at work, each tied to a named source and period.
- Gen Z made up 18% of the US labor force in Q2 2024, ahead of Baby Boomers at 15%.
- Youth unemployment (ages 16–24) hit 10.8% in July 2025, up from 9.8% a year earlier.
- Junior-role job postings fell 29 percentage points globally between January 2024 and mid-2025.
- Gen Z’s average tenure in the first five years of a career is 1.1 years, the shortest of four generations Randstad tracked.
- 48% of Gen Z did not feel financially secure in 2025, up from 30% in 2024.
What Share of the Workforce Is Gen Z?
Gen Z first passed Baby Boomers in US workforce share in the third quarter of 2023. By Q2 2024 Gen Z held 18% and Boomers 15%.
Millennials stayed the largest single cohort at 36%. Gen X held 31%, and the Silent Generation had all but retired at 1%. The shift tracks the pace of Boomer retirements more than any surge in young hiring, a pattern also visible in wider US employment data.
| Generation | Share of US labor force |
|---|---|
| Millennials | 36% |
| Gen X | 31% |
| Gen Z | 18% |
| Baby Boomers | 15% |
| Silent Generation | 1% |
Source: US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Trendlines, Q2 2024. Shares are rounded and sum to 101%.
Gen Z Workforce Statistics: Youth Unemployment
Youth unemployment rose for a third straight July. The rate for 16- to 24-year-olds was 10.8% in July 2025, against a 4.2% national rate that month.
The climb runs from 8.5% in July 2022 to 10.8% in July 2025. These are the summer peak readings BLS publishes each year, and they cover only the 16–24 age band. For older workers, the broader US job market picture held steadier.
Employment among young people slipped alongside the rising jobless rate. In July 2025, 53.1% of 16- to 24-year-olds held a job, down from 54.5% in July 2024. A quarter of those working were in leisure and hospitality, the largest single share.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Unemployment Among Youth, July 2022–July 2025 (not seasonally adjusted, ages 16–24).
Demand for beginners shrank at the same time. Randstad’s analysis of 126 million job postings found junior roles, those needing zero to two years of experience, down 29 percentage points from January 2024 to mid-2025.
Source: Randstad, Gen Z Workplace Blueprint, January 2024–mid-2025.
Gen Z Job Tenure and Turnover
Gen Z averages 1.1 years in a role during the first five years of a career. That trails Millennials at 1.8, Gen X at 2.8, and Baby Boomers at 2.9, all measured over the same early-career window.
Randstad’s researchers call the pattern growth-hunting rather than disloyalty. About 1 in 3 Gen Z workers plan to change jobs within a year, 54% browse for a new role regularly, and 22% quit a job in the past 12 months. Some of that movement flows into independent and freelance work.
Confidence is thinner than the mobility suggests. In the same survey, 41% of Gen Z workers said they lacked confidence in their ability to find a job.
| Generation | Average tenure, first 5 years |
|---|---|
| Gen Z | 1.1 years |
| Millennials | 1.8 years |
| Gen X | 2.8 years |
| Baby Boomers | 2.9 years |
Source: Randstad, Gen Z Workplace Blueprint, 2025 (survey of 11,250 workers across 15 markets).
Where Junior Roles Are Disappearing
The pullback is uneven by sector. Between January 2024 and July 2025, junior IT postings fell 35 percentage points and finance fell 24, while healthcare added 13. The contraction is sharpest in the fields Gen Z most wants to enter, including the tech roles behind fast headcount growth at leading AI firms.
Source: Randstad, Gen Z Workplace Blueprint, change in entry-level postings, January 2024–July 2025.
Gen Z Workforce Statistics: What Workers Want
Financial pressure jumped. 48% of Gen Z did not feel financially secure in 2025, up from 30% a year earlier, in Deloitte’s survey of 23,482 Gen Z and Millennial respondents across 44 countries.
Deloitte frames the group’s choices as a search for money, meaning, and well-being at once. The survey found that without financial security, Gen Z and Millennial workers were less likely to report positive well-being and less likely to feel their work was meaningful.
Career goals look different from older cohorts. Only 6% of Gen Z name reaching a leadership position as their main career goal, with more weight placed on pay, meaning, and balance. Flexibility carries into where they work too, reflected in wider trends on remote and hybrid work.
The group’s footprint keeps growing. Deloitte projects Gen Z and Millennials together will make up 74% of the global workforce by 2030, one reason employers track how these workers respond to pay, recognition, and home-based work arrangements.
Source: Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 2025.
Gen Z Workforce Statistics on AI and Skills
Gen Z is entering work as AI reshapes tasks, and Deloitte’s data shows both use and worry. Among GenAI users in Deloitte’s Gen Z and Millennial sample, more than 6 in 10 said they worry the technology will eliminate jobs, and many reported it pushing them toward roles they see as safer from disruption.
Skills expectations shifted with it. More than 8 in 10 Gen Z and Millennial respondents said developing soft skills, such as empathy and leadership, now matters more for career advancement than sharpening technical skills.
Source: Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 2025 (23,482 respondents across 44 countries).
FAQs
What percentage of the workforce is Gen Z?
Gen Z made up 18% of the US labor force in Q2 2024, passing Baby Boomers at 15% for the first time, per US Department of Labor data. Millennials remained the largest cohort at 36%.
Is Gen Z struggling to find work?
Entry-level conditions tightened. Youth unemployment reached 10.8% in July 2025, up from 9.8% a year earlier, and junior-role postings fell 29 percentage points from January 2024 to mid-2025.
How long does Gen Z stay in a job?
Gen Z averages 1.1 years in a role during the first five years of a career, shorter than Millennials at 1.8 and Gen X at 2.8. About 1 in 3 plan to switch within a year.
What do Gen Z workers say about the job market on Reddit?
Reddit threads often describe long, repeated job searches. The data lines up: youth unemployment hit 10.8% in July 2025, and junior-role postings dropped 29 percentage points since January 2024.
Is Gen Z really job-hopping, as Reddit often claims?
Movement is real but framed as growth-seeking by Randstad, not disloyalty. Early-career tenure is 1.1 years, 54% browse for new roles regularly, and 22% quit a job in the past 12 months.
Sources
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/youth.htm
https://www.randstad.com/press/2025/genz-workplace-blueprint/
https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/2025-gen-z-millennial-survey.html
