He’s seen the issue up close up through City Pay it Forward, a UK program that helps high school and university students pursue careers in finance, and he concluded that the system is broken. And other than applying to everything in sight, he said that “there is little practical advice that seems to make any difference.”
For a generation that did what “society told them to do,” Nason isn’t only worried about the economic cost, but the emotional one. As he points out, tough job markets are not a new phenomenon—but this time it feels different.
“Too many young people were steered into debt-funded degrees with promises that no longer hold true,” he said. “What worries me most is the human cost, this generation is not built to withstand that level of rejection.”
“My own son just went through this meat grinder,” he added.
Nason also sounded off an alarm on another catastrophe for fresh-faced grads: AI.
In fact, he said technology isn’t only a problem for graduates but that the system is broken on both sides. Not only are recent graduates nervous that their jobs could be replaced by AI, the application process is also becoming disrupted by the tools.
For example, he said that AI screening tools now scan through tens of thousands of resumes before a human ever gets involved, and candidates face multiple automated tests and video interviews before speaking to an actual person.
On top of that, he added that job applicants are using AI to craft perfect CVs and cover letters, easing up the process of clicking to apply to everything with zero friction costs.
The result: an oversaturated market, or “five thousand candidates for five jobs being the norm.”
“Add AI to both ends of the process, recruiters and applicants, and you get a pressure cooker of disappointment and frustration,” he wrote.
Going forward, Nason thinks Gen Z’s job crisis needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, as their student loans start to accumulate and frustrations bubble.
“Few realise those student loans compound daily from the first day of term. They are effectively PIK notes [Payment-In-Kind note–or form of debt where interest isn’t paid in cash but added to the loan balance] in disguise,” he said, adding that only the few who manage to secure ultra-wealthy finance roles will actually be able to pay them off.
“I hope it does not come to that here. But something has to give, and soon.”
