![](\"https:\/\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gen-z-job-acceptance.png\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journal Free Expression associate editor Mary Julia Koch joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss why Gen Z is delaying major life milestones, ghosting employers and turning to flip phones to unplug from social media.<\/p>\n
Young workers are increasingly bringing a dating-era habit into the workplace: ghosting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As employers navigate a slower hiring market, some hiring managers say candidates are accepting job offers, failing to complete paperwork or simply never showing up for their first day, raising new concerns about professionalism.<\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journal Free Expression Associate Editor Mary Julia Koch joined “Varney & Co.” to discuss why the trend appears to be gaining traction among Gen Z and what broader economic and cultural forces may be shaping young adults\u2019 behavior.<\/p>\n
Economic pressures and changing workplace norms are reshaping how many Gen Z workers approach their careers. (AndreyPopov \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Koch said the same generation delaying traditional milestones is also entering a difficult job market after years of economic disruption. She pointed to housing affordability challenges and inflation as factors that have left many young adults feeling discouraged.<\/p>\n
‘Varney & Co.’ host Stuart Varney and WSJ Free Expression associate editor Mary Julia Koch discuss how Gen Z relies on AI to draft text messages, dating app profiles, and even social conversation talking points.<\/p>\n
“There have been huge economic pressures, and especially among a generation that was of prime home-buying age during the pandemic, they didn’t hit that benchmark,” Koch said. “And I think it’s left many young people feeling that the system is rigged against them, that they’ve been locked out of the American dream.”<\/p>\n
GEN Z BREAKS ULTIMATE TABOO BY POSTING SALARIES ONLINE<\/p>\n
When it comes to ghosting employers, Koch suggested the behavior reflects how many Gen Z workers communicate.<\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journal Free Expression associate editor Mary Julia Koch joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss the rise of Gen Z’s \u2018loud budgeting\u2019 trend, why young Americans are drinking less and how AI fears are shaping financial habits.<\/p>\n
The trend appears to be more common than many employers may realize. According to a Resume.org survey, 54% of hiring managers have been ghosted by Gen Z candidates after extending a formal job offer.<\/p>\n
“Ghosting is a thing you do over text,” Koch said. “It’s such a classically Gen Z behavior now entering the job search, which in today’s low-hire, low-fire job market, you probably don’t wanna be in the wrong set of a hiring manager. You would at least give them an email response.”<\/p>\n
GEN Z IS FUELING THE EXPLOSIVE RETURN OF THIS 200-YEAR-OLD STRATEGY CRAZE<\/p>\n
Koch also argued that growing up online has made face-to-face interactions more intimidating for some young people, adding that interviews can be especially stressful for a generation accustomed to communicating through screens.<\/p>\n
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE<\/p>\n
#Ghosting #employers #growing #Gen #trend #todays #job #market<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Wall Street Journal Free Expression associate editor Mary Julia Koch joins ‘Varney & Co.’…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[2118,644,3558,3094,315,33,5223,5208],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}