Gen Z’s AI-Era Hiring Nightmare: How a “No Hire, No Fire” Economy—and Automation—Are Freezing Out New Grads in 2025
Gen Z’s Labor Market Crisis: A Tough Time to Be Young and Job-Hunting “Kids coming out of college…are having a hard time finding jobs.” This blunt assessment by Fed Chair Jerome Powell in late 2025 captures the predicament of Generation Z graduates economictimes.indiatimes.com. By all headline metrics, the U.S. job market appears healthy – overall unemployment hovers around 4%, and inflation has cooled from earlier highs. Yet beneath the surface, young people are facing a hiring nightmare. Recent college graduates and those in their early 20s are unemployed at higher rates than the general population for the first time in