Success·Gen Z350 hiring managers gave their honest thoughts Gen Z—and only 8% believe they’re ready for the workforceBy Emma BurleighBy Emma BurleighReporter, SuccessEmma BurleighReporter, SuccessEmma Burleigh is a reporter at Fortune, covering success, careers, entrepreneurship, and personal finance.
Before joining the Success desk, she co-authored Fortune’s CHRO Daily , extensively covering the workplace and the future of jobs.
Emma has also written for publications including the Observer and The China ject, publishing long-form stories on culture, entertainment, and geo.
She has a joint-master’s degree from New York University in Global Journalism and East Asian Studies.SEE FULL BIO The young generation is second-guessing their college degrees—and as more employers lean on skills-based hiring, Gen Z faces stiff competition.skynesher / Getty ImagesGen Z graduates are stepping out of college and into a tough labor market.
Entry-level opportunities are shrinking, “ghost” jobs clutter employment sites, and AI is quickly taking over high-paying roles computer grammers and financial analysts.
Hiring managers are even skeptical employing the young fessionals for the few slots they have open.
“When people talk Gen Z and the blems they’re facing with workforce readiness, I think people are primarily thinking college-grad Gen Z,” Josh Millet, founder and CEO of pre-employment testing company Criteria, tells Fortune.
“That part of the American Dream is hitting a rough patch for sure.” Only 8% of hiring fessionals think that Gen Z is prepared for the workplace, according to a new report from Criteria which surveyed more than 350 managers across small and large enterprises.
But they’re not the only ones doubtful that new graduates are ready to launch their white-collar careers—even the young talent are skeptical of their own readiness.
Less than a quarter, 24%, of Gen Z say their generation is prepared to begin working. Millet says that it may be tempting to pin the issue on AI.
While there are issues surrounding the advanced sweeping entry-level roles, the young digital natives are better prepared than most to adapt skill-wise.
The real culprit of this workplace readiness issue is the eroding value of U.S. college degrees. “To hear Gen Z say the same thing is a collective loss of confidence in [the] college degree.
I think that’s the continuation of a trend that is really nounced,” Millet continues. “I feel it’s really only a crisis in the U.S.
and it’s because the relative value of the college degree is just plummeting.” While office employees are feeling the pinch—with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei even predicting that 50% of all white-collar roles will be wiped out in the next five years—frontline workers are buoyed in the jobs armageddon.
That’s because they chase careers that don’t require college diplomas, which can be more immune to newfound labor market challenges.
“AI is bably not helping…If you think college grads and the lack of employment opportunities in that generation, yes, they’re trying to enter industries where hiring rates are just very muted right now,” Millet explains.
“But I can tell you that in the U.S., Gen Z who are going into frontline roles are not experiencing these challenges.” A ‘crisis of confidence’ in college degrees and push towards skill-based hiring Gen Z have been second-guessing their choice to go to college for years.
As tuition soars to unaffordable highs, student debt sinks generations of graduates, and the skills landscape changes rapidly, they’re worried that their degrees which once mised six-figure success will be made redundant.
We’re already seeing that with software engineers and consultants. “It’s a perfect storm,” Millet says.
“You’re having [employers] drop degree requirements at the same time you have an oversupply of college grads, a crisis of confidence in what the degree actually means in terms of workforce readiness, and that’s being internalized by the people with the degrees.” The plummeting value of college degrees is even more nounced when it comes to what industries are actually looking to grow.
Less than half of all hiring fessionals expect to hire more in 2026, according to the Criteria report, but it varies depending on sector.
68% of hiring managers at staffing/recruiting es, 59% at health companies, 57% at manufacturing firms, and 50% at transportation and logistics agencies plan to hire more next year.
Meanwhile, industries nology, finance, and non-fit are anticipating to hire less than the average employer.
Sectors healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation are facing staffing shortages—and many can be filled by talent without expensive college degrees.
Millet also says that employers across the board, regardless of industry, are leaning in on skills-based hiring.
Some employers Google, Microsoft, and EY have all offered high-level jobs to applicants without degrees, focusing on work experience and special credentialing.
Since hiring managers are receiving thousands of applicants for a single role, with even unemployed mid-career fessionals vying for the same spot, Gen Z graduates who faced smaller internship cycles are up against fierce competition.Fortune Global Forum returns Oct.
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