Gen Z’s misery is real: Most workers in this economy lack a voice and are stuck in low-quality jobs, a massive Gates-backed study finds

This annual study is the first ever nationally representative effort to directly measure job quality in every sector of the American economy. Led by Gallup, the Families and Workers Fund, Jobs for the Future, and the Wee Upjohn Institute, and supported by the Gates Foundation and other groups. It goes beyond standard measures such as employment rates or average wages, instead assessing five core dimensions: financial well-being, culture and safety in the workplace, growth opportunities, agency and input, structure and independence.

The report also finds that good jobs are linked to better outcomes, not just at work but in life, and that the workforce does not give everyone equal life satisfaction or happiness: one in four employees do not see opportunities for advancement in their current role. Meanwhile, access to mentorship and training is uneven, with just over half of employees reporting they received on-the-job training in the past year.

At a press conference before the report was published, Gallup senior partner Stephanie Markin responded to the question of who luck about previous reports linking poor-quality jobs to increased “despair” among workers, especially among younger Generation Z workers. “Unfortunately, there is a direct relationship” between poor-quality jobs and rates of hopelessness, which the study suggests lower rates of well-being, she said. “We have already seen a rising tide of unhappiness, loneliness, isolation, anxiety, stress, and anxiety not just among American workers but among the overall U.S. adult population for much of the past 15 to 20 years.”

Markin said Covid had exacerbated the “welfare crisis” that preceded the pandemic. She added that Gallup sees well-being from a purpose, function and financial perspective as “important pieces of the puzzle” in achieving individual mental health. “For many people, their work lives have a huge impact on their ability to combat some of those negative stressors that we’ve already seen increasing, not just in the United States, but globally in all of our research, especially for younger workers.”

Regarding Generation Z, Markin said Gallup research often confirms that younger workers are “looking for different things from their employers.” Given that Gallup has 40 years of data trends at its fingertips and can see the individual generations that came before, “we see that Generation Z in particular is looking for something very different from their employer community.” Often times, they are looking at mental health considerations and work-life balance in a big way compared to Millennials.

Key findings: unhappiness, instability and inequality

Researchers find a widespread disconnect between employment and well-being. 29% of workers describe themselves as “just getting by” or “finding it difficult to get by” financially. Only 27% said they “live comfortably.” About a quarter of employees report a lack of opportunities for advancement, and more than half feel left out of important decisions in the workplace. The study identifies “significant opinion gaps” – differences between how much workers currently say and how much they think they should do, particularly regarding pay, working conditions and the adoption of workplace technologies. These gaps exist everywhere, affect all population groups, and are particularly wide in areas such as education and social services.

Inequality is woven through the landscape of job quality. Men are more likely than women to have good jobs (45% vs. 34%), and similar gaps exist by race, education, and region. Only 33% or fewer of Black, Hispanic, multiracial, or Middle Eastern/North African workers report having good jobs, while the number is higher among white (42%) and Asian American (46%) workers. Workers without a college degree — young people between the ages of 18 and 24 — are among the least likely to hold good jobs.

The human toll: exhaustion and discontent

The study directly links job quality to overall happiness, health, and satisfaction. Those in high-quality jobs are more than twice as likely to report being highly satisfied with their life and work. They are also more likely to say they feel happy, healthy and emotional. In contrast, daily distress has a psychological impact: 54% of all employees reported that they often or sometimes worked longer than planned. Most of them – 62% – lack stable, predictable schedules. Rates of unfair treatment or discrimination remain high: Nearly one in four workers reported experiencing unfair treatment due to identity factors, with non-binary and neurodiverse employees facing particularly acute challenges.

Lisa, a public school teacher mentioned in the report, said frankly: “Living with my mother-in-law is the biggest help for me. If I had to live alone or with my family in an apartment… I know I wouldn’t be able to afford it. There’s no way.” The results reflect this sentiment, and paint a picture of the stress, financial instability, and lack of control that, according to the report, have become routine in American working life.