Gen-Z grows restless as the economy traps them in jobs they’ve outgrown

They may have just entered the workforce, but the majority of young people already have itchy feet. 

Faced with a shortage of vacancies and rising competition in the job market, however, they’re not quite ready to make the leap. 

Data from the 2025 Employment Hero Annual Jobs Report shows the extent of those fears. The new report reveals the latest trends in the UK employment sector, with UK 2025 data drawn from aggregated insights from more than 350,000 small businesses and 2 million employees in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, alongside a YouGov survey of 3,635 workers. 

Career reset 

As many as 54% of Gen Z employees have expressed a desire to change tack, even if it means starting from scratch. 

It reveals just how dissatisfied many young people are with their career prospects and why, faced with economic headwinds, so many feel they have no choice but to put their dreams on hold. 

Scarce opportunities

Taj, 23, was one of these young people up until recently. A singer and musician in her spare time, she worked as a nanny for years and often fantasised about leaving to do something more creative, but felt competition in the job market was too fierce to let her stable job go. 

“I just left the family I’ve been with since I was 16 – I’m now 23. I left because it felt stagnant. It was stopping my growth. The family was so reliant on me for everything, and being a carer was stopping me from pursuing music because I prioritised the things that they needed. 

Taj adds that the salary she received didn’t go far enough for her to consider keeping her job. “There wasn’t room to earn more. Without another job to go to, and no responses from applications I’d sent out, I stuck around.”

“I finally left last week once I found a new opportunity. I’m going to be teaching music as an intervention tool at an after school youth group – predominantly children who have offended or are on the cusp of offending.”

Job-hugging takes hold 

Experiences like these reflect the reality for a large number of Gen-Z employees. Almost four in ten (38%) find it too hard to find relevant roles. And 65% of 18-34-year-olds are now “job-hugging” until they find something new. 

But Gen-Z isn’t the only generation looking for greener pastures. One in five over-55s are also in desire of change in their professional lives, which suggests this isn’t just a preoccupation of young people. All UK workers, in fact, say they prioritise job security over career ambition. 

Keeping Gen-Z keen 

Gill Wetherill, Founder of HR consultancy company, Full Circle HR, has come across similar patterns. She points out that one of the main differences between Gen-Z and other generations, is the level of clarity they require about their careers from day one. 

“People want to know what their career progression journey is going to look like. That’s a change from other generations where you would come, learn the ropes and then in time you may or may not get promoted. 

“Gen-Z want to know if I work for you, where am I going to be in 12 months time? They want to have an understanding of opportunities that are going to be available for them.”

The key to retaining talent

While enticing benefits like flexible working and better mental health support are helpway ways to make employees feel supported, Gill suggests employers need to go further. 

“I previously worked with a company who had a really good benefits package, a really good employee value proposition and a very young workforce. But found we still couldn’t keep them”, she says, adding that the main thing that improved their experience was giving them a sense of inclusion. 

“We made sure they had a voice and opportunities to join things like engagement groups to share their ideas even if they didn’t have much experience. That was something that we found worked really well and made their experience a bit more fulfilling.”

The Employment Hero report, alongside perspectives like these, makes one thing glaringly clear: career dissatisfaction is growing – and it’s cross-generational. For now, job-hugging remains a survival strategy. But if employers want to retain talent, they must create pathways for growth, fair pay, and flexibility – otherwise, more workers will want to abandon ship.