Nobody ever seems to do anything solely because they want to. Every time I talk to somebody, it seems their ultimate reason for doing something is to look good on a resume. Young people are doing so much to gain experience to add to their resume and still not getting jobs. People do everything for jobs because the country is making it harder for new workers and easier for older workers.
It's a cycle of resume building, rejection, resume building, repeat. It often feels like older people can get any job they want, even if they did or didn’t attend higher education.
According to a study by Georgetown University, of the projected 18.5 million job openings from 2021 to 2031, 12.5 million of them require higher education. At the same time, there is a growing percentage of people who are Black, white, Hispanic and Asian found to attain higher levels of education. As more jobs require higher education, the job market becomes more competitive. Thus making job pools smaller. However, it doesn't explain why unemployment for younger people is higher than that of the overall population.
In America, the youth are working harder than any generation before, applying themselves in school, seeking more educationand honestly doing everything the American citizen is expected to do, but they are being screwed by a lack of opportunities. Many are forced to take jobs they are overqualified for because there isn't someone out there willing to accept them, despite their extremely well-suited qualifications. Yes, this comes from the aforementioned fact of growing education rates and application requirements, but the real root is the generational divide.
Every time a new generation is introduced, there is a natural hate between the previous, but now we are not seeing a playful hate; we are experiencing a very deep divide at the base of who we are. Humans are not conditioned to take to change well. Technology was a large adjustment for baby boomers, and Generation Z has a leg up.
This doesn't mean Gen Z is threatening older people, but older people can feel threatened by Gen Z. Especially with the political climate, there has never been more of a divide between generations. We need to eliminate that divide. The country needs to find a way to eliminate or minimize the generational divide to provide more opportunities for young people.
In America, young people are often promised if they work hard, they will make more money, but that promise is untrue. This, coupled with the distrust and distaste between generations, is the straw that broke the camel's back. The rage of young people against America will only grow and further the divide, which, with the current state of the country, is going to be detrimental.
Gen Z and the older generations need to work together to stop the exclusion in the workforce before it gets to a point of no return. If nothing is done, the state of America's job market will never be the same, and young people will give up. The youth unemployment crisis is not just about competition; it is rooted in a generational divide that blocks opportunities for young workers.
Meagan Larick is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Meagan Larick about her column? Email her at ml386724@ohio.edu
