:: Gen Z made headlines this week, noting how “bleak” the job market is. Mark Cuban is asking the new generation of workers to start anywhere, rather than to wait for a golden opportunity.
“Don’t get the perfect job because those are hard to find. Just get a job,” Cuban recently said on The Diary of a CEO.
Before becoming a billionaire, Cuban worked gigs and entry-level positions until he was able to get his foot in the business world. Starting out as a bartender, Cuban continued finding other work until he achieved the career he wanted, pointing out other legacy CEOs like Jeff Bezos, who worked at McDonald’s as a teenager.
Cuban notes that this form of resume building can show a future employer that you can take on responsibility and move up the ladder.
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“Even though your life mission isn’t to be the manager of a McDonald’s or a Dairy Queen or whatever, the fact that you can show a future employer that you moved up the line…that’s what you need,” Cuban said.
“A major career upgrade can take two or three years, Cuban said. But “most people don’t want to think like that.”
Cuban’s words echo the sentiments shared by other business and corporate leaders. On Bloomberg’s Leaders with Francine Lacqua podcast, Melinda French Gates noted that the next generation should embrace transitions as they develop their long-term careers.
“I even tell university graduates these days, you think the transition is when you go through graduation? No, it’s when you wake up the next day, and you’re saying, ‘Am I really on the way to where I want to go?,’” she said.
Career patience
Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, currently face uncertainty as the majority of the age range attempts to join the workforce.
Older members of Gen Z have had trouble finding work due to employers cutting back on entry-level jobs or AI adoption for efficiency, cutting out significant roles.
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According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Millennials make up roughly 35 percent of the U.S. labor force, representing the largest generational share of the working population, while Gen Z only makes up 18 percent of labor efforts.
Studies suggest that Gen Z is actively looking for employment but can veer slightly choosy. According to Deloitte’s 2026 Gen Z and Millennial research, 96 percent of Gen Z employees say that having a sense of purpose at work is important to them. Approximately 40 percent of respondents have rejected job offers because of personal ethics
In order to combat employment roadblocks, other business leaders like Magic Johnson are suggesting that Gen Z “overdeliver” in every opportunity they receive in order to keep moving upwards.
“Everything you do, because once you get in and you overdeliver your supervisor, your manager will see that. Then you gain trust. When somebody trusts you that means they will help you to grow within that company,” Johnson said at a commencement ceremony at Stillman College this year.
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