Gen Z men with college degrees now have the same unemployment rate as non-grads—a sign that the higher education payoff is dead
https://fortune.com/2025/07/22/gen-z-college-graduate-unemployment-level-same-as-nongrads-no-degree-job-premium/?utm_source=search&utm_medium=advanced_search&utm_campaign=search_link_clicks&fbclid=PAQ0xDSwLzrSZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABp8nmGj0ACe25-cN6RanqZy6GcBtXEk5QLD4zlg8g6wWXt38m-ojZOX-rU2yC_aem_OAeXX5of-ltDYr23SJoJ8g
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The most recent data from the Federal Reserve indicates that the unemployment rate among recent college graduates is on the rise, at about 5.5%.
Although it remains lower than the 6.9% rate among all young workers between 22 and 27 years old, men with a college degree now have roughly the same unemployment rate as young men who didn’t go to college, according to an analysis of U.S. Current Population Survey data by the Financial Times.
In comparison, around 2010, non-college-educated men experienced unemployment rates over 15%, whereas the rate among college graduates was closer to 7%.
It’s a stark sign that the job market boost once promised by a degree has all but vanished—and that employers care less about credentials than they once did, when hiring for entry-level roles.
Best of luck to you Gen Z guys. Enjoy your Joe Rogan and Fortnite!
Boo hoo! Poor men!
Yet somehow women are doing it?
This headline pops up with every generation.
Check back in a couple years:
Gen Z guys with college degrees will have decent paying jobs more commonly than men without degrees.
Can’t really get a feel for the unemployment numbers relating to this age group without knowing what degrees they are getting. The 7% could be a mixture of traditionally unfavorable degrees or just a result of all of the tech layoffs that are happening around the country.
This doesn’t even take into consideration the insane hiring climate right now. Nearly every step of the process is powered by AI slop with no one at the wheel to at least try to get it under control.
What colleges
What degrees
‘College’ is fucking meaningless with for-profit colleges
Seems a bit premature, I mean these kids have been out in the workforce for what, 3 years on average? Covid can’t have made the college => job transition very easy.
Another nothing-burger extrapolating from meager statistics and parading as factual.
As a millennial, job hunting fucking sucked after graduating, I was lucky to know someone who knew someone.
This is completely fucked for the new generation and I don’t see how we can go on pretending that things will even out.
We have more creature comforts than ever but it feels like more a means of placating us than an honest attempt in improving quality of life.
Good luck guys, everyone who doesn’t suck is rooting for you .
It was never about the degree.
You’ve gotta have skills – skills that someone is willing to pay for, and that you like to use and improve.
Gen Z means they’re only a few years out from college at best. The benefits of a college degree tend to increase over the lifespan, so it makes sense the difference would be smaller at this point.
Unemployment numbers also don’t include people who are not currently actively looking for jobs, so don’t paint a complete picture of overall employment.
Working in tech, we don’t care if devs have degrees anymore as long as they have experience. We’ve hired people based on personal projects and even bootcamps. In the end it’s more about the person than what they know, knowledge is no longer a valuable commodity. Wisdom and work ethic are more valuable than ever.
Cool. Now do median salary. Then do median knee/back pain.
This article always comes out and ignores that college is still a good investment almost regardless of major.
Honestly, it’s just part of a larger anti-education narrative.
Early Childhood Ed and Social Work degrees still pay relatively little (sadly); Petroleum Engineering degrees still pay a lot. Most other degrees hover somewhere in the middle, especially for a 20 year ROI.
Some people become Master Electricians and pull down good money, and some people never get beyond digging ditches, but most non-degreed trade work pulls down somewhere in the middle, but less than the average degree.
It’s a bit disheartening to see men of my generation like this. So much of it seems to be due to self-depreciation while ambition and optimism are replaced with hatred of others.
I have so many thoughts on this, both on the way society treats men, but above all on how men treat themselves. Too many of them are just consumed by their hatred of others, blaming others for their own failure. So many manosphere influencers just teach misogynistic stuff, and many gen Z men eat it like pudding.
Many women now, like the article mentions take the opportunities that present thmselvesto them and build on them, while many men don’t and end up hurting themselves because their expectations are way above what life can provide to them.
Teach men to be flexible again and to ignore the bs from the manosphere. Parents your job has never been more important.
Someone is posting this bad faith meme all over Reddit. College was never about employment rates. It was about lifetime salaries. And people who attend college have much much higher lifetime salaries than people who do not. That has not changed.
This article refers to 2010 when unemployment was much higher period. This comes off as yet another “anti-education” article. If college is so useless… why are the rich and powerful still sending their children to college?
Not necessarily as the job offers found are usually better paid than non grad offers
The big issue right now is that there needs to be a push and a way to enable kids to learn more Blue collar trades. But if anyone else’s area is similar to mine, all the money was taken out of the shop classes and trade classes and given to the sports and Athletics department. These kids don’t have any exposure to any Hands-On trades and it could be the big difference.
There’s also a stigma around going to a Vo-Tech.
Same unemployment rate, but how about median income?
I absolutely believe this and that the value of most degrees is trending down yet at the same time simply having a 4 year degree is still a pass to get in a lot of metaphorical doors. Over a longer time frame the degree holders will still collectively be better off.
In general, None of the job market really makes sense anymore. The Modern US societal structure is cooking itself alive.
That’s a fucking stupid conclusion to draw, especially considering the earnings gap between college-educated workers and non. Did Peter Thiel pay for this?
Get into the trades. It’s much more useful in your home life too.
Trade school . But y’all don’t want the physical degree with six figures and school debt non existent. Yall all want the pencil pusher degree . Like everyone
You don’t get a degree to get more jobs, you get a degree to get a better job, usually one that pays better
Im not even gen z or looking for a job but this comment section literally just reminds me of when i was growing up and boomers and gen x would shit on millennials LOL.
Clearly nothings changed
Another cycle of the aging generation jerking each other off
As a millennial who went back to school and is about to finish my degree I’m very worried I will be working the same job I am now 2 years from now haha. Got a couple connections but of those don’t pan out I’m kinda screwed
But how many of those grads are actually working in a field they studied? I remember seeing articles years back it’s less than 50%. So if a non grad and a grad both work retail or fast food, I’d argue the non grad did the much smarter thing there and that the grad didn’t really get “relevant employment” as far as this statistic leads you to believe…and it’s already abysmal.
This has nothing to do with “college payoff” or men vs women. This has everything to do with the corporate elites not valuing the worker. Deregulated AI will only make this worse in the coming years unless we enact swift changes.
I’ve heard a lot of people are considering trade school now, even forgoing literally medical school for it… I’m not convinced that that’s the future though.
I feel like with how quickly and drastically society itself is changing there should be **new types of jobs created that we haven’t even imagined before**, but maybe that’s the same thing as a entrepreneur/creative track anyway
Meanwhile executives cannot stop bragging how they’re replacing and intend to replace any and all entry level with ai as soon as possible. Bad times are ahead for everybody.
Also what’s worse is that I’ve noticed the younger generations opting for Masters (if they can afford it) after their graduation without work experience. What’s even funnier is that they are relying on ChatGPT.
Whose going to hire a masters for entry level jobs? Why are you upping the standards as well? Why are you using ChatGPT for your masters?
All of these questions puzzles me…..but yet here we are at this point in time where businesses are willing to cut staff just to keep shareholders happy and also save some overhead cost for extra cash.
The people with degrees are still making a lot more on average. I wouldn’t call the payoff dead. There is just a lot of uncertainty in the economy right now, plus companies trying out AI stuff, meaning they are hesitant to hire for entry level roles atm.
Im a millennial that stumbled my way through community college, (no debt) and kept falling up. Ive worked at exactly 3 companies and held 6 positions.
Currently been at my position about 12 years. Mak8ng over 80k a year in LCOL area.
Im pretty happy I only went to CC. For where I ended up, I dont feel its helped me much, but I met my wife there.
Given a lot of Gen Z are still students or recent grads I’m not totally surprised… but I have noticed a trend at least in Melbourne where hiring has slowed down a little due to economic uncertainty and companies trending towards more AI investment and temp contractors rather than full time hires.