World Youth Skills Day: How Gen Z’s Attitudes Are Rewiring Higher Education and Skills Training

World Youth Skills Day, on July 15th, puts the spotlight on the critical role of equipping young people with the skills they need for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. In 2025, it’s clear that the youngest generation in the workforce, Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is already forcing higher education and skills providers to rethink how they deliver value.

Youth unemployment and work preparedness: A growing gap

Today’s labor market tells two stories. On paper, the U.S. economy remains strong, but youth unemployment stood at 9.7% in February 2025, up from 8.1% two years ago (Statista). For new graduates, the reality is even tougher: 85% of unemployment since mid-2023 is attributed to young people just entering the workforce (Fortune).

Shockingly, half of high schoolers say they feel unprepared for life after graduation, many never having held a job or visited a college campus (Higher Ed Dive).

Educational institutions must tackle this readiness crisis head-on, creating clearer pathways from learning to work and offering practical experiences before graduation.

Gen Z: Choosing skills, security, and balance

Faced with rising tuition, automation, and AI job fears, many Gen Z students are skipping the four-year degree altogether. Instead, they’re pursuing the trades, vocational credentials, and apprenticeships:

• Trade enrollment is surging: Vocational-focused community college enrollment jumped 16% last year (The Guardian).
• 42% of Gen Zs are working in the trades today, with many holding bachelor’s degrees they feel didn’t deliver as promised (Inc.).
• They’re clear about their priorities: steady work, good pay, AND well-being. Only 6% cite climbing the corporate ladder as their top goal (Deloitte).

Employers’ view: The soft skills shortage

Employers are vocal: many Gen Z workers lack critical soft skills like communication, collaboration, and adaptability. In fact, over a quarter of executives wouldn’t hire a recent college grad for that reason alone (Forbes). This places Gen Z workers in a double bind. They have trouble getting work without experience and they cannot get the experience they need.

Institutions and skills providers must step up:

• Embed soft skills development into all programs.
• Provide real-world, collaborative learning environments.
• Partner with employers to ensure students practice what they learn.

A new role for skills providers: Apprenticeships and degree hybrids

Governments are moving fast to meet workforce gaps. The White House now aims for 1 million new apprenticeships per year, citing shortages in construction, durable goods, and advanced manufacturing (HR Dive).

Meanwhile, in the UK, major companies like Goldman Sachs and Rolls-Royce already offer degree apprenticeships, a debt-free bachelor’s alongside paid, on-the-job training. This hybrid model is only starting to appear in the U.S. (Inside Higher Ed). Colleges that seize this opportunity can help solve the student debt crisis and rebuild trust in the value of higher education.

Future Work Trends: Portability, microcredentials, and AI

Longer-term trends like automation, aging workforces, and the growth of health and education jobs mean Gen Z will need to reskill constantly (World Economic Forum). Education providers must:

• Offer flexible, stackable microcredentials (Kiosk Blog).
• Build strong employer partnerships to align curricula with real-world needs (Kiosk).
• Use AI tools to personalize pathways but balance tech with human touch and soft skills development (Kiosk).

How to Market Skills for Gen Z

Educational and skills providers must do more than adapt—they must communicate it clearly:

• Highlight practical outcomes: Showcase job placement rates, earnings, and alumni success.
• Promote flexibility: Gen Z expects on-demand, modular learning that fits life and work.
• Prove your real-world value: Partner with employers to guarantee pathways from classroom to career.
• Invest in student well-being: Mental health support, community, and belonging can be your differentiator (Kiosk).
• Celebrate skills-first pathways: Apprenticeships, trades, and stackable credentials must be front and center.

World Youth Skills Day reminds us that the future workforce wants something different—and they’re voting with their feet. Higher education, skills providers, and employers have an opportunity and an obligation to reinvent themselves to deliver what Gen Z wants most: skills, stability, purpose, and balance.