It turns out that Gen Z didn’t quit on careers. The work force quit on them

For years, experts have argued that younger generations, particularly Gen Z, have abandoned traditional careers in favor of freelance work, side hustles, and 9-to-5 jobs. However, Paul Osterman, a professor emeritus at MIT Sloan School of Management, has found that this narrative is inaccurate. In his new book, Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment, Osterman analyzed data and interviewed workers and employers to determine that 35% of the American workforce - more than 55 million people - are in what he calls "disposable" jobs.

These include freelancers, contractors, and marginal employees who are not treated as real members of the organization and are expected to have high turnover. Osterman's research debunks the idea that younger workers are opting out of traditional careers in favor of entrepreneurship or financial risk-taking. Instead, he found that the desire for a real job and career remains stable.

Osterman traced this transformation back to the breakdown of the postwar labor accord, which began fraying decades ago. Factors such as the financialization of corporate strategy, rising competitive pressure, the treatment of staffing agencies, and a shift in management ideology towards "core competency" thinking have contributed to the shift in employment.

Although Osterman's research looks into the current AI panic, he emphasizes that this trend was happening before AI became a major concern.