The 'Boring' Career Millennials & Boomers Left Behind That’s Now Paying Gen-Z 6 Figures
Chay_Tee | Shutterstock When it comes to a career path, Gen-Z is driven by the bottom line. It makes sense in a lot of ways. The economic uncertainty of our daily lives, combined with a high cost of living, means that young people just starting out do not have the luxury of "working their way up" in a career, as generations before them had. Instead, they are looking for starting salaries that will at least allow them to afford an apartment on their own, and for many, that means a six-figure salary.
Accounting was once the punchline of every “boring job” joke. But now, according to a report in Fortune, it has become the surprising career path for Gen-Z, driven by their search for high-paying opportunities right out of college. As Boomers retire and Millennials sidestep more traditional professions, Gen-Z is picking up the slack and making it look cool (yes, really).
Boomers and Millennials have abandoned accounting as a profession, and Gen Zers are ready to fill those vacancies
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Accounting has never exactly been considered a "cool" job. In fact, a 2022 study found that an accountant is the second most boring profession, just a smidge behind a data analyst, which sounds equally boring.
Boomers were the last generation to hold the majority of roles in the profession, but now they're heading into retirement. According to Fortune, over 340,000 accountants have quit in the past five years, and most of the rest are packing up within the next decade. Cue Gen-Z. Today's twenty-somethings are eyeing the industry’s stability and high pay and stepping up to fill the roles.
Gen-Z is motivated by pay when it comes to choosing a career path
So, what's driving Gen-Z to pursue the number-crunching monotony of accounting as a career? Simply put, money. Monster conducted a survey in 2016, and it should be no surprise that 70% of Gen-Z unabashedly admitted that the motivator for choosing a career was salary, followed by securing health insurance.
But why is salary more important than finding a dream job or a career that secures personal fulfillment? It's actually pretty simple. Watching their Gen-X parents struggle through major financial setbacks, combined with the fact that working one job is barely enough to get by in today's economy, has created a generation of young people who would rather be financially independent than happy in their career choices.
Corey Seemiller, an educator, researcher, and TEDx speaker on Gen-Z, explained to the BBC, “At Gen-Z’s age, older people worked 40 hours a week, and made enough money to buy a house and have barbecues on the weekend. Gen-Z works 50 hours a week at their jobs, and another 20 hours a week side hustling, yet still make barely enough to cover rent.”
Seemiller went on to say, “They’re a generation who call things out, speaking up when they feel the work they’re doing isn’t fairly paid. By doing this, they’re drawing attention to the issues and getting other generations to feel empowered to ask for a fairer share, greater flexibility, or more suitable hours.”
Recent college grads don't care about job titles and are solely focused on salary and stability
Handshake surveyed 1,800 college grads and found that Gen Zers, who are just starting out, will apply to any job as long as it meets their salary requirements, regardless of what they studied in school or what they are interested in career-wise.
One survey respondent noted, “I want a job that will offer me a greater starting salary and annual growth due to inflation rates and the continued increase in the cost of living. This will help with job stability and employee satisfaction, which promotes good employee turnover.”
What's interesting is that they won't even consider applying to a job that doesn't clearly state the salary in the job listing. That's changing how companies are posting jobs. According to Handshake's analysis, "in 2020, 29% of all full-time job postings provided applicants with a salary, whereas in 2022, more than a third (38%) of all full-time job postings provided a salary."
Gen-Z might be known for shaking things up in their views on workplace culture, but when it comes to earnings, they’re leaning into stability. Accounting gives them stability, boring or not.
Erika Ryan is a writer working on her bachelor's degree in Journalism. She is based in Florida and covers relationships, psychology, self-help, and human interest topics.
