While corporate America was never really a party, if it was to be one, it certainly seems to be dying down between return-to-office mandates and rounds of layoffs. No need to tell the freshmen, or Gen Zers, that it’s not worth going to the rager as the night dies down—they’re ready to work for themselves.
One in three Gen Zers think the best way to get ahead financially is through “some form of self-employment,” per Instagram’s year-end 2024 Trend Talk, which surveyed 5,000 Gen Zers in India, Brazil, South Korea, the U.K., and the U.S. The sentiment is a step away from the American Dream narrative, which entailed building wealth by moving up the ranks in one company forever and buying a white-picket fenced home. Now, young adults are becoming less sold on the dream, as weathering the housing market becomes an uphill battle and getting a raise often involves finding a new job.
