Companies Are Firing Millennials And Gen Z At Record Rates—Here’s Why

My younger sister called me crying last Tuesday. She’d just been laid off. By Friday, two of her friends were gone too. All of them are under 30. All were told some version of “restructuring” or “performance-based cuts.” But when I asked who was left at their companies, it was mostly people over 40. The pattern was unmistakable. Companies are cutting younger workers at rates we haven’t seen in years, and the official explanations don’t tell the whole story. If you’re watching this happen to people you care about—or if you’re experiencing it yourself—here’s what’s actually going on.

1. They Were Hired At Inflated Salaries

Younger workers, especially those hired during the pandemic, often came in at inflated salaries. Companies were competing for talent, throwing money at anyone who’d say yes. Now that the labor market has cooled, those salaries are expensive. And when it’s time to cut costs, it’s easier to let go of someone making $85k who’s been there two years than someone making $95k who’s been there fifteen. The newer hire has less protection, less institutional knowledge anyone cares about, and a salary that feels inflated relative to current market rates. My sister was making good money for her experience level. But that’s exactly what made her vulnerable. They’re expensive and expendable. That’s a dangerous combination.

2. They Won’t Come Back To The Office

Millennials and Gen Z were the most resistant to return-to-office policies.

They pushed for remote flexibility. They questioned why in-person was necessary. They organized, spoke up, made it clear they weren’t thrilled about giving up remote work. Research tracking workplace preferences across age groups has found that younger employees overwhelmingly prioritize flexibility, with many saying they’d consider leaving jobs that eliminate remote options—a stance older workers are less likely to take.

And companies noticed. When it came time to make cuts, the people who’d been visibly resistant to company mandates became easier to let go. It wasn’t officially retaliation, but it didn’t have to be. They were already on the “not a culture fit” list.

3. They’re Easier To Fire Legally

Tenure matters in layoffs. Newer employees have fewer protections, less severance, less legal recourse. Letting go of someone who’s been at the company for three years is cleaner than firing someone who’s been there for twelve. There’s less risk of wrongful termination claims, less concern about optics, less entanglement with institutional legacy.

Younger workers are easier to cut because they haven’t been around long enough to build the kind of job security that comes with time. Companies know this. And when they’re looking to trim headcount quickly, they go for the path of least resistance.

4. Companies Think They Ask for Too Much

Millennials and Gen Z have been labeled—fairly or not—as the generations that want too much. Work-life balance. Mental health support. Pushback on unpaid overtime. Fair pay. Studies on generational workplace expectations show that younger workers are way more likely to speak up about unfair practices, request accommodations, and prioritize their well-being over blind company loyalty—behaviors that older managers often read as entitlement rather than healthy boundaries.

While some of that is just self-advocacy, companies see it as high-maintenance. Older workers, by contrast, are perceived as more willing to just do the job without pushing for changes. When companies are looking to cut, they’re more likely to let go of the people they see as demanding or difficult. One of my sister’s friends had pushed for better parental leave policies. She was the first one let go in her department.

5. Their Skills Feel Replaceable Now

A lot of them were hired into roles that companies now think AI or automation can handle, like social media management, entry-level analytics, content creation, or customer support.

Jobs that felt essential three years ago now feel like they can be done cheaper or faster with software. Younger workers are disproportionately in these roles. And when companies are looking to cut costs and adopt new tech, those jobs are the first to go. The skills that got them hired are now being framed as easily replicable. And that makes them vulnerable in ways older workers in more established, relationship-driven roles aren’t.

6. They’re Getting Blamed For Productivity Problems

There’s a narrative—backed by some data, amplified by a lot of bias—that younger workers are less productive, especially when working remotely. They’re on their phones too much. They’re not responsive enough. They don’t have the same work ethic. Whether that’s true almost doesn’t matter. The perception exists. According to research on remote work performance across age groups, managers consistently rate younger remote employees as less productive than older ones, even when actual output metrics show minimal differences—suggesting the ratings reflect bias more than reality.

And when companies are justifying layoffs, “productivity concerns” is an easy explanation that doesn’t require hard proof. Younger workers become the scapegoats for broader economic contraction, blamed for not working hard enough even when the real issue is that the company overextended and now needs to shrink.

7. They Don’t Have Anyone Fighting For Them

Mentorship and internal advocacy matter when layoffs happen. Someone in leadership vouching for you, insisting you’re too valuable to lose, can make the difference. But millennials and Gen Z, especially those hired remotely during the pandemic, often didn’t build those relationships. They didn’t get the face time. They didn’t have the informal networking opportunities. They don’t have senior leaders who know their work well enough to fight for them.

When decisions are being made about who stays and who goes, the people without advocates are the easiest to cut. No one’s in the room saying “we can’t lose them.” I asked my sister if anyone had tried to keep her. She said her direct manager seemed surprised by the decision but didn’t push back.

8. “Culture Fit” Is Code for “You’re Different”

“Not a culture fit” is one of the vaguest, most legally safe reasons to let someone go. And it’s being used heavily against younger workers. They don’t socialize the same way. They don’t express enthusiasm the same way. They question things that older employees just accept. Research on workplace culture and generational dynamics has found that “culture fit” often functions as a way to enforce conformity to established norms rather than actual alignment with company values, with younger workers disproportionately flagged for not fitting in simply because they do things differently.

That gets coded as “not fitting in,” even when their actual work is fine. And during layoffs, “culture fit” becomes the catch-all justification that doesn’t require proving poor performance. It’s subjective, it’s hard to argue against, and it targets people who don’t conform to the norms set by previous generations.

9. Companies Assume They’ll Leave Anyway

Millennials and Gen Z change jobs more frequently than previous generations. That’s partly strategic—job-hopping is often the fastest way to increase salary. But companies see it as disloyalty. And when they’re deciding who to keep, they assume younger workers will leave soon anyway, so why invest in retaining them? Why keep someone who’s probably already looking elsewhere?

That perception—whether accurate or not—makes younger employees easier to cut. Companies tell themselves they’re just beating the inevitable, letting go of people who were going to leave anyway.

And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

10. Recessions Hit Youngest Workers First

This isn’t new. In every recession, every contraction, younger workers take the biggest hit. They have the least seniority, the weakest networks, and the fewest protections. They’re last in and first out. What feels personal—like companies are specifically targeting millennials and Gen Z—is actually part of a much older pattern. Economic downturns always hurt the people with the least institutional power. And right now, that’s them. The difference this time is that they’re old enough to see it clearly, to recognize the pattern, to understand that “performance-based cuts” and “restructuring” often just mean “we’re getting rid of the people who cost the least to fire.” Watching my sister go through this has been brutal. She did everything right. And it didn’t matter. That’s the part that’s hard to swallow.