Interesting article.
Much of what's discussed isn't specific to Generation Z/Zoomers. As an early Generation Y/Millennial, I have had a lot of the same experiences as the Z's in this article.
The article talks about the massive rejections that Generation Z members have faced in college applications, employment, and mating. I'll break down each one-by-one.
College Applications
Too many high school graduates go to college. This has been a problem for decades, stretching back to early Millennials like myself. While that topic might deserve it's own thread, I'll try to keep on point here.
For anyone that goes through the college application process, it's well known to have a safety school application. Always select one school to apply to where your chances are very high for acceptance.
When I considered my applications, I started with finding that one safety school and applying there. In total, I received some rejections and some acceptances. I then picked a school from my acceptances.
Getting rejected by a college isn't a big deal. So what if Harvard or Yale rejects you? Most college applicants will have a college to go to if they have a well thought out application process.
Employment
Applying for white collar employment has changed since the late 1990s/early 2000s. To a lesser extent, it has changed in blue collar/McJobs as well, but I'll focus my analysis on white collar employment. I have the most experience in applying for white collar jobs.
My first true white collar job search occurred in the 2004-2005 school year when I was a senior in college. I had some interactions with companies recruiting on campus and some random applications to companies that didn't recruit on campus.
All of my job searches since the mid-2000s have been similar. It's mostly been randomly submitting online applications and seeing what happens. I have arranged some interviews over the years from on campus recruitment (both undergrad and graduate school) and occasionally from a referral from my in-person network (which also included an online job submission).
Gen Y/Millennials and Gen Z have never experienced a world where you can walk into a business in person, meet with someone face to face, and secure a job. Job search has been most de-personalized for them.
For the last 20 years since I graduated, job searching has mostly been about how good your resume gets read online by algorithms/software programs.
Both Gen Y/Millennials and Gen Z have had to deal with the combination of technology and horrible job markets. Millennials were the generation most affected by the recessionary conditions of the late 2000s/early 2010s. Gen Z has had to graduate into the pandemic (Classes of 2020 and 2021) and the white collar recession (2023-present). Plenty of mid-career Millennials are veterans of the Great Recession and have also job searched in bad 2020s markets too.
Job search today is often submitting hundreds of applications online, interviewing with some number of companies, and then getting 1-2 offers.
Mating
The mating environment for Gen Z is just a continuation of things that occurred for Gen Y/Millennials.
Like job search, a lot of mating has shifted to technology. For Millennials and Gen Z, much of mating is doing hundreds to thousands of swipes, sending text messages, and arranging dates. This is a bad idea because it's difficult to assess romantic/sexual compatibility from behind an electronic screen. A lot of bad dates get set up, resulting in the "1-2 dates, no sex, no extended relationship" type interactions. Too much of those types of dates will be psychologically damaging. Additionally, it takes a ton of rejection in tech to even get those dates, with the exception of top tier males.
Top tier males can achieve massive efficiencies online, but mid-tier males often have a bad experience on the swipe apps.
Sending DMs on social media platforms isn't much better of an experience. Instagram is where this most commonly happens, but men even resort to sending DMs on LinkedIn to try and get some pussie.
Approaching strangers in-person has always been a low percentage play. I'll start with a side example, then get to the main point.
If I were to go back to 1989 and imagine what like would have been like for a 27 year old male who relocated to a new city as an unattached man with no social connections in the new city, I would imagine that man (a late Boomer) would not have had a pleasant time.
Approaching strangers in-person now and avoiding swipe apps/social media is even worse than it would have been in 1989.
I've noticed changing in the in-person approaching environment in the 2020s as compared to when I first finished college in the mid-2000s.
More and more women wear earbuds/headphones now compared to the mid-2000s. In the mid-2000s, when iPods/MP3 players were newer, only the most attractive women were wearing them. By the early to mid 2010s in gyms, even mid and subpar looking women were wearing earbuds/headphones. Earbuds/headphones have made approaching in parks and on walking/hiking paths far more challenging.
Bars have becoming more challenging as well. Approaching culture at bars has diminished. Fewer women want to be approached at bars and fewer men are approaching at bars. A lot of people aren't going out to bars anymore. Why bother to go to bars when there are more singles in your phone than would be possible in any bar? Additionally, a pandemic taught us how to stay inside and not go to bars for 2 years.
Fewer people have social circles capable of providing introductions.
The mating environment isn't good and men are taking the worst of it. Women have had more abundance from the tech methods and believed they are entitled to only the top tier men.
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