Part-time job
The job market for young adults today is a different beast than it was even a decade ago. Landing a job used to be a relatively linear process: you’d finish school, write up your résumé, send out a handful of applications, maybe go through a few interviews, and eventually get your foot in the door. Now, it feels more like a never-ending obstacle course. Young people spend months—sometimes even years—filling out hundreds of online applications, answering the same screening questions over and over, and tailoring their résumés to fit every possible keyword. Most of the time, these applications disappear into a digital void, never to be acknowledged or even seen by a real human being. The process is so impersonal and repetitive that it’s not surprising many job seekers feel like they’re just shouting into the wind.
This system is more than just frustrating; it’s costly. Every week spent searching for a job is a week without a steady paycheck. Many young adults are living off their savings, moving back in with their parents, or piecing together income from part-time gigs and freelance work. The longer the search drags on, the more the financial pressure builds. Instead of building wealth or preparing for the future, young people are stuck in a holding pattern, unable to make big life decisions like moving out, buying a car, or starting a family. It’s not just about delayed gratification—it’s about survival.
Even when someone finally lands a job, there’s no guarantee of financial security. In fact, the nature of work itself has changed. Many corporate roles today are filled with endless meetings, vague job descriptions, and tasks that seem to exist only to justify the existence of the job. People spend their days crafting PowerPoint presentations that no one will ever read, attending meetings about meetings, and managing projects that don’t actually need to be managed. It’s all theater, and everyone knows it. The pandemic pulled back the curtain on this reality. When offices closed and people started working from home, it quickly became clear which jobs were actually essential and which could be done in a fraction of the time—or not at all. Some roles disappeared overnight, while others shrank to a few hours of real work a day.
This realization has led to a kind of collective disillusionment, especially among young professionals. Many entered the workforce just as the illusion of meaningful corporate work was breaking down. Titles like “Growth Hacker” or “Innovation Manager” sound impressive, but often mask the fact that there’s little real responsibility or impact behind them. The result is a generation that is both overworked and underutilized, stuck in roles that offer little in the way of long-term security or satisfaction. It’s hard to plan for the future or feel confident about your finances when your day-to-day work doesn’t seem to matter.
The financial consequences of this broken system are significant. Stagnant wages, rising living costs, and the burden of student debt mean that even those with jobs often feel financially insecure. Many are forced to juggle multiple gigs or side hustles just to make ends meet. The corporate job, once seen as the foundation of a stable life, is now just one piece of a precarious financial puzzle. Young adults are delaying major milestones—not because they want to, but because they simply can’t afford them. Homeownership, starting a family, or even moving out of their parents’ house are all on hold.
The psychological toll shouldn’t be underestimated either. The endless cycle of applications, rejections, and meaningless work breeds anxiety and a sense of hopelessness. Many young people report feeling like they’re going slightly mad from the cognitive dissonance of pretending their work is meaningful when they know it isn’t. The lack of stable employment opportunities leads to increased rates of depression and a general feeling of being stuck. The daily commute becomes a ritual of transformation, as people shift from their real selves to their professional personas, only to shed that identity again at home.
Some young professionals have responded by building parallel careers. They do their “official” job in the morning and work on their own projects in the afternoon. Others use their corporate roles as platforms to fund their real ambitions—freelancing, starting businesses, or developing skills that might one day lead to something more fulfilling. This “parallel economy” offers a glimmer of hope, but it also highlights just how broken the traditional system has become. Instead of building careers, young adults are cobbling together multiple streams of income, hoping that one of them will eventually provide the stability they need.
The broader labor market isn’t helping. Hiring has slowed, and companies are cautious about adding new positions. Workers are less likely to quit, knowing that finding a new job could take months. Wage growth lags behind inflation, and the cost of living continues to rise. For young adults, this means living more cautiously—saving where possible, putting off major purchases, and often relying on family for support longer than they’d like. Those without a financial safety net are especially vulnerable; each setback can mean taking on more debt or making sacrifices that have long-term impacts.
Networking and personal connections are still valuable, but even these strategies are no guarantee. The sheer volume of applicants for every open position means that even the best-qualified candidates can get lost in the shuffle. The process is so impersonal that it often feels like luck plays a bigger role than skill or experience. The old advice—work hard, get good grades, and you’ll be rewarded—just doesn’t hold up in this environment.
In the end, the job market is failing young adults, and the result is a generation that feels financially insecure, even when they’re doing everything right. The path from education to stable employment is no longer clear or reliable. Instead, young people have to navigate a system that’s impersonal, unpredictable, and often disconnected from real value. Financial insecurity isn’t just a phase to get through—it’s becoming a defining feature of early adulthood. The challenge now is to find new ways to build security and meaning in a world where the old rules don’t apply, and where the search for stability is as much about adapting as it is about achieving.
Despite all this, young adults are proving to be resilient. Many are learning to see their corporate jobs as resources rather than identities, using them to build skills, fund personal projects, or simply buy time while they figure out what really matters. They’re experimenting with new ways of working, from freelancing to entrepreneurship, and finding creative solutions to the challenges they face. It’s not easy, and it’s certainly not fair, but it’s a testament to their determination and adaptability.
The broken job market may have made financial security harder to achieve, but it hasn’t erased the ambition or drive of young adults. They’re still searching for stability, even if they have to build it themselves, piece by piece. In the meantime, the hope is that the system will eventually catch up—and start rewarding the effort, talent, and creativity that this generation has to offer.
By: Maciej Wlazly
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