According to Cigna International Health's 2023 survey of almost 12,000 workers around the world, 91% of 18-to-24-year-olds report being stressed – compared to 84% on average. Research indicates Gen Z are emerging as the most stressed demographic in the workplace, and struggling mightily to cope.
Here's what companies can do about it. In a survey by the Alexandria, Virginia-based nonprofit, 47% of Gen Z workers reported experiencing stress related to their job at least once per week, compared to 27% of Baby Boomers.
Hofmann said social media, family issues and stress are main factors contributing to the weak mental health among college students. She also said the rise of violence in the country has caused a spike in anxiety among Gen Z. “We saw the trend with millennials and saw a greater impact with Gen Z,” said Hofmann.
Gen Z also faces an unprecedented behavioral health crisis: US Gen Zers surveyed by McKinsey report the least positive outlook and the highest prevalence of mental illness of any generation, and European respondents report struggling with self-stigma.
(Sorry.) Money and work are also on the laundry list of stressors for Zoomers. APA's research also discovered more than 81% of their Gen-Z participants reported money as a source of significant stress.
However, Gen Zs also are more likely than previous generations to seek help for their depression, stress, and anxiety which can help them manage their shared and personal stressors. This article looks at possible reasons for depression among Gen Z and discusses ways they can seek help.
About 2 in 5 (39%) of Gen Z respondents ranked inflation and gas prices as one of their top three issues, followed by abortion (30%), jobs (26%), and climate change (23%). Both Gen Zers and Millennials in our survey cited the same top two issues: inflation and access to reproductive healthcare.
Unlike previous generations, Gen Z has little to no memory of a world without the internet, smartphones, and social media. Technology is a substantial part of their life. Being continually connected can also result in self-esteem issues and feeling pressure to conform.
Gen Z (42%) is about twice as likely as Americans over 25 (23%) to battle depression and feelings of hopelessness.
According to a February 2022 Ogilvy study, 70% of Gen-Zers say their mental health needs the most attention or improvement. And an American Psychological Association report found that Gen-Z is more likely to report mental health concerns than any other demographic group.
An extensive study by Penn State showed that stress began to hit Gen X sometime in the last decade. The 2012 study discovered that Gen X had an average stress level of 5.8 (out of ten) while Millennials (3.4) and Baby Boomers (4.4) were a lot calmer.
According to Cigna International Health's 2023 survey of almost 12,000 workers around the world, 91% of 18-to-24-year-olds report being stressed – compared to 84% on average. Research indicates Gen Z are emerging as the most stressed demographic in the workplace, and struggling mightily to cope.
A new study reveals that nearly 75 percent of managers of business leaders say that Gen Z — anyone born from 1997 onward — are "more difficult to work with than other generations."
The entire generation has the highest rates of anxiety and depression in the history of psychology. Haidt started to see these go up around 2012 as this generation began to reach late teenage years.
According to a recent survey of 1,300 managers, three out of four agree that Gen Z is harder to work with than other generations — so much so that 65% of employers said they have to fire them more often.
Underpaid in an age of high inflation, Gen Z is burned-out and worried about money. Workers are exhausted, especially Gen Z employees. All work and no play makes Gen Z very dull. Young adults are feeling burned-out by the endless rise and grind of work, and they're starting to wonder what's the point of it all.
Gen Z and mental health. Regarding the stats, it's clear that Gen Z is struggling. A 2022 survey of Gen Z young adults (ages 19 through 24) found that 42% are diagnosed with a mental health condition.
The biggest mental health issue Gen Z deals with is anxiety. Nine out of ten Gen Z with diagnosed mental health conditions struggle with anxiety, and nearly eight out of ten (78%) are battling depression. Other mental health conditions the generation faces are ADHD (27%), PTSD (20%), and OCD (17%).
Three in 10 young people often or always feel lonely
But that all means roughly three in 10 young people say rate their loneliness from seven to 10, feeling lonely often or always. Millennials are slightly more likely than Gen Z to say they often or always feel lonely.
Gen Z is very concerned about their ability to communicate and forge strong interpersonal relationships. This may be due to the fact that technology has negatively impacted their cognitive skill development, and they recognize that their social skills, like critical thinking and communication, are weak.
According to respondents, the reason they feel Gen Z is difficult to work with is because they lack technological skills, effort and motivation. But those shortcomings hint to deeper, more convoluted issues that date back to the pandemic.
Fire. In Gen Z slang term, “fire” means something is really amazing or cool. They also use it to express excitement or point out a new trend within their culture.
Generation Z considers itself more accepting and open-minded than any generation before it. Almost half of Gen Zs are minorities, compared to 22% of Baby Boomers, and the majority of Gen Z supports social movements such as Black Lives Matter, transgender rights, and climate change.
Gen Z can handle stress – in fact they're brave enough to say it's unacceptable. Steven Bartlett, the entrepreneur and superstar podcaster, ruffled a few younger feathers recently when he described Gen Z as “the least resilient generation I have ever seen”.