The problem with the job market (especially if you're young)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Young people get a lot of flack for not working hard enough or complaining about work. And, even though some of the criticism is well placed, the reality is the jobs available to younger generations really are lousy.
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I'm 39, so not exactly young anymore, still I'll share my thoughts on the problem of the job market. The workforce is so diverse, that you can't trust your co-workers (and therefore won't form a union). Employers stopped training their employees years ago. American job seekers have to compete with everyone around the world (because "we're a nation of immigrants"). Interviews select for skills unrelated to the job (e.g. the infamous software engineer interview). Most employers reward bullshit artists. Being good at your job doesn't matter as much as being liked. Finally, we've been conditioned for this since kindergarten. There is no time for thinking or exploration. Just show up on time, and if you can't sit still then you must have ADHD.
All great points. I think we can do better without going full collectivist, which has even worse problems of its own. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
A person remains young till 45.The average age of a successful startup founder is 42 or 43
I am an electrician apprentice. There's another apprentice on my jobsite whom I think does have adhd. That guy CANNOT stand still. Whenever we're just waiting around, in the corner of my eye is him pacing back and forth.
@@RaghavShouriegood point
@@MikeGastinIf you tell a child / young adult they are sooooo special when they get a full time job these Gen Lazy idiots expect red carpet treatment.
Bobble Heads with TikTok brain are lazy, dumb, unmotivated and not worth the big money they think they're worth to sit on chair and play on their cellphone.
Gen Lazy embellishing on stupid social media doesn't impress us 'old people'......
I'm glad that Gen Z is standing up and not putting up with the horrible treatment older generations did. There is a difference between resilience and not wanting to be exploited, used and tossed away, while you sacrifice your own life and time with family and friends to make some faceless investors wealthier. It used to be that profits generated by a company went into the business and staff. The old, local way where the company owner was a kind of father figure whose duty was to care for his employees has gone by the wayside, but employees are still expected to sacrifice for nothing in return.
Gen Z is going to change this corporate culture n capitalism in 5 to 10 years.Gen Alpha n Gen Beta will make sure to end what has been going on from 1980 to 2024
There is a difference, yes. And, yes, things did used to be better. However, we need to find ways that work today. Resilience is important, but so is reform. The market and work need reform.
People are doing similar work as their parents but unable to afford the same level of housing and food as their parents. Feels bad working pay check to pay check for years with no end in sight so your boss’s boss can be the one actually making money.
Probably why a lot of people throughout the years have preferred working for themselves.
If you can’t own a home. Can’t afford children or childcare (if you want that), can’t afford a car, can’t afford rent etc. etc. etc. than what is the point?
I'll give you a simple answer.
"Natural selection".
It’s you’ll own nothing and be happy. Don’t listen to the other guy. Subscriptions model
I guess the question is why can’t you “afford” any of those things? And, what can you do to change your situation. No one is coming to save you. What are you going to do?
"Have some resilience."
How much resilience, exactly? Can you define that for me? Where, exactly, is the overlap between employees being resilient to less than ideal conditions and employers leaning too heavily on less staff to extract more value? When exactly is it the employers responsibility vs the employee?
I'm 37. I did everything I was told. I went to school, took my board certifications and work 2 jobs at a clinic and at a hospital. Getting the training was not easy. I worked 7 days a week for years to pay for bills while training. Not to toot my own horn, but I'd say I'd fit the criteria of being resilient.
In my opinion, this idea of being resilient is part of the problem because it enabled for decades now further abuse and lack of accountability by people in power to accumulate more wealth and power on the backs on the people who were resilient. When are the wealthy and powerful going to be resilient?
Thats the same bs they tell slaves. “Be resilient” lol. Ima fleshy human made of 80% water that will die one day.
Sounds like you're resilient. Not sure what the problem is. Maybe only don't do everything you're told ... ;)
True
@@BeeWilliamsSkateAmen
Part of the problem is that young people today seem to think that businesses should have the same values they do when in fact, the business is considered an entity itself, and by the way, the entity doesn’t care about you unless you’re in a smaller or medium sized business
You’re just a number if you pass away today, your job will be filled
I’m 27 and I have never felt the situation I face in the job market articulated so well, especially nuanced points that many may not think about.
Thanks. I wish you the best-don't lose hope.
As a 30 yo i only can agree. and the sweet mix of needed criticism and the understanding of the struggle is super healthy and shows a deep care and understanding.
I think also part of the problem is, back then, you would be working at a soul sucking job, but at least you knew in just a couple years you can be out of there working a career that pays waaaaaaaay more and actually be able to support yourself, even raise a family and some pets, buy a house and a new car, that’s why older gen’s like boomers and gen’s before them developed good resilience to really push themselves, because they new they had an amazing reward waiting for them that’s not too far away. And now? It’s a complete shit show. Your at a soul sucking job and there is quite literally no guarantee you will ever be able to escape, college is way more expensive so loans may not be feasible, but if you do it, your not even guaranteed that that degree will be worth anything in 4 or 5 years especially with AI improving at an accelerating rate (companies are literally designing AI to replace the human worker), because you also need other certificates, maybe other credentials, strong portfolio, years of minimum wage grunt experience before you even get to the career level. Less jobs to go around so much much much worse competition, and less pay of course. And it’s looking like retirement may not even be an option with how bad things are getting. And now a bachelors is almost not even enough, a masters is actually becoming the new favorite among companies lol….. and your right with increased monitoring from better technology, it is making jobs more dehumanizing. So with younger generations basically being left with almost no hope of basically being able to start a life for themselves, why should they try? They’re being forced to a play a game they know they can’t win, so what’s the best option? Play like shit to conserve energy and run the clock until something happens. They’re slowly starting to realize they may actually be dead broke for the rest of their lives and not be able to retire (work a minimum wage job until they’re 85) and then who knows what. Well then of course they’re gonna rebel, they’re gonna give their employers flack (quiet quitting and not trying that much), not caring anymore, becoming more depressed, more anti social, not forming relationships or having kids.
I don't think the billionare party is interested in anything except extracting more wealth from Americas working class. I hope you are right and I am wrong.
Well, I actually agree with you. The elites and the mega rich only want more and see us as a means to their ends.
I got a 5% raise followed by a 5% reduction in shift differential. That gave me a good laugh, I left voluntarily when I they gave me the 2 minute late write up.
Clearly a company (or manager) that focuses on the trivial at the expense of what matters.
Im blessed. I got hired by a biotech startup (studied chemistry) where I was trained on analytical techniques and experiment design. We got acquired by a big corporation but since theyre HQd out of state we retained some autonomy. Ive been able to grow skills and take advantage of corporate benefits too. I see improvement in my work and get a sense of accomplishment. I do have my complaints about corpo meeting culture and its limits on creativity but overall I like my job and feel adequately compensated. My heart breaks for my classmates who studied the exact same things as me but are now baristas and uber drivers bc I was fortunate and they were not as much.
That's great to hear and all the best to you.
Love this topic and how you present it. We need more conversations like this!!
Thank you
As a younger worker who is currently employed I am happy to say that while underemployed (if we were to use my academic attainment as the determining factor for that status) my job is not soul sucking or low paying but that is due to the union for which I work.
I believe a lack of unionization (mostly the ability of workers to collectively bargain) is a primary cause of many jobs being garbage (in the sense that they do not provide enough income to survive in a dignified manner).
I hear you and am glad you're in a good situation. However, I'm not convinced that collective bargaining is always the answer. One concept you might want to look into is distributism. It combines the best of free markets and collective power for workers, but it minimizes the shortcomings of both. 👍🏼
@MikeGastin I've heard of it (mostly with a Christian bent) and do like it, but I believe that we're it to be effective we would need to make sure the redistribution happens with some regularity and (at least in US politics and economics) given what I've seen of people's hesitance to have Healthcare paid for via taxes making it free at point if service I do not see distributionism being implemented any time soon.
Would certainly be better than the current state of affairs though...
Layoffs are continuing today as companies perform extreme cost cutting, and are moving jobs to development centers outside of the USA to save on costs.
Sadly. Well, it's fine to cut fat and to run an efficient business. It's sad when those jobs go to other nations.
I left North America for Europe because of the lack of opportunities for a tradesman job. But worse, I didn't understand why I had to be paid hourly and beg my boss for work. In the 3 years I worked as an "apprentice", I received very little training. I felt like I hit a dead end as disposable labor. I was in the oil patch for crying out loud. In Europe I immediately found work, the employers trained me and I was working autonomously within 2 months. I will say that my resume is very complete today. I could probably go back to North America and earn a good salary. But I don't want to be paid hourly and work 24/4 shifts again. Now that I have experience, I don't want to work in the private sector anymore. The salaries are disappointing and there are no benefits. Work for the government.
Europe pretty much invented trade guilds and apprenticiships didn't it? And ... if you think working for a big corp is soul sucking you'll have a shock when you work for the government. It's the most dehumanizing entitiy there is. ;)
I am in the USA. In my previous job, I was a Counselor-In-Training for two years. I received no training from my employer outside of corporate DEI trainings on the computer once per year. My job duties and function was the same as the regular counselor or a counselor with a Master's degree and professional license. I was also held to the same standard as all other counselors, managing a caseload of 40 patients. My coworker received her state-level credential and her job didn't change. The only difference was a 50% difference in pay between a Counselor-In-Training ($15/hr) and a Counselor ($22/hr).
@@MikeGastin I'll be working 35h/week with 10 weeks of paid vacation. My goal is to work less and enjoy life more. My previous job only had 5 weeks of paid vacation and very little benefits.
@@DavidBarton2 I don't know why you're saying this. But $22/hr in the USA seems low. I honestly believe that you can earn more working in Europe where the cost of living is lower. You'll be working fewer hours too.
@@user-xg6zz8qs3q I am acknowledging that the pay is extremely low and not worth working for. I am pointing out a major problem
I think it just makes sense that there are differences in perspective by generation. The older (wealthier) crowd is voting to safeguard their assets; whereas, the younger (broke) generation is looking for the chaos necessary for social mobility. Regarding the job market, I think you made a lot of good points about the 'efficiency' monitoring and the different (highly specialized) employee classifications. I am curious about your opinion on one thing. What I can recall from my limited working experience is that those from the Silent Generation (1921-1945) retired and stayed retired. But nearly every Baby Boomer I have met that is very close to retirement age talks about the jobs and positions they want in retirement. We had a Director retire from my organization, then immediately apply and receive an open Director's position (effectively drawing two salaries). If the job market is a finite pool of opportunities, then the reluctance to retire from the older generations is shrinking the pool.
Would love to hear your thoughts, Great Video!
You have put your finger on one of my main criticisms of the boomers. I’m Gen-X and I can tell you we were raised to “wait out turn”, meaning the boomers told us that we had to be quiet, pay our dues, but that one day we’d be the ones running everything. Well, as you’ve pointed out, the boomers have refused to move on. They’re kinda like children, expecting their active years to last forever. In short, yes, it’s a real problem.
@@MikeGastin Ah you've had it worse than I. I'm fairly optimistic for the future and am looking favorably at a lot of the changes moving forward. Thanks for the reply! It's always enjoyable to realize others are observing the same things. Good stuff
@@MikeGastin There are older people who are wise and keep intellectually active, but another problem with the boomers (and some Gen X) is they are totally out of touch with what is happening in society, tech, etc. I worked for a tech magazine run by boomers, and they didn't even know the basics of internet culture or the subtleties and dangers of tech, they just read press releases put out by companies and said "wow amazing!"
Im 23 The best advice I can give Is to save up as much as u can and mabey go somewhere else that more fulfilling. Juice isn't worth the squeez for anything. The only hope for us is if the economy crashes that means a new system thats reliable and not out of tuch But it will be a rough period Take advantage of opportunities because they will be plenty.
4:30 ours is knowing how to take care of ourselves, and also teaching it in school. They do not teach us our financial Wellness in school, or how to work properly.. For money especially.
Wellness is a topic I bring up because I learned about it in school in one lecture... And 7 years later, I noticed how important of a topic it really was. I actually became pretty upset with how we are effectively sabotaged in early education due to not having any form of choice.
Wellness is an 8 dimensional model that covers your overall well-being:
Social Wellness is our ability to communicate and interact with others, and this goes for forms of media and videogames as well. With the advancement of technology, we are not maintaining ourselves properly, and teaching it either.
Intellectually, we're wasting our time cramming too much crap into kids heads in hopes they'll be the next Einstein. That's not quite how it works, these people were passionate about what they were doing, and times were different. We need to be teaching kids more about themselves, their own mental self, as well as a slimed down version of what we've currently got. Not saying it's completely bad, just saying it's too much of everything; we need less of THAT (and the teachers, no offense, too many general teachers imho) and more professionals from other industries opting to teach.
Physically, there are some that got it, and by some I mean around 5-10% of the population. We aren't as strong as we used to be, and even though we know more about our bodies than we ever have before, we like to hide the good information behind a wall called capitalism. We actually took out time of physical education in our schools in Canada.... For math, I think it was. We are weak, and sugar doesn't help either (I love me some sugar).
Emotionally, we're a wreck, unless you can afford therapy, or have a therapy bff 💸
Occupationally, we are teaching our kids to work in a complacent way, do work on time, otherwise be punished. Good grades are for those who do well, but what use is that piece of paper afterwards? And what about that time that went with it? Did you get any
Financial wellness?... We don't learn about that in school either, at all. We learn what it is, why it's important, but it's full stop after that. We have a society of addicts and consumers, and we can effectively blame school (and banks + governments) for this one too. Money is a taboo subject, and if you got it, you got it... If you don't, you never will (unless you get lucky).
Environmentally, we have lost our communities because of ease, and lack of discipline in any of the elements of wellness. Our society has lost touch with what is actually important in life, and when something goes bad, or you're not happy.... It's the end of the world. And speaking of the end of the world, the Earth is going through some stuff. It's tougher than we are, so we should probably respect it a bit more.
Finally, Spiritual Wellness doesn't have to be religious, but it is to have a connection with something greater than yourself. It could be the Earth, the universe, or (a) god. The world is your oyster, but oh yeah, capitalism... So this is pretty much all we have now folks.
Look, I think it's not necessarily a failure of the schools. Yes, you're right that schools don't teach this stuff. However, this is the kind of learning that should be conducted within the family. Yet the modern and postmodern world has effectively destroyed the family. The schools, which are mainly government entities, teach what the state thinks makes for a good consumer/taxpayer and that's about it.
I'm young and work. This video speaks to me 😅
🫡 Respect.
I think the problem is the criticisms are coming from gen x/boomer generation and wealth wise are the wealthiest group and grew up in a booming economy.
Title needs to be "The Problem With Capitalism"
So many options and so little time. Next vid ... ;)
2025 is the year of end of capitalism
But it's not capitalism that's the problem. The problem is corporate fascism. The government controls who the "big guys" are, thus rigging the system.
@@joeygarcia7281 Capitalism breeds corporate fascism.
You can’t have free market capitalism while having a government this big. They literally control the money.
This guy does alot of yapping to just say normal markets have stagflated and you literally have to become your own boss to make more than the middle manager above you. Welcome to turbo inequality baby best done get shopping for countrys that still have middle classes.
I hit my ceiling at 33 can’t get above the middle management. I should be head of department…Can’t earn more than I was two years ago lol BUT like you said start your own company which I am trying also.
I’m age 24 and have an even tougher (I think?) time with getting employed. I haven’t had a single job yet because I wanted to focus as much effort into my college education but then I was in a terrible car accident resulting in me getting a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) at the ripe old age of a month before 20. I was even legally dead for a short amount of time between the accident and getting hospitalized! But the worst part is that I was planning on getting a career in astrophysics which obviously uses a LOT of brain power. Having a TBI stopping me from both finishing my education and getting any jobs at all has somewhat screwed me I believe.
(praise the lord about 99% of the injury was in area as if the brain that control the motor functions! [but I am 4+ years into the recovery and still only the left half of my body works {womp womp wooomp}])
I am so sorry to hear this-it's terrible. However, I'm glad you're looking to the Lord and that you're recovering. God has something for you in all of this. But that said, it is still a terrible ordeal to endure. God bless you!
The problem is simple "Private Equity" has hollowed sectors so employees work "seasonal" or PT at best becasue corporations now are focused on the quarterly earning, not yearly. Metrics that measure daily productivity are unrealistic. And, wages are so low working for $20hr is not worth your time. You work but can't pay basic bills. "Good jobs" are scarce.
Great point re: private equity.
Because we dont need more office jockeys.. we need young people to do real jobs with their hands. Being a police officer, being a skilled person, being a nurse.....the biggest issue is young people want to sit in an office and make 100k.... I got news for you those jobs are not readily available and the people sit in them for their careers
If the jobs were worth doing, people would do them. They either arent worth it in terms of pay, or physical/mental demands. The trades are not for everyone and like many industries, its based on exploitation and most of the profit goes to the top, and the workload goes to the bottom. However, in those cases the workload is backbreaking stuff. Or risking your literal life. Its just not worth it. Clearly.
Office jobs are skilled as well.
I worked trades and I heard my boses brag about some jobs. Such as one guy who did a marina for 2 mil. 1 mil was for labor and materials,, taxes, etc. The boss didnt do any of the work, He sat in his office, and pocketed the other million. The three employees who actually did the work, got the left overs. They sell the dream of, "you get to exploit someone else one day." Isnt that fantastic.
There are better ways for a free market economy to work. I think the intrinsic issue that no one wants to talk about is people are all fundamentally flawed. We're greedy, self centered, etc. Sure, each of us can behave better and more altruistic and we are capable of and do wonderful things. But mankind on the whole is flawed and we struggle to escape that.
Non corporate jobs pay like crap because you don’t have to be legal to work them.
Blue collar jobs got undercut by illegal labor which makes those jobs not worth doing (unless trades where you need a license, but the 1980s- 2000s generation went to college). Corporate jobs are depressing as they are not gratifying. We need blue collar jobs to be decent wages, yes costs will go up but so will wages and standard of living. Less illegal labor drops rents/housing.
We were not designed to be paper pushers.
The pandemic came, and the government told people their job was not essential. And they believed it.
Agreed.
FYI a lot of jobs just opened up. Many companies reporting all their workers are in hiding.
I hear conflicting reports all the time. I think the problem isn't as simple as we've been led to believe.
Unfortunately, I think some people seem to think that the company should have the same values they do
And they don’t because most of these companies are considered an entity anyway legally
The days of the days of early Google was fun and games and everyone’s riding around on Segways (I’m 43)
Unfortunately, right now people are dime a dozen”
The fact is is the boomers wanted to cash in on the Global market and did
They stole their grandparents inheritance
They sold out their kids future
And here we are
The grandparents are broke
The kids will never buy homes and have no savings because they’re in debt from school printed and interest rates
And the boomers are still complaining😂
The problem isn’t the millennials or Gen X or Gen Z
Or even the greatest generation
The problem really is with the boomers …
From immigration
To globalism
To the rise of liberalism
As a result of one word -greed
Hard to argue with you, tbh.
I’m 26 and I was a software developer for 5 years. Lost my job in November and have been struggling to get another job since. I really don’t like how advanced AI has gotten because of how it’s being used in the job application process
AI is going to be brutal. Especially for programmers. And ... job applicants.
it's winner takes all mentality, your the robot for the corporation. Your not there to enjoy yourself but to maximize profit for the company or nation. This what the leadership is promoting, similar to china no amount of jobs can change that.
This seems to be more true for giant corps than it is for smaller companies.
Except the average Chinese worker has a much better standard of living and more social mobility. There is a carrot on a stick for their exploitation.
@@MikeGastin Smaller companies can't compete anymore.
I am about the same age as you still working in FAANG the workplace has gotten a lot worse over the years where everything is about the bottom line.
It's a tough environment, especially when you're working for a company that's focused on the quarter, like FAANGs typically are.
wait i could've sworn i read somewhere gen z was seen as resilient and adaptable? why the sudden shift when it comes to pushing back to workforce?
Not sure ...
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.😮
That's true.
The entire system is just trying to survive and that’s why things seem so chaotic. The level of competition from joe worker up to the largest corporations are intense because of having to compete globally.
AI is going to complicate things even further considering companies won’t need the same labor force size. I still haven’t heard any solid plan yet on what happens Post AI to us as a society.
I think it's hard to have a post-AI plan right now because no one has figured out what the real implications are for our newly AI society.
Uhhh... it's obvious isn't it? Mass unemployment, civil war and then an implosion? This isn't going to last. Your grandchildren won't even have clean air or water. It's over.
300 thousand jobeless people in finland most of them gen z note finlanf has 5 mil people
Wow! Thats incredible. How long can the economy sustain that level of unemployment? Is it subsidized by petroleum production?
As a millennial, the main reason I have any wealth is from trading BTC in the last several years. I've made ten times more from BTC than my small business. The state of affairs in the USA is pathetic and sad, unless you have rich parents, or you know somebody important.
Interesting. So, BTC is the only way?
I live in Nashville. Have a good job. That said, I have a 23 year old. Job market worse I've seen.
👍🏼
My response asks why it's okay to make it seem like it's the younger generation's responsibility to "buck up and be resilient". Why not frame it as parents' responsibility to proactively provide for the children they unilaterally created, for their entire lives? th-cam.com/users/shortsWDwbouJY3zQ?si=30c-qzLAQzBMIi_o
Because at some point you need to take on your own life. Sure, parents need to instill resilience into their kids, but this isn't a parenting channel. I suspect you're not 12. So, the message to (us) adults is to buck up. Even so, that WAS NOT the point or even the message of my vid. If it bothers you to be told you need to be more resilient, you might just need to be more resilient and stop blaming your parents for everything. 👍🏼
I’m Gen X, middle class. I have two boys who are entering adulthood. They are finding their way, they are out there.
I will gladly give them our house and move into something small. It’s their turn. No hesitation. I want them to have more than me. It’s just tricky because I don’t know how to do that without dampening their fire. I see pride in the fight to survive in their own right now, but sense the fear and anxiety and it’s valid. Times are different. We need to be aware and help the next generations. I’m disgusted by some of the ignorant comments of older people.
I think we have to be creative and thoughtful about how we help. The wrong kind of help cripples. But that doesn’t mean we just ignore the problem and hope they figure it out because we did.