The Gen Z job nightmare is so bad that even billionaires are worried their kids won’t be able to keep a job, says wealth advisor to the 0.1% | Fortune

In a world the place seemingly nobody is immune to the impacts of AI on the workforce and an more and more stiff job market, ultra-high web price individuals are beginning to have the similar considerations as middle-class and low-income households: Will my child be able to get a job and help themself?

“Billionaires have the monetary sources to help their kids, however they generally battle to decide what else is wanted for their kids to succeed,” Tom Thiegs, managing director of management and legacy at Ascent Personal Capital Administration with U.S. Financial institution, advised Fortune.

Millionaires and billionaires “are recognizing this is not the similar recreation that they had to play,” wealth supervisor Patrick Dwyer advised CNBC. “Households have to rethink … what it means to help their kids. And we’re not speaking about spoiling your kids. We’re speaking about: What in case your child wants retraining at 33?” Dwyer is managing director, Aligned by NewEdge Wealth, a boutique wealth administration agency based mostly in Miami. He works with shoppers with web worths between roughly $100 million and greater than $1 billion.

Dwyer stated his shoppers are involved their kids, usually between age 22 and 35, are struggling to safe and dangle on to jobs that are traditionally related to safety and standing, together with know-how, regulation, and well being care. Meaning the rich can have to plan for a future wherein they’re passing on extra of their fortune to their kids.

“[They’re] realizing that in the event that they don’t cross on extra significant wealth to their kids, or their kids are not able to accumulate wealth … their kids might have [less] company over their lives than they did,” he advised CNBC.

Whereas this may increasingly sound like an irrational concern from America’s wealthiest, it’s a actuality extra wealth managers acknowledge.

“This is a very actual concern I’m listening to from ultra-affluent households proper now,” Thiegs stated. “On the floor it may well sound irrational: ‘Why would a billionaire fear about their little one getting a job?’ However realistically, regardless of how a lot cash you may have, mother and father nonetheless need their kids to succeed and lead fulfilled lives.”

Job market nervousness

The job market jitters Gen Zers face straight impacts how their mother and father will help them plan for their monetary futures. 

However the crux of the downside isn’t that mother and father concern they won’t financially be able to assist their kids, it’s extra that they’re worried they won’t have the similar profession outcomes and sense of achievement as previous generations. 

“They’re not normally worried about the monetary safety of their kids; somewhat they fear that the job market will affect their little one’s sense of objective, identification, and confidence,” Thiegs stated. “In addition they fear that vital wealth will dampen their drive or need to work.”

However that doesn’t imply Thiegs encourages his shoppers simply to bankroll their kids for the foreseeable future. As an alternative, property planning, investing, and different long-term monetary planning is a should. 

“When mother and father are worried about their kids’s job safety, we suggest creating a system that gives alternatives for progress and growth somewhat than simply a monetary security web,” he stated.

It’s extra vital to implement plans that help a little one’s self price than simply their web price, he added. 

Trent Von Ahsen, a licensed monetary planner and managing accomplice at Cedar Level Capital Companions, additionally says his ultra-high web price households view the dangers of at the moment’s job market as much less of a monetary stability concern, however extra about whether or not they’re setting their kids up to be indefinitely depending on them.

“This cohort of oldsters appear extra involved about over-supporting their kids, than under-supporting them,” Von Ahsen advised Fortune.

How Gen Z is getting forward of the job market

The shift away from traditionally high-paying, white-collar jobs is already evident in the selections Gen Z is making. Dealing with mass layoffs in white‑collar sectors and anxious about AI, many younger staff are peeling away from conventional company routes in favor of jobs they suppose would possibly provide extra management or quicker money—from changing into creator careers to choosing blue-collar jobs in manufacturing, electrical work, and different technical work.

In some circumstances, faculty‑educated Gen Zers are even competing for six‑determine nanny and tutor roles in elite households, chasing monetary “freedom” outdoors of a conventional workplace profession. A 2025 Deloitte international survey discovered simply 6% of Gen Z respondents cite reaching a company management position as a main objective. As an alternative, most prioritize work‑life steadiness, private achievement, and studying.

This all means, although, billionaires and different high-net price people have to financially plan otherwise from how they could have in the previous. They’ve to design monetary plans that “encourage progress and accountability” as an alternative of solely making massive inheritances unexpectedly, Von Ahsen stated.

“We see extra emphasis on training funding flexibility, mentorship, and phased wealth transfers,” he stated. It’s “actually an perspective shifting towards offering alternative with out eradicating initiative.