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Experts are partially blaming "worthless degrees" for the current number of jobless Gen Zers.
According to one report, there are over 4 million Gen Zers in the U.S. without a job or are not in school. One in 5 Gen Zers worldwide are deemed NEETs-not in education, employment, or training.
So, way too many young people are still on the sidelines looking for employment and white-collar positions are seeming to be more out of reach. Some experts say it's students getting “worthless degrees” from higher education institutions that are part of the problem.
Business owner, entrepreneur and best-selling author Paul Peters said a diploma is useless if you can't find a job upon graduating.
"In some respects, the college system is very outdated in regards to what's going to be available once they get their diploma," Peters said. "I think a lot of times colleges are not preparing students for the jobs that are going to be out there."
Peters suggests that colleges should offer degrees and courses that are more aligned with the potential careers that students could end up having.
"Colleges need to work hand-in-hand with employers to make sure they are creating a curriculum that's going to be in line with somebody getting a job afterwards," said Peters.
It doesn't help either that a lot of Gen Zers were attending college and trying to learn things during the covid years. Whether it was learning at school or working in the real world, most things, if not everything, were done remotely.
"Gen Z has been brought up in this timeframe and now they're looking for jobs and so that's where some of the problems arise because they might not have been properly prepared with whatever they went to school for," Peters added.
A lot will change in the education landscape starting this year. Things have already changed with the Trump administration announcing that the Department of Education will be cut and educational standards will be placed on individual states. Peters expects people will revolt if their child ends up with a diploma, but no job and thousands of dollars in debt.
"Parents will have to make decisions and ask 'should that be where I invest my money or should I invest it elsewhere,'" he said.
No one wants to throw away that much money for their kid and they not come away with any type of job.