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\u201cI think, unfortunately, our Gen Z\u2019s are not going to be as well off as our boomers and Gen Xers were, for different reasons,\u201d he tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cYou definitely see it among the Gen Z generation, both active duty as well as associate members [and] family.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrade recognizes that many young workers are stuck in a \u201ctough\u201d situation, struggling to make do with rock-bottom salaries. And as it turns out, they really did get the short end of the stick. In the U.K. for example, the average inflation-adjusted salary for working-age graduates is 30% lower than it was a decade and a half ago, according to a 2025 analysis from Bloomberg.<\/p>\n Even landing a salaried job in the first place is harder. A 2025 Kickresume report found that 58% of students who finished college recently were still looking for their first job. Meanwhile, just 25% of graduates in previous years\u2014including millennial and Gen Xers\u2014struggled to land work after college.\u00a0<\/p>\n But stagnant paychecks and a lackluster labor market are only part of the squeeze. A shaky grasp on money and a fast-moving wave of AI disruption are compounding the pressure.<\/p>\n Every generation knows what it\u2019s like to be an entry-level worker scraping by paycheck to paycheck, but Gen Zers are in a particularly dire economic rut. Up against stubborn inflation, high interest rates, and stagnating salaries, they\u2019re borrowing money just to reach baseline stability. And it\u2019s severely damaging their financial wellbeing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, Gen Z experienced the steepest annual drop in credit health of any age group since 2020, according to a FICO report. Their average FICO score slipped three points to 676\u201439 points lower than the national average of 715. Erin Stillwell, head of payments at Globant, told Fortune<\/em> <\/em>in 2025 <\/em>that \u201cGen Z is the first cohort facing high inflation, digital credit, and social-media-driven consumption pressure simultaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n Another underlying issue is young people are still decades behind Gen Xers and baby boomers in understanding financial literacy. Many Gen Zers are still in the dark, with nearly half saying they don\u2019t know what affects their credit score, according to a 2025 USAA report. And around 62% are so anxious that they don\u2019t check their scores at all. It\u2019s become so fraught that some colleges and employers have already stepped up to supplement their money education; USAA is providing financial education and tools to its over 38,000 staffers and 14.3 million members as part of its $500 million Honor Through Action initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n The USAA CEO also points to another problem brewing in the labor force: AI automation. It\u2019s no secret that the advanced tech is seeping into every corner of every industry, and even leaders like Anthropic\u2019s Dario Amodei and IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva forewarn of a jobs apocalypse. The bottom rung of the corporate ladder is already burning; entry-level opportunities have been stagnating or declining across most employers, leaving young fresh-faced talent out in the cold. The percent of Gen Z employees between the ages of 21 and 25 was even cut in half at technology companies within the span of two years, according to a 2025 analysis from Pave.<\/p>\n \u201c[Gen Z\u2019s finances] also depends on the jobs that they\u2019re in too,\u201d Andrade explains, referencing the impact of AI on the workforce. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of layoffs already across the economy, and that certainly impacts people as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Stepping back and looking at the stats, Gen Z has every right to feel dejected. But not all hope is lost, the USAA leader says. Budding professionals have the best shot at successful careers once they take ownership of their own paths.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is important to anybody that\u2019s still young and coming up\u2026Nobody cares more about your career than you do,\u201d Andrade advises. \u201cAnd to this day I remember that, because what that basically means is that this is up to you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOther people can help open doors, but you\u2019re the one that has to figure out what it is that you want to do with your life,\u201d he continues. \u201cWhat are you interested in? And don\u2019t leave it for luck.\u201d<\/p>\n The CEO received that critical advice while working at insurance giant American International Group (AIG). It was his first private-sector job after serving in several top U.S. government roles, and during the first five years post-career switch, Andrade says he approached work with \u201cbrute force.\u201d He didn\u2019t wait for a golden opportunity; taking matters into his own hands, Andrade succeeded by simply pouring all his energy into the job.<\/p>\n \u201cI just had my head down, working hard\u2026I never expected I\u2019d be CEO of anything,\u201d Andrade explains. \u201cIt was just doing my job right, and doing it well, and doors opened because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly 40 years into his career across government, insurance, and financial services, the USAA CEO has witnessed how the jobs landscape has evolved. Namely, in the throes of the world\u2019s newest labor market disruptor: AI. As tech continues to change the nature of work, Andrade says it\u2019s more important than ever that Gen Zers interrogate what truly motivates them, and how they want to spend their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think now, particularly with the onset of artificial intelligence, it\u2019s important for kids\u2014particularly the ones still in college and about to graduate, or [are] thinking about different degrees,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #USAA #CEO #Gen #offthey #ownership #success<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI think, unfortunately, our G… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[119,1721,2005,542,529,624,924,345,14794,2006,14795,304,927,300,2294,2295,522,2188,224,14796,6618,1277,929,5006,1609,829,9591],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Gen Z\u2019s other challenges: financial inexperience and AI automation\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Not all hope is lost: USAA\u2019s CEO tells Gen Z to start running their careers<\/h2>\n