Why Is Gen Z Skipping School To Start Businesses? [Infographic]

Brian Wallace — September 13, 2017 Follow @nowsourcing

— September 13, 2017

We’re supposed to learn from previous generations. After all, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, right? There’s one major lesson that Gen Z has learned from the Millennials and it is changing the face of business forever. Gen Z is learning that they don’t want to be saddled with massive amounts of student loan debt in a job market where they will ultimately never make enough money to make ends meet. As a result they are turning instead to entrepreneurship.

Owning your own business can be a great path to success, and it doesn’t necessarily require a college degree. Many high school and college students report they want to start their own businesses – 61% of high school and 43% of college students report they would rather be entrepreneurs than employees after they graduate from college. But many of those students are dropping out – college only has a 59% graduation rate.

Still, getting a college education is always a solid choice. 99% of the jobs created since the economy began to recover from the Great Recession require a bachelor’s degree or higher, and college grads take home 57% of all wages paid.

Freelancers are a growing section of the workforce who are entrepreneurs, and they overwhelmingly enjoy working for themselves:

35% of the workforce work as freelancers
79% like freelancing better than traditional jobs
85% of freelancers say they are engaged with what they do

Freelancers have the benefit of flexible hours and being able to work anywhere they want, while also eliminating the majority of commute times and office-related headaches. But freelancing isn’t the only way to become an entrepreneur – food trucks, coffee shops, goods, and services all need hard working entrepreneurs to keep them running.

Learn more about why Gen Z is skipping school from this infographic!