Tens of thousands of tech workers have lost their jobs this year, and the younger generation is recognizing that the era of free meals and generous stock options may be ending.
Prime Day: The initial phase of Amazon’s 48-hour sales event has led to the largest U.S. e-commerce day thus far in 2024.
According to the 2024 Career Interest Survey by the National Society of High School Scholars, tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Apple have slipped in popularity among high school students. This academic honor society, with over two million members, conducted the survey from January 17 to March 6 with over 10,000 participants from across the U.S. and its territories, as well as military bases overseas.
In 2024, Google dropped to seventh place among preferred employers, three spots down from its ranking in 2022. Google was the second-most favored employer for high school students in 2018 and topped the list in 2017. Amazon fell to eighth place in 2024, down from fifth in 2022. Apple also saw a decline, moving from eighth to ninth place between 2022 and 2024.
This decline from 2018 to 2024 may indicate the end of the tech sector’s decade-long boom, marked by massive layoffs beginning in 2022. A survey of 2024 college graduates by Handshake, a job search platform for college students, found that 76% of respondents considered job stability the most crucial factor when deciding where to apply. Location was the second-most important factor, and a positive employer reputation was the third-most important.
While tech appears to be losing appeal among Gen Z, the healthcare sector is gaining favor.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Mayo Clinic, and Health Care Service Corp. emerged as the top preferred employers for high school students in 2024. Healthcare rose on the list of issues most important to respondents, with 32% highlighting it as a critical concern. Meanwhile, focus on innovation in science and technology dropped from 34% in 2022 to 28% in 2024.