Gen Z ‘loneliest’ generation as young adults deal with rejection, social anxiety: report

Members of Generation Z are sharing their experiences with growing rejection across relationships, education, and careers, leading to rising anxiety and isolation.

In a recent Business Insider article, author Delia Cai profiled a Gen Z adult named Em who recounted hundreds of rejections they have faced regarding important life stages. Em described the difficulty dealing with these rejections while living with a loved one on just a few hundred dollars each month from contract work, feeling like life was "not worth living at the moment."

Cai rejected the idea that a “sense of entitlement” among Gen Z is not the issue but rather the generation’s “expectation of agency in an increasingly mediated world."

"From education to careers to romance, never before have young adults had this much access to prospective yeses. And, in turn, never before have young adults been told no so frequently," Cai wrote. 

Cai noted that although Gen Z has tools like dating apps, people are getting married much later than previous generations, often because of frequent rejection or fear of it. This fear, she argued, leads to withdrawal and isolation.

Cai also pointed out that fear of rejection has helped shape Gen Z as one of the “loneliest” and most anxious generations. Many of the young adults she spoke to had been rejected from hundreds of jobs. One 22-year-old named Dylan shared his frustration with low acceptance rates from universities, even though he had a high-quality resume that included good grades and participation in sports.

"I just remember feeling like it wasn't necessarily our qualifications that mattered, that it was just like, hopefully, the right person read it on the right day,” Dylan said.

"When was networking taught in high school, let alone college?" he asked. "How about real, applicable skills? When were blue-collar fields shown to be undersaturated and a real option?"

In the workforce, Gen Z's views are also making waves. Elizabeth Beggs, a Gen Z manager from Virginia, went viral on TikTok for her approach to handling time off requests. Beggs, who works as director of client relations for a packaging distribution company, explained how she denies the request but tells staff not to worry about using their leave time when they face emergencies.

"My team is very motivated and only takes time when they need to, I also do not consider anything crazy because if it is important to my team, it is important to me," Beggs told Newsweek. "What surprised me the most was when had a rep who had a child in the hospital unable to breathe without oxygen, and the doctors didn't know why. They were shocked when I told them not to worry about work and that I would have their job for them for a few days. They would have lost their old job, even though it was also a performance-based career."

Beggs also insisted that despite negative depictions of Gen Z, the generation can be successful in leadership roles. She said valuing a work-life balance does not mean Gen Z lacks a work ethic, but that it simply “looks different” than it did for older generations. These attitude shifts in the workplace may help Gen Z cope with the stress of young adulthood.