Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ (Gift Article)

“.. The problem is not just that hiring has slowed across the labor market, or that the specter of A.I. is threatening entry-level positions, they said. .. It was that they could not get a real, live human being to speak to them. Ever. About anything.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Read about Gen Z folks (🎁 article)

Bleak, bleak, bleak. Among all the linked and stacked crises of our time this may be one of the bleakest. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

“Lydia Crim, 29, said she spent hours on an application for an executive assistant job in April that required her to write several detailed responses. She got a rejection email from the company about two minutes after hitting submit.” I knew it was bad but had no idea is was THIS BAD.

This is so grim, and if you're tempted to say these kids just need to hustle and wear out some shoe leather like you did in your day... maybe read it first and learn something. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

NYT story: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

This is so bleak and yet it's hardly only looking for a job. Businesses are increasing productivity by making it impossible to ever deal with a human. The costs are outsourced onto the consumers, in a way that GDP or income figures simply do not count www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

One reason I do not publicly complain about AI generated application emails, nor reply curtly to the applicants, is that the equilibrium we're in affects them much more than any annoyance I might have in receiving the emails. AI usage by both sides is bleak www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I was 22 in 2000 as the dot com bubble burst and there were no jobs. I was 30 in 2008 when the economy collapsed and had my 1st layoff (after struggling for work for yrs). I was 42 in 2020 when covid hit and had my 4th layoff since 08. We need a better work system. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

What are we doing here, people? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A 22-year-old with an undergraduate degree in biology has applied for 511 jobs and counting. She was recently rejected from a role at Whole Foods after being “interviewed” by a chatbot named Sage. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ By Callie Holtermann

"The problem is not just that hiring has slowed across the labor market, or that the specter of A.I. is threatening entry-level positions, [Gen Z job seekers] said. It was that they could not get a real, live human being to speak to them. Ever. About anything."

AI makes literally everything worse, exhibit #175,982 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The economy is great, AI is great, etc., etc. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

🎁 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"The problem is not just that hiring has slowed across the labor market, or that the specter of AI is threatening entry-level positions, they said. It was that they could not get a real, live human being to speak to them. Ever. About anything." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Zoomers, welcome to 2009 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

it is 2009, and i am barely scraping by, largely shut out of the job market it is 2026, and i am barely scraping by, largely shut out of the job market (this problem is especially acute for young people but god damn if it isn't also a nightmare for us Olds)

#GiftLink A takeaway from this article is that network matters. That's trouble from students who didn't start from privilege. Given the market right now, if a student reaches out to connect or ask for a referral, I hope you'll consider it. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"She echoed what many people said: There are no phone numbers to call, no publicly accessible hiring managers to charm with a personalized email. Instead, there is what feels like a wall of tech that needs to be pierced in order to reach a human being." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I’ve never gotten used to obeying commands issued by a machine. If a machine were to reject a job application that I had taken time to prepare and submit, I think I would resort to the sledgehammer. Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

AI will change the world, huh? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/... i feel this

This is just insane and helps explain why so many companies have so many people who suck instead of competent people. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I don't think this is Gen Z. This is just job searching in 2026, for everyone: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

This story is getting a lot of traction but as an elder Gen Z, I can say this has been true for at least 5 years. The normalization of AI has doubtlessly made it worse, but opaque job portals, a lack of feedback or even the courtesy of a rejection email have been common since before the pandemic.

"Growing up, DeGuzman had been told over and over that studying computer science was a path to a secure career. But after 2 years of searching, they have not been able to secure a job in a field that has been upended by AI coding tools." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

SEARCHING FOR JOBS, GEN Z FEELS LIKE IT’S STARING INTO ‘THE VOID’ Hundreds of applications later, even being rejected by an actual human being counts as a victory.

"A 22-year-old with an undergraduate degree in biology has applied for 511 jobs and counting. She was recently rejected from a role at Whole Foods after being “interviewed” by a chatbot named Sage." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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"An unsatisfying experience on the job market appears to deepen Gen Z’s sense of alienation from the political establishment. With midterm elections approaching, these young voters are feeling ignored, destabilized & financially squeezed — a recipe for disaffection." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"These applicants are painfully aware that, by some estimates, as many as 90% of companies use AI in hiring. They assume most of their résumés are fed into applicant-tracking systems, software that scans job-seekers’ credentials and determines whom to advance" www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Also absolutely a "30-something millennial" crisis www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

i am turning into viggo mortensen in the homeschooling movie

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Job hunting has always sucked. But for young folks, this is downright dystopian. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Will AI turn even an attempt to find a job into a Kafkaesque exercise in futility? ♦️It already has. If you're not aware of this: Congrats on already being employed. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void.’

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Large numbers of disaffected, alienated youth always turns out great for societies, right? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

“It feels like something I’m coming and doing in good faith, and then these companies are putting up a wall that I can’t clear.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Now try finding work after age 50. 😫 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"An unsatisfying experience on the job market appears to be deepening Gen Z’s sense of alienation from the political establishment. With the midterm elections approaching, these young voters are feeling ignored, destabilized and financially squeezed — a recipe for disaffection."

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It is Staring into the Abyss www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Today's WTF about searching for jobs today: "There are no phone numbers to call, no publicly accessible hiring managers to charm with a personalized email. Instead, there is what feels like a wall of tech that needs to be pierced in order to reach a human being" www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ www.nytimes.com/interactive/... On the bright side, the new Grand Theft Auto vidgame is coming out soon, Gen Z-ers. 😂

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

This is just one example of the lousy world #AI is constructing. We all need to fight it - most immediately by #voting for democrats and then demanding that we slow down and regulate these awful companies and trillionaires. Right now, it's eating our young. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Searching for Jobs, Gen Z Feels Like It’s Staring Into ‘the Void’ (Gift Article) (yesterday) f the nyt

This is also what it feels like for anyone over the age of 50 who gets laid-off www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

No humans, no responses, no interviews, no jobs - and then they are being talked about as not wanting to work any longer by people using AI to schedule their farts.

“Bleak” is right www.nytimes.com/interactive/...