• I'm the youngest of three siblings — and the only Gen Zer.
• When I graduated this year, I faced the realities of job-hunting and adulthood.
• I learned lessons from observing my sisters and other millennials navigate their 20s.

After 16 years in the education system, my time as a student ended on a random Wednesday afternoon in April. I was finally free from lectures, tests, and group projects — but thrust into the realities of a scarier world: adulthood.

In this world, there were no set milestones to tell me I was on the right track. Everyone seemed to be on a path to something greater, but I felt directionless.

I know I'm not alone. Every 20-something has probably felt at least a little bit lost in life. But amid mass layoffs and the threat of AI replacing jobs, stepping into the job market as a fresh graduate in 2024 felt like diving head-first into an abyss.

An August report by an early careers platform, Handshake, surveyed 1,925 graduating students. They found that 57% of the students felt pessimistic about starting their careers — an increase from 49% of graduating students last year. Of the 57%, 63% said the competitive job market contributed to their pessimism.

The stress of not knowing whether I could secure a job was compounded by uncertainty about my career. I had studied journalism but wasn't sure if it was the right fit. I had the irrational fear that if my first job turned out to be the "wrong" choice, I'd be relegated back to the start line of the rat race.

Amid a brewing quarter-life crisis, I looked to my sisters, aged 28 and 31. They do many things that people of my generation may scoff at, like watching Instagram reels exclusively and using the laughing emoji. But they seem to have figured out one thing: life after college.

Here's what I've learned from watching them conquer the Roaring Twenties.

Life doesn't end when school ends

Toward the end of college, I mentally prepared myself for the fast-approaching expiration of youth.

"You must treasure your university days," relatives constantly reminded me at yearly Lunar New Year gatherings. They painted adulthood as a bleak portrait of bills, mundanity, and loneliness. So, when the time came, I was reluctant to let go of my identity as a student.

But as the youngest sibling, I also watched my sisters graduate from college, get married, and build their own homes. I saw them achieve promotions at work, find new hobbies, and start a life outside the one I knew of us growing up together.

Adulting isn't easy — I now know that. But there are also so many new milestones and freedoms that come with it, and there is so much to be excited about.

A job is just a job

My elder sister works in communications and the other in architecture. Even when their hours stretched into the night and weekends, they built a whole life outside work.

One started a sticker side business, and the other is now an avid runner.

It wasn't always smooth. My second-oldest sister burned out after working too much in her first job and took a career break. She prioritized work-life balance at her next job.

In that way, millennials and Gen Zers are alike. A 2024 report by Deloitte found that work-life balance topped the priorities for both generations when choosing an employer. When asked which areas of life were most important to their sense of identity, both generations agreed that jobs came second only to friends and family.

Distancing myself from the idea that my job had to be my one true passion lifted a weight off my shoulders. As much as I still want a job that gives me purpose, I also make time for other aspects of life that fulfill me, like working out and spending time with friends.

Just give it time

As with most worries, the fear that I'd never find a job was unfounded. In July, I started my first job as a junior reporter. But when the first day at work finally ended, I trudged home in a daze.

"I have to do this every day for the next 40 years?" I asked my second-oldest sister, who laughed. It wasn't that I didn't like the job. It was the change in routine from school life to a 9-to-5 that unsettled me.

"You'll get used to it," my sister said. Six months in, I still don't know if I will. But seeing my millennial counterparts thrive has encouraged me.

It's not just my siblings who have set an example. At work, my millennial colleagues are a constant source of guidance to the Gen Zers in the office. On social media, millennial influencers brand themselves as "internet big sisters" and give advice on navigating the complex years of their 20s.

Older millennials are now turning 40, but they were once in the position of Gen Zers, being scoffed at by the older generations for being "lazy" and changing work culture.

Now, they've drawn the map for Gen Zers' entry into the strange world of adulthood. It's made adulting just a little less scary.

Once upon a time, corporate bosses, associates, and interns alike would set aside their different titles and gather each December for drinks, dancing, and conversation. There would be gourmet dinners, chocolate fountains, DJs, and even live bands. For some, it was a night of merriment and splendor; for others, of awkward small talk, followed by deep regret.

Then the holiday party became endangered. In the wake of #MeToo in 2017, more professionals began rethinking the wisdom of a boozed-up night with their colleagues. The pandemic and remote work delivered a near death blow. In a 2020 survey of about 200 HR representatives by the executive-outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a mere 23% said they opted for seasonal celebrations, nearly three-quarters of which would be held virtually.

But as the return to offices continues, companies are slowly reinstituting holiday parties. Last year, nearly 65% of companies surveyed by Challenger, Gray, & Christmas said they planned to host in-person holiday parties, within sight of the 80% reported in 2016, before the advent of #MeToo. If plans pan out, this year could have before-times levels of corporate holiday cheer.

The return of the office holiday party could be a happier development than many jaded workers are likely inclined to presume. With two-thirds of the American white-collar workforce working remotely either some or all of the time, according to a USA Today survey conducted earlier this year, face time with colleagues and superiors is no longer a default feature of the 9-to-5. That might not be a big deal for everyone, but early-career workers stand to pay the steepest professional price for missing out on the kinds of networking and mentorship opportunities that are likelier to happen organically in a shared physical space. All the while, workers across the board are feeling increasingly lonely, overextended, and disengaged. They need something — anything — to celebrate.

In a work environment punctuated by uncertainty and isolation, it might be premature to let one's inner Scrooge have the final word on the tradition.

From Fezziwig's ball in "A Christmas Carol" to the power-suited backdrop of the 1988 Christmas Eve action thriller "Die Hard," the workplace holiday party has been a fixture of the cultural imagination for generations. But in the mid-20th century, the event garnered its enduring reputation for sloppiness and day-after regret. A 1948 Life magazine photo spread from a Christmas party thrown in the office of a Manhattan insurance brokerage depicts, among other modern-day HR violations, a pantless male executive dancing arm in arm with a young female stenographer and a pair of colleagues leaning in for a smooch beneath a bundle of mistletoe.

Somewhere along the way, festivities evolved from low-key gatherings held at the office to lavish affairs that might include gourmet meals, hired entertainment, and even international travel and accommodation on the boss' dime. The pandemic notwithstanding, the economic pendulum has largely dictated its tilt toward excess or restraint.

As a Toronto-area DJ during the halcyon days of the late-'90s dot-com bubble, Baruch Labunski had a front-row seat to corporate-party splendor. "I went to many and saw a lot of crazy things," he said. He described being flown to DJ holiday parties in far-flung global destinations such as Bora Bora, Palawan, and Ibiza — and, on top of that, getting paid $50,000 to $100,000 per event. (When I asked how many holiday parties he booked in a typical season, he said only "many.") By the time the dot-com bubble burst and the demand for his services cooled, Labunski had tired himself out of the DJ booth and pivoted to a career in marketing.

Economic recovery in the mid-2000s spurred a holiday-party renaissance, only to be dashed once again in the 2008 recession. A few years later, Wall Street firms were reportedly back to enjoying hush-hush holiday festivities reminiscent of their heydays. The free-money firehose of the ZIRP era was in full force, and excess was back in style.

Danielle Kane, who was a reporter for a niche New York City financial-services publication between 2015 and 2017, said that one year her company flew the entire staff of 50 to 75 people to Berlin. "Hotels and flights were paid for, there was an experiential dinner at the Berlin TV Tower, and then they paid for everyone to get into a fancy club afterwards," she said. "It was a late night, and I've never experienced a company holiday party like it since."

For all their fun, these often cringe-inducing affairs earned a bad rap — one that may come to bite younger workers.

Despite some companies' largesse, the general workforce's enthusiasm for holiday parties has long been mixed. In a 2017 survey of American workers by Randstad, 90% of respondents said they'd rather receive bonuses or extra vacation days than attend a company holiday party. "The ideal situation," Constance Noonan Hadley, an organizational psychologist, told me, "is to offer activities that foster employee social health (such as a holiday party) without asking them to sacrifice their financial health (such as a bonus) or their mental health (such as time off)."

Companies squander the opportunity to make holiday gatherings meaningful in all sorts of small but critical ways. Hadley said the Christmas-specific focus of many company holiday parties could be alienating to workers who follow non-Christian religious traditions. Parties are often held at inconvenient times and places — too late on a weeknight for parents, in a location that has expensive parking or is hard to access. Holiday parties at big firms can also be loud, hot, and crowded, which makes it difficult to have meaningful conversations or meet new people.

Well-planned company holiday parties, on the other hand, can be a boon to employees' overall work experience and even strengthen company culture. A study of workers at several German companies in 2019 concluded that parties could encourage social bonding, especially when employees' feedback steered the planning. The study suggests, for example, that icebreaker activities that get people from different parts of the organization talking help build camaraderie, despite the eye rolls they may initially provoke. Over time, that can contribute to a happier and more cohesive work environment.

For early-career workers, the benefits can be more pronounced. Rick Hermanns, the president and CEO of HireQuest, a global staffing company, said social events could help make up for the "intangible aspects of career growth and camaraderie between colleagues" that younger workers may miss out on when they're partly or fully remote. In a 2023 Adobe poll of more than 1,000 Gen Z workers at midsize and large US companies, 83% of respondents said a workplace mentor was crucial for their career, but only 52% said they had one. While holiday parties aren't the be-all and end-all of workplace networking, they provide a critical opening to build and fortify connections.

"When I look back at my early career in banking in Los Angeles, I appreciated the time I had to walk into a senior executive's office or grab a beer after work with colleagues," Hermanns said. "Those are the intangibles you can't quantify yet ultimately impact your career growth." Simply put, face time matters.

It makes sense that Gen Z and millennial workers would be more enthusiastic about workplace holiday get-togethers than their Gen X and baby-boomer counterparts. "Company leaders need to help Gen Z — as well as millennials, whose workplace experience was hugely disrupted by COVID — to build strong interpersonal workplace relationships," Hubert Palan, the CEO of the product-management company Productboard, told Business Insider last year.

Given that much of the global workforce feels lonely on the job, it's not just the youngest workers who need a social boost. A new study Hadley coauthored evaluating workplace loneliness and remedies found that the loneliest people at work were those who were offered the fewest social opportunities by their employer. "In fact, the number of social offerings provided was one of our most predictive variables in terms of whether someone was socially connected at work or not," she told me. Hadley also found that while fully remote work did seem to increase the risk of loneliness, it was less significant of a variable than whether a person was introverted or worked for an organization that held regular social activities for staffers.

The German study suggests that a holiday party can serve as the ritual capstone for these more routine coworker events, making year-end hobnobbing just a little extra special. While the ideal party activities will depend on an organization's culture, a few basic considerations — such as hosting the event somewhere besides the boring old office — go a long way. Elements of fun help too, whether they take the form of a themed photo booth, a creative dining experience, or, yes, a DJ.

A dash of festive foresight can make the difference between the raunchy affairs of yesteryear and a few hours of meaningful, PG-rated bonding between coworkers. "A nice holiday event gives people a break in their wallets and signals that the leaders value personal connections and socializing," Hadley said.

For a company's youngest workers, the benefits may last a professional lifetime.

Kelli María Korducki is a journalist whose work focuses on work, tech, and culture. She's based in New York City.

• The red-hot US housing market could cool off slightly in 2025, making it easier to buy a home.
• Expect stable or declining mortgage rates and more housing inventory, according to Redfin.
• However, it's still prohibitively difficult for younger homebuyers to break into the market.

The American dream of home ownership has become increasingly harder to achieve in the last few years. Home prices are elevated, mortgage rates are high, and housing supply is constrained. That's not to mention the growing threat of climate change, which is driving up housing costs such as insurance, HOA fees, and property taxes in high-risk states.

There's both some good and bad news on the horizon for homebuyers, according to housing market experts.

The good news? On the whole, it'll be easier to buy a house in 2025. But the bad news, for younger homebuyers at least, is that's mostly just the case for boomers. Homeownership is actually looking as distant as ever for first-time buyers, especially Gen Z and millennials.

3 reasons it'll be easier to buy a house in 2025

First, housing prices are projected to increase slower than in previous years. Redfin economists Daryl Fairweather and Chen Zhao predict that median US home-sale prices will rise by 4% in 2025. Goldman Sachs has a similar outlook for 2025, predicting that US home prices will increase by 4.4%. That's roughly in line with median wage growth. Considering that US home prices shot up over 40% between March 2020 and January 2024, this sanguine prediction is good news for prospective homebuyers.

Another impediment to homeownership has been high mortgage rates, which have more than doubled in the last few years. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has risen from below 3% in 2021 to around 7%.

While a 7% rate is still high historically, it's a sign of improvement from this housing cycle's high of 7.8% in October 2023. And rates could come down further in 2025, according to housing market experts. Redfin expects mortgage rates to stay the same or decrease next year. Realtor.com forecasts mortgage rates to end 2025 at 6.2%.

Lastly, experts predict that new housing inventory will hit the market, bringing relief on the supply side. A Republican sweep in Congress is a positive sign for homebuilders, as the construction industry will benefit from fewer regulations, according to Redfin.

In October before the election, Jeffery Roach, chief economist of LPL Financial, said that an increase in housing starts, or construction of new residential housing units, was a signal for more single-family homes hitting the market over the course of the next few quarters. According to Realtor.com, housing starts for new single-family homes could hit 1.1 million in 2025, a 13.8% increase.

All of these factors could improve the housing market going into 2025. Redfin predicts that home sales will increase anywhere between 2% and 9% next year.

No houses for young homebuyers

But unfortunately, if you're a first-time homebuyer, you're probably out of luck. Redfin doesn't expect the increase in home sales to be driven by young or working-class buyers. It's looking likely that any new housing inventory that hits the market will go toward older Americans first.

"Instead, affordable homes will be snapped up by older buyers who are priced out of higher price tiers," Fairweather and Zhao wrote in a recent report.

Indeed, first-time homebuyers are having unprecedented difficulty in the housing market. It's typically more difficult for first-time buyers to purchase a home because they don't have funds from selling a previous home to use for a down payment and mortgage payments, Redfin said in a June report, but today's housing environment is especially hostile towards young buyers.

Wages simply haven't kept up with the pace of home price increases over the past five years. According to Elijah de la Campa, a Redfin senior economist, the cost of starter homes have increased twice as fast as incomes during that time. Additionally, for Gen Z and millennials, student loans and credit card debt are emerging as roadblocks to homeownership, as it's difficult to qualify for mortgages with a poor credit score and high levels of debt.

As a result, the median age of first-time homebuyers is now 38, according to the National Association of Realtors — an all-time high. That's up from 35 in 2023. First-time homebuyers are also an increasingly smaller proportion of the market, at just 24% in the 12-month period ending in June 2024. The year prior, that proportion was 32%.

Comparatively, boomers have an advantage in the housing market. According to Edward Yardeni, president of financial research firm Yardeni Research, boomers own roughly half of the nation's net worth and homeowner equity, giving them a leg up in the housing market. Now, as boomers age and look to downsize their homes or move elsewhere for retirement, they can take advantage of the home equity they've amassed from years of home ownership.

"Gen Zers, meanwhile, will keep living with family or renting until well into their 30s," wrote Fairweather and Zhao.

• Just like the generations before them, Gen Z has an extensive list of slang words.
• "Bussin'," "ick," and "mid" are popular among Gen Zers.
• Social media helps slang spread rapidly, but proper credit is often lost along the way.

Just like the generations before them, Gen Z uses an extensive list of slang words like "bussin'," "ick," and "mid."

However, unlike past generations, Gen Z has social media to help slang spread rapidly.

"The emergence of social media has created a situation where the potential for slang virality has increased," John Baugh, a linguist at Washington University in St. Louis, told Business Insider last year.

Anyone with an account can share and adopt new terms with just a couple of clicks. While this can be an exciting opportunity for people to connect and bond over language, it can also lead to appropriation.

Black and LGBTQ+ communities created many of the slang words attributed to Gen Z — anyone born between 1997 and 2012.

However, these marginalized communities often don't receive credit for their contributions.

When their slang enters larger circles via social media, those who don't know its origins can misuse the language, which can be offputting or even offensive.

Brands and publications marketing to Gen Z should be especially careful with slang as this generation values authenticity more than older generations.

And much like fashion, slang is ever-evolving. All these words and phrases will inevitably be axed and deemed "uncool."

At least for now, though, here are 15 slang terms Gen Z is using in 2024 and what they mean.

If you're told to do something "for the plot," it means to do it for the experience.

Saying "for the plot" is a fun way for Gen Z to encourage each other to do the wild, fun things that make storytelling fun when you're older.

Influencer Serena Kerrigan has been credited with popularizing the phrase, saying, "this is your reminder that if something works out, great, and if it doesn't, it's for the plot." In other words, your highs and lows are all shaping and contributing to your life story.

Whether you swipe right on Tinder or go out spontaneously on a Tuesday night, it's all about the plot.

Still popular from 2023, someone with "rizz" has charisma.

It's true; Gen Z has an affinity for abbreviations.

A person with "rizz" is confident, charming, and generally successful in romantic endeavors. The phrase officially reached the boomer generation when the Golden Bachelor announced he had rizz.

An "ick" is a turnoff.

Ah, the ick. "Love Island" contestant Olivia Attwood (now Olivia Attwood Dack) helped popularize the phrase during season three, but "the ick" remains a staple in Gen Z's vocabulary.

If someone gives you "the ick," it means they've turned you off, either through their actions or words.

"Icks" can arise from small offenses, such as using the "wrong" emoji in conversation, or from larger issues, such as being rude to a barista.

It's all about personal preference.

If someone lives "rent-free" in your mind, you think about them a lot.

When someone or something constantly occupies your thoughts, they've taken up residence in your head without paying you a dime. In 1999, one reader attributed the phrase living "rent-free" to advice columnist Ann Landers.

Though often associated with specific people like a crush or celebrity, the phrase can also apply to positive and negative events, like an epic concert or a ridiculous AI image.

"Mother" is a popular term of endearment for female celebrities that originated in LGBTQ+ communities.

"Mother" is a woman deserving of your respect who's had a profound influence on your life.

For some, that's Diana Ross. For others, it's Rihanna. Reneé Rapp, Mariah Carey, and Lana Del Rey have all been called mother, too.

Last year, The New York Times reported that people in the Black and Latino LGBTQ+ ballroom scene coined the term, which stemmed from the "queer subculture in which members are organized into so-called houses often led by a 'mother.'"

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, who played a house mother in the groundbreaking series "Pose," told The New York Times that "anyone should be able to use a term that is trending" but that it's important to know and acknowledge where it came from.

If a person "ate," they executed something flawlessly.

Often associated with fashion and beauty, saying someone "ate" is a way of expressing they look amazing and did a great job.

Look at almost any picture of Zendaya on the red carpet, and it'd be correct to say, "She ate."

"Left no crumbs" is a continuation of "ate" that's used as additional emphasis.

If you hear "she ate," you may often hear "and left no crumbs" immediately after.

The additional phrase helps emphasize how perfect the person's execution was, though it can be used on its own, too.

For example, "Entrepreneur Mona Patel ate and left no crumbs at the 2024 Met Gala." That means she executed the theme perfectly — everything from her dress to her glam to the presentation on the red carpet was flawless.

"Bussin'" or "buss" means it's very good.

Often used to describe food, "bussin'" originated in the Black community and means extremely good or delicious, per Merriam-Webster.

So if your kid says tonight's dinner was "bussin'," just know you did a great job.

Something is "mid" if it falls short of expectations.

Whether it's a dress on the red carpet, a new TV show, or a pasta recipe, something that's "mid" is mediocre.

BI reported that Kaley Cuoco's 2024 Critics Choice Awards gown missed the mark, so it could also be described as mid.

Another way to say focus is "lock in."

You can "lock in" on an assignment, cleaning your apartment, or even a video game.

"Let him cook" means don't stop him from doing his thing.

While NC State ultimately lost to Purdue in the Final Four, DJ Burns, Jr. was a standout in the 2024 March Madness tournament.

His coaches clearly saw how well he was performing and decided to "let him cook," giving him more playing time in their five tournament games, per ESPN.

Why call yourself delusional when you can say "delulu"?

As we've already established, Gen Z loves abbreviations.

"Delulu" simply means delusional, but in a way that's wacky instead of worrisome, according to The New York Times.

If you're hoping to elope with the lead in your favorite romance novel, you might be a bit delulu.

"Sus" is short for suspicious.

It sounds a little sus, but this term dates back to the 1920s, per Merriam-Webster. The term originates from suss, as in, suss out whether someone is trustworthy or not.

Recently, the word reemerged thanks to the online game "Among Us," in which players try to determine who is an imposter working to sabotage their progress.

Cringe-worthy behavior may cost you "aura points."

A kind of cosmic, karma-esque rating system of cool, aura points are won and lost through a variety of impressive and embarrassing deeds. Talked to your crush with spinach in your teeth? Your aura points just took a hit.

"It's tongue-in-cheek, and it also seems to be a sort of weird contemporary honor code," philosopher Julian Baggini told The Guardian.

"No cap" means you're telling the truth.

The phrase "no cap" has been around for decades and has roots in Black communities.

People often use it for emphasis, similarly to "for real." For example, "My cat is smarter than Einstein, no cap."

"No cap" is basically the opposite of "cap," which is short for "capping."

"Cap or capping has referenced bragging, exaggerating, or lying since the early 1900s," Kelly Elizabeth Wright, a language professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told TODAY.com.

• Jamie Lynch, an operations manager, has noticed key differences in her employees of different ages.
• Gen Z values work-life balance, unlike older generations who prioritize job commitment.
• COVID-19 influenced Gen Z's approach to work, emphasizing health over climbing the ladder.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jamie Lynch, a 34-year-old operations manager and content creator in Ontario, Canada. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've been an operations manager for eight years at various companies, including my latest role at a real-estate media company.

I now also run Simply Jamie, where I create content focused on conversations with my Gen Z employees on social media.

As a manager who has worked with people of all ages, I've noticed differences between employees of different generations.

They aren't necessarily bad, but they're eye-opening differences in how we work. Here are four of the biggest ones I've noticed.

1. To call out or not to call out

For the most part, boomers won't call off work. Instead, they might come to work and say, "My car broke down. I had to borrow my neighbor's car to arrive on time," — but they still made it in.

Millennials can be that way, too. When I worked at a restaurant in high school, my manager still expected me to come to work if I was sick — there wasn't an option or a second thought about not working.

Gen Z, on the other hand, might say, "Well, my car is broken," or "I'm sick, so I can't come in." They don't feel an overwhelming guilt about calling in sick when needed.

I think some of this feeling stems from the COVID-19 pandemic. For three years, we told everyone not to leave their houses if they felt sick, and the younger generation has carried that message into the workplace.

I know some employees in the older generation dislike the younger generation for it, but I respect them, and I wish I had a bit more of their work-life balance.

2. To make small talk or to just not

Boomers and millennials are more known for 'water cooler' talk — or small talk conversations in the office. Before technology took over, that's what everyone did. You'd talk about the weather; we weren't all holding phones to entertain us.

Now, Gen Z doesn't feel the need to have those awkward conversations at work. They've grown up with a new form of distraction that previous generations did not have.

COVID-19 also occurred at a critical juncture in the lives of many members of the younger generation, causing them to miss experiences like proms and face the challenge of attending college from home because they had nothing else. Due to this, they keep to themselves.

I don't blame Gen Z, but older generations judge younger ones for being less social.

3. What they know and what they don't

Gen Z is tech-savvy. I consider myself low-tech and often ask my younger employees for help with my phone. They can also grasp new things quickly.

I've noticed that Gen Z sometimes doesn't know how to do other important things, like writing a check, driving without a GPS, or mailing a letter — that's a big one. To be fair, why would they? It's rare for people to send letters anymore.

Boomers can do these things as they grew up doing them, but technology is often new and harder for them since they spent most of their lives without it. Learning how to sign in and out of apps, for instance, can be a bit more difficult.

4. What they care about

The older generations seem to be more worried about job security. They believe in working hard because that's what you're supposed to do: you go to work and you work.

They're also more willing to deal with difficult bosses. I remember my mom would say, "You just can't let people get to you. All your bosses are going to suck," and that was the widely held belief.

Gen Z, however, has a different mindset. They're not as focused on getting promoted or constantly moving up. They need money and want a job, but they're not necessarily aiming to climb the ladder.

Gen Z also sets stronger boundaries around things like criticism. I don't think it's bad — if your job isn't your whole life and personality, why should you worry about losing it?

Gen Z does seem to care about social issues, like saving the planet. For example, reusable cups are important to them.

Every generation brings something different to the workplace, a whole new set of strengths and weaknesses. Understanding and using them as advantages is the key to harmoniously working together.

Timothy Danikowski was ready to start his adult life. After four years in a small college town and a fifth year back at home thanks to the pandemic, he finally moved to Seattle in 2021. Soon after, Danikowski landed a respectable accounting job, moved into his own apartment, and signed up for his first credit card, which he intended to use only for emergencies.

At first Danikowski kept on top of his balance well enough, but soon his compulsive shopping addiction and desire to see the world broke his discipline. "I built up points to travel," he told me. "But when I travel, I want to go shopping, and that's where the spending gets out of control."

In three years, Danikowski has racked up about $15,000 in debt across three cards, one of which has an interest rate of 28%. He makes his minimum payments each month — a task that has become much harder since he lost his job this year — and tries to resist the urge to keep using the cards, but his balance doesn't budge.

"When it comes to everyday things, I choose comfort over everything else," he said.

Danikowski and many other Gen Zers are rapidly building up credit-card debt. A TransUnion study found that, adjusting for inflation, the average credit-card balance for someone who was 22 to 24 at the end of last year was $2,834, a 26% increase from the average figure for millennials who were the same age a decade ago. The study also suggested that Gen Zers were much more comfortable with credit cards than prior generations were: They were opening more cards, were more likely to fall behind on payments, and were using the cards for more types of purchases. Alev told me Credit Karma data shows Gen Zers are acquiring debt at a faster rate than any other age group. The combination of an increasingly turbulent economy and Gen Zers' desire to make up for lost time via pandemic "revenge spending" has left many members of the generation overly reliant on credit.

"Gen Z really prioritizes fun over finances when it comes to things like eating out, shopping, and travel," says Courtney Alev, a consumer advocate at Credit Karma. "That combined with the fact that they have just had fewer earning years explains why their credit-card debt is growing at a faster rate."

While Gen Zers' overall debt levels are still lower than older generations', young consumers' early reliance on credit cards puts their financial futures at risk. "The financial burdens that Gen Z is facing today can really have long-lasting effects on their lives," Alev says, "including their ability to achieve key milestones, such as delaying big moments like marriage, buying a home, or starting families until they feel more financially secure."

Part of Gen Zers' interest in credit cards is simply the march of technological progress. The digital natives have more payment options than any generation before them, and they've embraced electronic payments and alternative credit methods like digital wallets and buy-now-pay-later apps. Meanwhile, credit-card companies have targeted young people as eager new customers.

There are also some acute financial reasons Gen Zers have been jumping headfirst into the credit pool. Pandemic restrictions, inflation, and high interest rates hit them hard as they were starting their professional careers and getting their financial footing. As young people sought solutions to financial stresses, and as credit-card balances fell, credit-card companies were more than willing to make Gen Zers an offer. The companies made getting credit easier in 2021 and 2022 by allowing people with lower credit scores to access cards for which they previously would have been ineligible. Young people opened credit cards at a faster rate than any other age group during the pandemic.

The temptation to use those cards was strong. Credit Karma found that its Gen Z members' average credit-card debt increased by 3.2% from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2024, while the average debt for millennials, Gen Xers, and baby boomers increased by 2.4%, 2%, and 1.6%. While credit-card balances in the US decreased early in the pandemic, it didn't take long for American consumers to start racking up debt again. Credit-card balances have risen by $396 billion since the first quarter of 2021, a 51% increase.

Some people accumulated credit-card debt in a wave of post-pandemic revenge spending; some were chasing points and rewards. Still others said they racked up big bills because they couldn't afford not to. Regardless of the reasons, it's clear that many Gen Zers are comfortable with their little pieces of plastic.

Danikowski, for example, told me he fell into the credit-card trap after acquiring an American Express gold travel card with a sky-high annual percentage rate. The card let him build up points, which allowed him to continue traveling. "I got so used to this lifestyle I lived for the last three years that it became hard for me to cut back," he says.

Others, like Nico, a 27-year-old advertising strategist, got caught in a post-pandemic spending cycle. After graduating from college in 2020, Nico moved back home with his mom to save money while working remotely. By late 2021, Nico was ready for a change. After he moved to Chicago, he started using his credit card way more. He was struggling to make his $1,100 rent on a $36,000 salary. In addition to paying his bills and making sure he had groceries, Nico was trying to make new friends in the city.

"I couldn't afford to live, but I'm in a new city, and I want to go out and meet people. I called those my fun expenses," he says. "I started putting all of that on my credit card."

Nico kept reaching his credit limit, and the credit-card company kept extending it. Three years later, he has about $20,000 in credit-card debt and a monthly minimum payment of $400, nearly all of which goes toward interest. Landing a higher-paying job has helped him start to get a handle on the debt, he said. He's stopped using the card and tries to make a payment of $700 to $900 each month in hopes of bringing his total down.

Credit proved vital for Emmaline, a 27-year-old web developer in North Carolina, when she had to make ends meet during a career pivot. She racked up $6,000 in credit-card debt while attending a full-time coding boot camp, using the card to to pay for groceries, car maintenance and insurance, and other life expenses. While the card was a lifeline as she tried to set herself up for a successful career, she felt ashamed and worried about her debt, she tells me. For a long time she kept it a secret. This year she finally opened up to family members, who helped her make a plan to pay it down and offered some financial assistance. After spending a few months throwing nearly every penny she had at the debt, Emmaline was able to pay it all off in November.

"I made sure I was only eating beans and leaving myself money for gas," she says. "I let out a tear or two of pure joy and relief when it was finally paid off."

Gen Zers are far from alone in racking up credit-card debt: The total credit-card balance held by US consumers surpassed $1 trillion in 2023. The number of Americans struggling to pay off their loans is also rising. But the particular danger for Gen Zers is becoming so reliant on credit cards so early in their financial lives. Higher debt, Alev says, can lead to lower credit scores that could make it more difficult to pay for things like a house or a car. From March 2022 to February 2024, the percentage of Credit Karma's Gen Z members with subprime credit, meaning a score below 600, rose by 8 points, to 33% from 25%, while the percentage of millennials with subprime credit scores increased by 6 points. Credit Karma said the average Gen Z credit score dropped to 659 in the second quarter from 671 in the first quarter.

William, a 27-year-old emergency medical technician in Colorado, has about $20,000 in credit-card debt, accumulated over 4 ½ years. His first job out of college in 2020 came with a salary of $27,000. Struggling to get by, William primarily used his credit card for necessities like groceries, bills, and car maintenance. But when a health emergency kept him out of work for weeks, his balance snowballed. These days, William makes his minimum payment, but nearly all of it goes to interest. He says he once dreamed of moving abroad and teaching English but has accepted that his credit-card debt keeps him tethered to a reliable source of income stateside.

"I'd like to have a family one day and be able to settle down and raise kids, give them a good life," William says. "But that's not something I can do until I have a better hold on this."

It's not clear that Gen Zers' habits will change anytime soon. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in August that younger debt-holders were more likely to be delinquent on their credit-card payments than older ones. Falling behind on these payments has given young people a bleak outlook.

"Credit-card debt is an invisible problem," Emmaline says. "You can't see it. It veils you in shame. It eats you like a parasite."

Alev says there are some steps people can take to try to escape credit debt. First and foremost, she cautions people to stay as far away from high-interest debt as possible. She also advises debt-holders to stop using that credit line and make a plan to pay down the debt, such as transferring the debt to a personal loan at a lower interest rate.

Most important, she says, members of the credit-card generation shouldn't bury their heads in the sand. She recommends people create a spreadsheet listing all their debts along with minimum payments, interest rates, and consolidation options.

When William feels suffocated by his monthly payments and interest rate, he can feel tempted to rack up even more debt. "Someone is always willing to give you another credit card," he says.

Danikowski, meanwhile, said feeling hopeless about his debt was pointless. Though he lost his job this year, he still took trips to Europe and New York.

"I know it's not a good decision," he says. "But at least I've gotten to see the world."

Erin Snodgrass is a senior reporter at Business Insider.

• A woman's creative out-of-office emails sparked debate on professionalism and workplace norms.
• Experts say OOO emails should reflect a company's culture.
• Legal and social issues can arise if OOOs don't align with employer expectations.

The backlash to a woman's creative out-of-office emails has caught the attention of TikTok and ignited a debate over how much personality to bring to work.

Thara Moise, better known as Chef Moise, is a TikTok creator and private chef who also works a regular 9-5 as a catering and sales manager.

In a recent TikTok, which amassed more than a million views, she said she had received the "same talking to" from her boss at her day job multiple times due to her "super cute" out-of-office emails.

The emails would include stories she'd made up, historical facts, or wellness tips.

"Tell me why I had another conversation with this man today about how unprofessional that is," Moise said, adding that she felt like her personality was being "smothered by corporate America."

"Am I wrong?" she asked.

Being creative can work

Some saw her creative automated emails as unprofessional, while others thought it was a sign that her workplace was stifling and restrictive.

"Imagine you sent an urgent email to someone and their automated response was a story instead of letting you know who to contact while they're out," read one comment, which received 21,000 likes.

Workplace analysts are also divided on the issue, saying it may all depend on the specifics of your office and the people in it.

Carla Bevins, an associate teaching professor of business management communication at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, told Business Insider that OOO emails are an extension of workplace communication.

"While injecting personality can make them memorable, it's important to balance creativity with professionalism," she said.

However, Rich Mehta, the founder of the digital marketing agency Rigorous Digital, said that adding some personality into an OOO email could be beneficial in the right workplace setting.

"From the sendee's perspective, getting an OOO isn't usually a nice experience," he said. "Surprising someone with what can otherwise be a bit of a rubbish experience introduces dissonance, which usually means you'll be remembered."

Issues can arise

In more traditional workplaces, legal issues might arise.

Jo Mackie, a partner and employment law specialist at the law firm Burlingtons, told BI that inappropriate, offensive, or rude messages should never be tolerated, "but that begs the question of who decides what is and is not appropriate."

Raising the conversation three times shows that Moise should take notice, Mackie added, as failing to "follow a wilful management instruction" in employment law can potentially lead to disciplinary action, she said.

"If this continues, there is also scope for an employer to claim there has been a breakdown in trust and confidence between the employer and employee," she said. "And that is grounds for a breach of contract claim and may lead to dismissal."

Reading the room

Joelle Moray, a psychotherapist, workplace dynamics consultant, and the author of "What Are We Doing?! Radical Self-Care for the Hustle Culture," said that Moise's story is an example of the need to "get it right" rather than "being right."

Moray advises that individuals start by reading the room and deciding whether their workplace is more conservative or relaxed.

Then, they should take some time to consider who will read the email and why they want to add a casual tone or anecdote.

"Are you adding a wellness tip because you're the wellness committee chairperson?" she said. "Are you adding a historical factoid because you think they would be interested, or are you adding this so that you appear interesting?"

Moise told BI that she had found the response to her video funny for the most part, though some had veered into bullying or calling for her to be fired, which was "unnecessary," she said.

"Most people expressing negative thoughts are projecting their insecurities about being different or odd," she said. "I am incredibly accomplished on my own and have always navigated the workforce with ease."

Moise's workplace did not respond to a request for comment.

• A 28-year-old used an AI tool called AIHawk to apply for hundreds of jobs on LinkedIn.
• He said AIHawk helped him land a software engineering job.
• Using AI tools during the application process comes with risks.

Applying for jobs can be a time-consuming and frustrating process, and some job seekers are using AI to try to make it more tolerable.

Guilherme, a 28-year-old based in Brazil, began looking for a software engineering role after he was laid off in April. In October, after little luck, he learned about AIHawk — a tool that allows users to easily apply for up to hundreds of jobs per day. One month later, AIHawk had submitted more than 1,300 applications on Guilherme's behalf and he landed a job.

"This the type of job I was looking for," said Guilherme, whose identity was verified by Business Insider but asked to use a pseudonym. "It was certainly a byproduct of AIHawk."

Guilherme is among the people who have struggled to find work over the past year and turned to AI tools to help them write résumés and cover letters, prepare for interviews, and apply for jobs.

To be sure, relying on AI during the application process comes with risks — including a résumé littered with mistakes — and it could be a dealbreaker for some HR departments. Additionally, in the quickly evolving AI landscape, there's a lack of clarity over how employers and job platforms view candidates' use of these tools.

Automating the job search process can save time

Federico Elia created AIHawk earlier this year, and in August, he published the code hosting platform GitHub so anyone could use the tool. AIHawk automates the application process for LinkedIn's easy-apply jobs — which pulls info from a user's profile to fill in an application. To date, AIHawk has been "starred" — or bookmarked — on GitHub by more than 22,000 people globally. There are more than 6,300 members of the AIHawk community on the messaging service Telegram, where users critique the tool, share tips on how to use it, and provide updates on their job searches.

AIHawk is one of many AI job application tools on the market. While it can be installed and used without any cost, users previously told BI that doing so requires some familiarity with the programming language Python.

Guilherme's tech background made it easier to use the tool. He said AIHawk typically applied to about 50 jobs a day and that some of these applications turned into interviews.

Guilherme ultimately was hired for a job he didn't apply for using AIHawk. He said he learned about the role after someone from the company reached out to him via LinkedIn. However, Guilherme believes AIHawk played a major role in the outcome of his job search. When he started using the tool, he said he began hearing from several recruiters about jobs he'd never applied for.

"I got several LinkedIn InMails a day, every single day, since mid-October, from recruiters, hiring managers, and C-suites of companies," he said, adding, "This was something that never happened to me before."

Guilherme said that he believes applying for so many jobs "boosted" his LinkedIn profile in the platform's algorithm — making it easier for recruiters to find him.

"With my account's activity being through the roof, my profile was boosted up in searches, which led to my new boss finding me," he said.

A LinkedIn spokesperson told BI that applying to more roles would not make a person's profile more visible to a recruiter. The spokesperson said that job seekers who keep their profiles up to date are more likely to hear from recruiters.

The spokesperson said that the company doesn't permit the use of third-party software — such as bots — that scrapes or automates activity on LinkedIn.

Guilherme recommended that AIHawk users spend time filtering out job titles that aren't a good fit and use interviews as an opportunity to practice their communication skills — which could help them land a job down the road.

Overall, Guilherme said the biggest perk of AIHawk was the time it saved him.

"Imagine if I had to do this manually?" he said, referring to the resumes he submitted with AIHawk. "I'd probably go insane."

Are you looking for a job and comfortable sharing your story with a reporter? Did an AI job tool help you land a job recently? Please fill out this form.

• Barbara Corcoran says it's "disturbing" how young people are being locked out of the housing market.
• The "Shark Tank" investor pointed to first-time buyers getting older and losing out to cash buyers.
• Corcoran said Trump-fueled inflation and stubborn rates are risks, and she doesn't see a bubble.

High prices, steep mortgage rates, and fierce competition are locking young people out of becoming homeowners, Barbara Corcoran says.

The "Shark Tank" investor and real-estate tycoon pointed to "disturbing" data from the 2024 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers during a recent interview on "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" on the Fox Business Network.

The founder of The Corcoran Group said the share of first-time buyers dropped from 32% last year to a record low of 24%. The percentage of cash buyers — who tend to be investors or second-home buyers — hit a record high of 26%. Plus, the median age of first-time buyers climbed from 35 to 38.

The report suggests that first-time buyers are increasingly being outbid by investors or people buying second or third homes who are paying in cash, and many are having to wait until they're nearly 40 to become homeowners.

All about that rate

The median sale price for existing homes rose 4% to $407,200 in October, marking the 16th straight month of year-over-year price gains, per the National Association of Realtors. Sales did rise 2.9% from a year earlier, the first year-over-year increase since the summer of 2021.

Corcoran said transactions had picked up because buyers were used to higher rates and "got tired of waiting" for them to dip. Yet she emphasized that a significant fall in rates would be "incredible" for home sales.

"Anything with a 5% in front of it is going to make this market go ballistic," she said.

Bankrate data shows the average 30-year mortgage rate soared from 3.2% at the end of 2021 to a two-decade high of 7.9% in October last year, but has since dropped to 6.9%.

President-elect Trump's plans to cut taxes and impose tariffs have stoked fears that price growth could accelerate, pushing rates higher. "Inflation is on everyone's mind and I think it's risky," Corcoran said.

She predicted mortgage rates would hover around 6% or go lower. Any rise "would slow down the market, it would slow down the whole economy, it would slow down all the support services for the housing market — it would be a terrible thing."

Corcoran also dismissed concerns that the housing market is overheated and headed for a slump. She cited the low percentage of home purchases made as investments, saying a surfeit of investors "creates a bubble big time."

"This is nothing like the last bubble," she said. "I don't see a bubble at all."

• Meredith Whitney expects home prices to fall by 10% to 20% as the frozen housing market starts thawing.
• The veteran researcher said baby boomers aren't selling, restricting the number of homes available.
• Prices rose in September but existing-home sales fell and the share of first-time buyers remained low.

Home prices are poised to fall by up to a fifth as the frozen housing market thaws — and that could help baby boomers sell at last and younger people to become homeowners, Meredith Whitney says.

"It's got to be a two-step process," the CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group told the Financial Sense Newshour podcast in an episode released Saturday.

"You have to have rates come down, but you also have to have home prices come down," she said about revitalizing the housing market. "One doesn't work on its own."

Homebuyer headaches

Housing transactions have stagnated in recent years as soaring prices and steeper mortgage interest rates have fueled an affordability crisis.

Homeowners who locked in cheap mortgages are reluctant to sell and give them up. Prospective buyers are similarly unwilling to pay top dollar for a worse house than they imagined and take on a larger monthly mortgage payment.

Some relief has come from the Federal Reserve cutting its benchmark rate by 75 basis points since September to as low as 4.5%. The central bank raised the rate from virtually zero to as high as 5.5% between March 2022 and July 2023.

Even so, the median existing-home price jumped 3% to $404,500 in the 12 months to September, per the latest National Association of Realtors data.

Existing-home sales fell 3.5% over the same period, and first-time buyers were responsible for 26% of sales in September, in line with lows hit in August this year and November 2021.

Price declines and baby boomers

Whitney was dubbed the "Oracle of Wall Street" after correctly predicting the 2008 financial crisis, which was precipitated by the collapse of a massive housing bubble.

She predicted house prices would fall by 10% to 20% from here, and urged the government to "sit back and let that happen" because that would only lower them to 2020 or 2021 levels. Homeowners would likely despair a sharp drop in the value of their homes, but many have built huge amounts of home equity over time, she said.

As for why younger millennials and Gen Z are struggling to get on the housing ladder, Whitney pointed to homeowners in their sixties and seventies staying put.

"The problem is the baby boomers own 60% of the housing stock," she said, referring to single-family, owner-occupied homes. "They're not moving."

"The older people aren't selling; they have no place to go," she continued, adding that they "can't afford to move." She highlighted increases in property taxes, homeowners' insurance, and homeowners' association fees as one source of financial strain, especially for those on fixed incomes.

Whitney described the situation as a "generational schism" in a CNBC interview last week and warned there will be a "real standoff between sellers and buyers" until more inventory becomes available.

Several economists have predicted a "silver tsunami" as baby boomers sell their homes to downsize or move into care homes, increasing the available supply of single-family homes and reducing prices.

However, a recent survey found that 54% of older Americans intend to remain in their current homes for life, while only 15% said they planned to sell in the next five years.