The Gap Between Gen Z and the Democrats is Still Wide

 

At least Gen Z no longer has to deal with a candidate old enough to be a basic Gen Z’s great grandfather. For many campus activists, however, the Democratic Party still has been supporting Netanyahu’s ambitions in Israel, as he is running from the corruption case against him but still slorping at the weapons trough Biden has funneled towards the Prime Minister’s massive killings in Gaza… even as Netanyahu has no shot of completely eliminating Hamas under any condition. The Party is caught between loyalty to Israel, and a rising disdain for overkill among younger voters. The Dems also could not stop the accelerating abortion bans either. And then there are the bread-and-butter issues and the frustration of Gen Z, that old political parties seem unmovable, may be creating a body of could-be voters into a cadres of “what does it matter if I vote” non-voters.

Does all this negativity help Trump over his prospective Democratic opponent? The July 18th NBC News noted a strange and unexpected trend that might now modify with Biden out of the race: “Viral images of Trump raising his fist in defiance after surviving Saturday’s assassination attempt [7/13] gave the Republican nominee a surge of internet support over the weekend from well-known influencers…

“‘There is a lot of momentum around Trump right now when it comes to influencers,’ said Martin Johannes Riedl, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. ‘I think this is like a unifying power for fans and supporters of Trump to come and rally.’” Is Gen Z angry enough to support Trump? The Dems have not delivered much to them, no matter the excuses why not.

There are serious economic issues facing Gen Z (and more than a few millennials and beyond) as they struggle with housing affordability and unrequited promises for student loan forgiveness. It does seem as if one particular segment of a better-educated crop of young workers entering the job market just may have missed the explosive job boat that seems to have sailed on… offloading more than a few well-educated workers recently hired. This contraction in the job market – that is a sign that the economy is cooling off enough that the Fed may finally implement interest rate cuts – is now targeting one group of applicants with particular force: college educated workers, especially new grads starting out in the job market.

The tech and finance sectors have been brutal, and the entertainment industry has turned into a layoff hell. Applicants that used to be snapped up in droves have now submitted dozens of applications only to be met with resounding silence. Those with jobs, happy or not, are clinging to their positions as they watch applicants vie to replace them. Student loans aren’t going away, but repayment revenues from expected new employment have been reduced to mythology. The July 20th Wall Street Journal explains:

“The white-collar labor market is entering a more uncertain phase after cooling for more than a year. Job insecurity is climbing and fewer professionals feel emboldened to change their employment. The lack of turnover is stalling hiring even more as companies rethink their talent needs after pandemic-hiring sprees.

“Hiring for roles that usually require a bachelor’s degree has dropped below 2019 rates in recent months, new data from payroll provider ADP show. The drop has been steeper for 20-somethings, who are running into a bottleneck of entry-level openings as more established professionals stay put in the jobs they have, according to payroll information on more than 16 million people across 31,000 U.S. employers…

“By historic standards, the job market for college-educated workers remains relatively strong, and unemployment is still low. Yet it feels a long way from just two summers ago, when employers were competing so fiercely for software developers, marketers and other white-collar professionals that some were hiring and hoarding talent before having work for them to do. Cash-rich and confident that a pandemic-fueled boom would continue, corporate leaders worried more at the time about labor shortages... ‘These companies just got way, way too bloated,’ says Aaron Levie, chief executive of cloud company Box Inc. ‘Most anybody who was a CEO four years ago, and still is, will not let that happen again.’ Layoffs hit the tech sector in the fall of 2022 and then spread to other industries. Today, many companies are choosier than they have been in years about who they hire.

“Many employers corrected for the over-hiring by laying off thousands, and big-name companies including Citi and Google cut layers of jobs with the aim of reducing middle management. Meanwhile, more companies have shifted investment to generative artificial intelligence, a technology that many fear could shrink the need for traditionally high-demand workers, such as coders, data analysts and bookkeepers.

“Others have gotten pickier in their hiring. At Exact Sciences, a diagnostics company that makes the colon-cancer test Cologuard, CEO Kevin Conroy instituted a process this year that requires him and other senior leaders to approve every request to hire or promote someone into a supervisory position. The Madison, Wis., company expanded so quickly in recent years that it created too many layers of managers, he says, with some only having one or two direct reports.”

But if you are a skilled blue-collar worker, the number of openings with solid pay are rising. So, I recently heard of a lawyer who looked at a plumbing bill saying, “Wow, I’m a lawyer, and I don’t charge this much.” The plumber just smiled and replied, “Neither did I when I was a lawyer.” OK, that just may be a dark joke, but exactly how many college grads, even those with advanced degrees, are Starbucks baristas today?

I’m Peter Dekom, and with some of the most expensive post-secondary tuition in the world, having cadres of “America’s future” educated but unemployed or under-employed is definitely not good for democracy… or our future in general.