Gen Z and millennial workers in Britain are so fed up with being ghosted by employers that some are giving up on the country altogether. One graduate with a math degree says he spent more than a year applying to over 1,000 roles in the U.K. without landing a single offer—only to secure a job in Austria within weeks.
“The job market in the U.K. is so ridiculous,” Anna, his Austrian-born partner, said in a TikTok video that’s now resonating with thousands of frustrated young workers. “Even for qualified people, it’s so hard to find a job.”
The couple—who post on TikTok as @tamandanna—explained that despite having multiple qualifications to his name, Tam still couldn’t get a bite from British employers.
While he was firing off applications in the U.K., she was applying for roles back home in Austria—and immediately felt the contrast. “Within two or three weeks I had a job,” she said. “In Austria companies are literally crying out for good qualified staff, and then in the U.K. it is so hard to find a job even when you’re highly qualified.”
Millions of Gen Zers like him are locked out of the workforce and called NEETs
Tam is far from alone. Many Gen Z graduates are discovering that their qualifications no longer guarantee a direct path to graduate schemes, high-profile jobs, or even a foot in the door as they once did.
Many major employers have dropped their long-held degree requirements; meanwhile, recruiters globally are more likely to search for new hires by prioritizing skills over higher education.
At the same time, entry-level roles are being swept up by AI, and even in less-affected areas, employers are pausing hiring to see what happens with automation and the economy. It’s creating what Korn Ferry describes as “a perfect storm” for mass youth unemployment. Now, nearly 20% of 16- to 24-year-olds in the U.K. are unemployed, and some 4.3 million Gen Zers in the U.S. face the same fate.
Tam said his year of job hunting didn’t just dent his résumé—it wrecked his confidence. After months and months of form-filling, rejection, and silence, he felt like he was “going nowhere” and couldn’t “move forward with his life while stuck in job market limbo. “It feels like you’re just banging your head against the wall,” he added.
One company even took an entire year to get back to Tam about his job application, only to tell him he’d been rejected for the role.
The couple tell unemployed Gen Zers to look outside their country and fields of study
It’s been nine months since the couple uprooted to Austria for work, and Tam said it’s all been worth it: “It’s been such a good decision because now I’m in a job, I’m earning, and the quality of life is good.”
Since they started sharing their story, Tam said his DMs have been flooded. “The amount of people that have reached out to us that’s in the same position is crazy,” he explained in another video. “I feel for everyone because I know how s–t that is. I wish I could help more.”
Their advice for the millions of young unemployed people who just can’t seem to catch a break? Think outside the box.
Tam admitted he had to look outside his field of study to successfully land work. After having no luck securing a data analyst job, he widened his search and struck gold. “I thought, ‘What have I got to lose?’ Keep open because there are opportunities, it’s just tough to see them sometimes.”
“If you’re in the U.K., and you can’t find a job, honestly keep open-minded,” Anna echoed. “Often there’s opportunities that you haven’t even thought of … Stay positive. There’s something out there for you.”
“I’m not saying the moving abroad is for everyone, but I do think it’s worth remembering that the world is bigger than just one job market,” she said in another video.
