Gen Z Employee Refuses To Accept A Job Offer After Being Told Her Salary Would Be $37,000 A Year
She claimed that it's unrealistic for her to have any sort of financial stability with a salary that doesn't match the cost of living.
fizkes | Shutterstock In the ever-growing battle between job seekers and employers, it can feel like anyone looking for a job has pulled the short end of the stick. One woman is taking a stand, however. She's holding her ground and telling others, if they can, to never expect less than they deserve.
The Australian-based Gen Zer, Alice, insisted that it's ludicrous to expect job seekers to settle for a salary that won't be able to keep them financially secure. In a TikTok video, Alice claimed that after being offered a job, she immediately changed her mind about the position because of how much they offered to pay her salary-wise.
The Gen Zer refused to accept a job offer after being told her salary would be $37,000 a year.
"Sorry, but I'm not doing anything for $60,000," Alice began. Since she's based in Australia, her salary converts to around $37,000 in USD, which, in this country, is pretty minimal when you factor in the cost of living and inflation.
A yearly salary of under $40K would barely cover housing for most people in the U.S., and they would be living paycheck to paycheck and likely accruing credit card debt on top of that. The same can be said for Alice, who explained that she's a 28-year-old mom with one child who lives in an expensive city in Australia.
Without a better salary, the Gen Zer admitted she's losing hope of ever being able to buy a home.
Alice is currently renting a home but has a dream of buying property sometime in the future. To do that, she would need to make way more than $37,000 a year. Maybe once upon a time, a salary like that would've been able to cover Alice, her child, and all of their accompanying expenses and financial goals, but unfortunately, that's not the case.
"How do people expect to compensate someone for 75 hours a fortnight for [$37,000]?" Alice questioned. "What bills am I paying with that? A full-time job for [$37,000] a year. You're dreaming."
Unfortunately, Alice's attitude towards a job that isn't offering decent pay is rather common amongst Gen Zers, especially with the number of young adults currently attempting to find employment in this job market. The jobless rate for Gen Zers actually reached a peak in 2024 at 7.2%, and a whopping 74% of employed Gen Zers and millennials are worried about their job security.
A good majority of Gen Zers would accept an unwanted job for good pay.
In order to survive, Gen Z is starting to prioritize earning potential over career goals. For example, Gen Z is slowly taking a closer look at accounting careers, according to recent data from the job platform Handshake. The survey found that about 2.5% of the Class of 2025 bachelor’s degree students on the platform are majoring in accounting, up from 2.1% of the Class of 2023.
Consulting and research firm DCDX found that Gen Z is looking for compensation that can fit within their cost of living. Since those costs have been increasing due to high inflation, a career in finance and accounting, although not the most desirable to many Gen Zers, may be an answer to their problems.
DCDX data found that 68% of Gen Z workers said they would accept a job they didn’t like in exchange for a higher salary.
worawee Meepian | Canva Pro
There are definitely many factors that can influence Gen Zers on whether or not they want to accept a job position or even apply in the first place. It's significantly different than past generations, which is why Gen Z often gets a bit of flack from older adults about the way they behave in the workplace.
However, Gen Zers are adamant about not settling for less. In this competitive job market and the state of our economy, young people can't afford to accept roles that don't meet their financial requirements and provide them with the stability they need to survive.
Gen Zers have witnessed firsthand the economic struggles that have permeated most of their youth, and frankly, we're tired of being victims of them.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.