Business
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
Most U.S. workers are employed in jobs that do not meet basic standards for quality, according to a landmark study released today that was backed by, among others, the Gates Foundation. Gallup’s American Job Quality Study (AJQS), which surveyed more than 18,000 workers across the nation, concludes that just 40% of working Americans hold “quality jobs”—roles that offer fair pay, stability, respect, opportunities for growth, and a voice in how the job is done. A significant majority—about 60%—work in jobs that fall short.
The annual study is the first-ever nationally representative effort to directly measure job quality across every sector of the U.S. economy. Led by Gallup, the Families and Workers Fund, Jobs for the Future, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute, and supported by the Gates Foundation and other groups. It goes beyond standard measures like employment rates or wage averages, instead evaluating five core dimensions: financial well-being, workplace culture and safety, opportunity for growth, agency and input, and structure and autonomy.
The report also finds that quality jobs are linked to better outcomes, not just at work but in life, and the workforce is not giving equal life satisfaction or happiness to everyone: one in four employees do not see opportunities for advancement in their current role. Meanwhile, access to mentorship and training is uneven, as just over half of employees reported on-the-job training in the past year.
In a press briefing ahead of the report’s publication, Gallup senior partner Stephanie Marken responded to a question from Fortune about prior reporting linking poor quality jobs to rising worker “despair,” especially among young, Gen Z workers. “Unfortunately, there’s a direct relationship,” she said, between poor-quality jobs and rates of despair, which the study reports as low rates of wellbeing. “We’ve seen, really, a rising tide of unhappiness, loneliness, isolation, anxiety, stress, and worry among not just U.S. workers, but the total U.S. adult population really for the better part of the last 15 to 20 years.”
Marken said Covid worsened a “wellbeing crisis” that predated the pandemic. Gallup sees wellbeing from a purpose, career, and financial perspective as being “critical pieces of the puzzle” in attaining individual psychological health, she added. “For so many people, their work life has that outsized impact on their ability to fight off some of those negative stressors that we’ve been seeing really increase, not just in the U.S., but globally in all of our research, especially for younger workers.”
Regarding Gen Z, Marken said Gallup research often confirms that young workers are “looking for different things from their employers.” Given that Gallup has 40-year data trends at its fingertips and can see individual generations that came before, “and we do see that Gen Z in particular is looking for something very different from their employer population.” Often, they’re looking for mental health and work-life balance considerations in an outsized way compared to millennials.
Key Findings: Unhappiness, instability, and inequality
Researchers find a widespread disconnect between employment and well-being. A striking 29% of workers describe themselves as “just getting by” or “finding it difficult to get by” financially. Only 27% say they are “living comfortably.” About a quarter of employees report no opportunities for advancement, and over half feel left out of important workplace decisions. The study identifies significant “voice gaps”—differences between how much say workers currently have and how much they believe they should have, particularly around pay, working conditions, and the adoption of workplace technologies. These gaps are ubiquitous, touching every demographic, and are especially wide in fields like education and social services.
Inequality is woven through the job quality landscape. Men are more likely than women to have quality jobs (45% vs. 34%), and similar gaps exist by race, education, and region. Only 33% or fewer Black, Hispanic, multiracial, or Middle Eastern/North African workers report having quality jobs, while the figure is higher among White (42%) and Asian American (46%) workers. Workers without a college degree—and young adults aged 18-24—are among the least likely to hold quality jobs.
The human toll: Burnout and discontent
The study links job quality directly to overall happiness, health, and satisfaction. Those in quality jobs are more than twice as likely to report being highly satisfied with their lives and their work. They are also more likely to say they feel happy, healthy, and emotionally well. In contrast, the daily grind takes a psychological toll: 54% of all employees report often or sometimes working longer than planned. Most—62%—lack predictable, stable schedules. Rates of unfair treatment or discrimination remain high: nearly one in four workers reports being treated unfairly due to identity factors, with nonbinary and neurodivergent employees facing especially steep challenges.
Lisa, a public school teacher cited in the report, put it bluntly: “Living with my mother-in-law is the biggest help. If I had to live alone or with my family in an apartment … I know that I would not be able to afford it. There’s no way.” The findings echo this sentiment, painting a picture of stress, financial instability, and lack of control that, according to the report, have become routine in American working life.
