Generation Z is the first American cohort to be simultaneously unfit for military service, increasingly unemployable in the private sector, and afflicted by chronic physical and mental health conditions at rates that previous generations typically did not experience until middle age or later. AI-generated illustration.

The decline in academic performance and mental function of Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, compared to previous generations, is well documented. For a full analysis of the cognitive and academic decline, see America’s Worst Generation Is Dumber Than Us, Research Confirms at The Gateway Pundit.

Along with the cognitive decline is a physical decline. Generation Z is overweight, sedentary, medicated, and increasingly unfit for military service, with only one in four members of the generation eligible to enlist without a waiver. Employers are similarly rejecting the generation: six in ten companies have already fired Gen Z hires, one in three hiring managers actively avoid them, and 37% of employers say they would rather hire artificial intelligence than a recent graduate.

Obesity is the single leading disqualifier, with more than a third of 17- to 24-year-olds too heavy to serve, and the DoD reports that approximately 77% of people between the ages of 17 and 24 require some type of waiver to serve due to one or more disqualifications. ASVAB aptitude scores have fallen 9%, and only 23% of youth qualify on physical, educational, and conduct grounds combined. Furthermore, under Executive Order 14183, service members must serve in their birth gender, while individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria are now disqualified from service, further narrowing the eligible pool.

The physical consequences of a sedentary generation are measurable globally. A WHO analysis of 1.6 million students aged 11–17 across 146 countries found that in 2016, 77.6% of boys and 84.7% of girls failed to meet basic physical activity guidelines. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling stated in the CDC’s report that the military has experienced increasing difficulty recruiting soldiers as a result of physical inactivity, obesity, and malnutrition among the nation’s youth, warning that failure to address these issues will impact future national security.

A study published in Pediatrics (March 2024) using the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database found that between January 2016 and December 2022, the monthly antidepressant dispensing rate for Americans aged 12 to 25 increased by 66.3%. The increase was sharpest among females: the average monthly rate for women aged 18 to 25 was 56.5% higher after March 2020, and for girls aged 12 to 17 the rate was 129.6% higher.

A survey by Harmony Healthcare IT found that 34% of Gen Z report currently taking prescription medication for mental health, with an additional 19% reporting use of non-prescribed substances such as cannabis to manage symptoms. Under current DoD accession standards, a past diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or other disorders, along with the medications used to treat them, may disqualify recruits or require a waiver.

The physical decline of Generation Z extends beyond obesity into fundamental motor skills. A 2025 systematic review published in Pediatric Discovery, searching databases including PubMed and the Cochrane Register, found that elevated screen time among children under five is associated with deficits in both gross and fine motor skills.

Experts note that unstructured outdoor play, which naturally builds hand strength and coordination through activities like climbing and digging, has been replaced by screens, while changes in daily routines such as elastic-waist clothing and pre-packaged foods have eliminated further opportunities for children to develop dexterity. The loss of hand strength is measurable.

A peer-reviewed study found a significant inverse relationship between smartphone usage duration and both hand-grip strength and pinch-grip strength among young people, with mean daily smartphone use among participants averaging 7.8 hours.

A CDC study published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that stroke rates among Americans aged 18 to 44 jumped 14.6% between 2011 and 2022, with rising obesity and high blood pressure identified as the leading contributing factors.

A 2025 peer-reviewed study confirmed the trend globally, finding that while stroke incidence has decreased in older populations in high-income countries, incidence in younger individuals under 55 has not shown a similar decrease. Doctors are finding cardiovascular warning signs in patients far younger than previously expected: nearly half of adults aged 20 to 44 now have at least one major cardiovascular risk factor, with obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes appearing earlier in life than at any previously recorded point.

A 2024 report by Diabetes UK, published in The Lancet, found an almost 40% increase in five years in the number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who were younger than 40, while global data from the Diabetes Atlas show that prevalence among people aged 20 to 39 rose from 2.9% in 2013 to 3.8% in 2021.

Recent studies show that rates of type 2 diabetes among young adults have doubled or even tripled in some age groups and populations over the past 20 years, with the shift to sedentary digital lifestyles, long hours on smartphones, streaming platforms, and gaming consoles, identified as a primary driver by reducing muscle activity and promoting insulin resistance.

Employer reluctance to hire Generation Z is documented across multiple surveys. An Intelligent.com survey of 966 business leaders found that six in ten companies reported firing Gen Z hires due to performance issues, with business leaders pointing to a lack of motivation, inadequate communication skills, and unprofessional behavior, and one in seven companies said they might refrain from hiring recent college graduates the following year.

Nearly two-thirds of hiring managers believe recent college graduates are entitled, 63% think they get offended too easily, more than half believe they lack a work ethic, and 54% say they do not respond well to feedback.

A January 2024 ResumeBuilder.com survey of 715 hiring managers found that 31% actively avoid hiring Gen Z candidates, preferring to find someone older. A separate Intelligent.com survey found employers willing to offer more benefits to attract older workers (60%), pay higher salaries to attract older workers (59%), allow older employees to work remotely to avoid Gen Z hires (48%), and hire overqualified older candidates rather than work with someone younger (46%).

The preference for alternatives to Gen Z has extended to artificial intelligence. A Hult International Business School survey of 1,600 respondents found that 37% of employers prefer to hire AI over recent graduates, 89% actively avoid hiring recent graduates, and 96% believe higher education does not adequately prepare students for the workforce. The leading reasons cited were lack of real-world experience (60%), poor teamwork skills (55%), and the high cost of training Gen Z employees (53%).

A January 2025 Intelligent.com survey of 1,000 managers found that one in eight hiring managers plan to opt out of hiring recent graduates altogether in 2025, with the most common complaints being no work ethic (33%), entitlement (29%), lack of motivation (28%), being easily offended (27%), and not responding well to feedback (25%).

As Charlton Heston said at the end of Planet of the Apes, “We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up!”

America has finally raised a generation incapable of military service and one that can be replaced by AI in the workplace. Surveys have found that 57% of Gen Zers would like to become social media influencers, and about half of the degree choices Gen Z students pursue in college do not lead to professional careers.

So, on the bright side, many of them may never realize that they are unemployable and non-deployable because they simply do not want to join the military or work for a living.

Ad block users: Some site features may not work correctly while an ad blocker is enabled, because they break scripts and content this website depends on. If you can't see comments below, for example, please disable your ad blocker.