Gen Zers Are Asking Their Parents For Job Help, Plus Is Activism Is Protected At Work?

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Remember the infamous family tree of Hollywood nepo babies? It sparked a series of conversations about family connections, generational wealth and access to job opportunities across all industries. Being a “nepo baby” or having insider connections can still be a touchy-subject, but it is still as common (and arguably helpful) as ever.

A new survey of job seekers found that 70% of Gen Z asked their parents to help them find a job. It’s a tough job market—fewer jobs were added in April than expected and while the national unemployment rate is still below 4%, it did slightly increase from March. So it’s not entirely surprising that Gen Zers would turn to anyone and everyone, including their parents, for help finding their new job.

What is shocking, however, is the number of young workers who had their parents be physically involved in the job interview: About 10% said their parents completed the HR screening call for them, while 30% said their parent went into the interview with them (about two-thirds going as far as speaking with the hiring manager).

Now, I’d be remiss not to note that the youngest of Gen Zers, who were born in 2012 and are turning 12 this year, are not yet of working age. And a good part still are in their mid-to-late teens, where parents may be taking their children to high-school or summer jobs. The survey does not differentiate between teen and adult Gen Zers, but Gen Zers being the youngest generation currently in the workforce does put some of this into context.

After all, it’s not crazy to think that parents of 16-year-olds will drive their kids to their first ever job interview, or that they would help their college student or graduate with their résumé!

Ultimately, however, it is you, not your parent, who will be the one working the job (and collecting the paycheck). While help from parents, mentors, older siblings or friends is always welcome and can help you land a good job, there is a difference between help and doing it for you.

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DEEP DIVE: FREE SPEECH AT WORK?

Do you *actually* have free speech at work? It’s complicated.

It’s been a tumultuous month filled with campus and workplace protests, canceled commencement ceremonies and fired employees. Just yesterday, Columbia University announced it would be canceling its university-wide commencement, and in April Google fired about 50 staffers following the protests over its cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.

It’s brought up a number of questions about what you can, and can’t, say at work.

The first thing most employees assume is that we have constitutionally protected freedom of speech at work. But the constitution only protects government speech. As Deena Merlen, an employment lawyer in Connecticut says: Private sector employees “don’t have any constitutionally protected rights under federal law to say what [they] want and not be fired for it.

It’s an interesting shift in point of view from companies who not even two years ago were advocating for employees to “bring their whole selves to work,” creating affinity groups to both create community but hold themselves accountable over instances of discrimination and push for change. “So that’s a very long-winded way of saying, I think all of this is highly self-inflicted,” says Alison Taylor, a professor of corporate responsibility and business ethics at NYU Stern School of Business. It’s also created tension between speech about the working conditions of employees and business practices or contracts its employer has.

So what kind of speech is protected? And what can you say about your employer at work? My colleague Jena McGregor and I spoke with lawyers and academics asking them those very questions.

TOUCH BASE

News from the world of work

More jobs were lost to AI in April. According to a report by career services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 800 job cuts were blamed on AI, the highest number of layoffs citing the reason since May 2023. That’s part of the nearly 65,000 people who were laid off from their jobs in April.

Apple illegally interrogated staff and confiscated union flyers, the National Labor Relations Board found on Monday. During a wave of increased unionization efforts in 2022, Apple employees at its World Trade Center store in New York City were stopped and questioned for handing out union flyers. The board has asked Apple to stop, but cannot impose fines or direct punishments for the company’s violation.

Do you have a corporate discount for Equinox memberships? Would you be willing to spend an extra $3,000 per month on wellness? The luxury gym is now offering a $40,000 gym membership for customers in New York City and Highland Park, Texas that includes medical testing, sleep training, massage and the traditional personal training and nutrition guidance.

Peloton will be laying off 400 employees this year as CEO Barry McCarthy steps down. The fitness company, known for its popular instructors, said the layoffs are part of its plan to reduce annual spending by $200 million by FY 2025.

The FTC’s contentious ban on most noncompete agreements will now be challenged in just one court. After several business interest groups filed their own suits, a federal judge has applied the “first-to-file” rule, meaning that groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable must either join or add comments to the first suit filed by a global tax services firm.

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NUMBER TO NOTE

175,000

That’s the number of jobs added in April, fewer than economist estimates of 240,000, according to data from the Labor Department. The unemployment rate also increased slightly to 3.9% month-over-month.

QUIZ

While overall job satisfaction was up for 2023, what subcomponent of their employment terms were workers less satisfied with?

A. Commute to work

B. Work/life balance

C. Promotions

D. Bonuses

Check if you got it right here.