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Young Americans have a gloomier outlook on their job prospects than their older colleagues, creating a wider optimism gap than any other country surveyed by Gallup.

The big picture: The very existence of that chasm between pessimistic younger Americans and more positive older people is itself an outlier, with double-digit gaps present only in five other places of the 141 polled.

Elsewhere, younger people are more positive, or the generations' sentiments are more aligned.

When President Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping met last month to discuss the world's two largest economies, they already had one thing in common: Their young people are far more discouraged than their parents.

By the numbers: Only 43% of those aged 15 to 34 in the U.S. thought it was a good time to find a job locally in 2025 compared to 64% of those 55 and older — a 21-point gap.

There is a 12-point gap between China's older and younger generations, and similar divides in Serbia, the UAE, Hong Kong and Norway.
The global median is a 10-point divide, except it's the older adults who are more pessimistic.

Reality check: Younger Americans rated their job prospects lower earlier in the 2000s, but they were still more positive than older people.

They were also more positive than a significant share of their peers globally in 2025, ranking 87th out of the 141 countries surveyed.
In South Korea last year, just 28% of the youth said it was a good time to find a job — but that was on par with the 25% of those 55 and up who agreed.

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I’m a judge for the CPRW. Applicants must submit a resume and a cover letter. Way too many letters begin with “I am excited to apply.”

C’mon—No one is excited to apply.

This article presents a better way.

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