Rushing to earn: Why India's Gen Z enters the workforce before it is ready

The first pay cheque has become a powerful symbol for India’s Gen Z, proof of independence, ambition, and early adulthood. In a climate shaped by rising education costs, competitive families, and social media’s relentless celebration of hustle, earning early is no longer a choice for many students but an expectation. Starting young is often framed as smart, disciplined, even visionary. Yet beneath this applause lies a quieter, more unsettling question: What is the unseen cost of entering the workforce too soon?Global data suggests that ambition frequently outpaces readiness. A Deloitte study found that 53 percent of Gen Z respondents worldwide felt underprepared when they took their first job, while in India, more than a quarter of Gen Z are already working alongside studies.With youth unemployment hovering above 16 percent and informal work dominating the labour market, the rush to earn early may be offering income, but not always direction, security, or growth. What looks like progress on the surface may, in fact, be a fragile trade-off between immediate survival and long-term success.A recent Deloitte study offers a sobering starting point. More than 53 percent of Gen Z respondents globally said they felt underprepared when they entered their first job. The finding punctures the popular narrative of the hyper-capable young professional who can seamlessly juggle classrooms, deadlines, and side hustles.In India, the pressure manifests early. According to Deloitte’s India-focused findings, 26 percent of Gen Z respondents are already working alongside their studies. On the surface, this looks progressive, youth gaining exposure, skills, and independence. But numbers from India’s labour market suggest a more complex reality.The country’s youth unemployment rate for ages 15–24 stood at around 16.03 percent in 2024, underlining a paradox: Young people are entering the workforce earlier, yet stable, meaningful work remains scarce.India’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS, April 2025) reveals a sharp rise in part-time work among urban students. Educators who have been interpreting the data have said that it is mainly because of financial needs rather than exploration or skill development that such a large percentage of students have resorted to working in part-time jobs. Other reasons cited for such a trend include a continual increase in the cost of education, disintegrating family structures, and the silent norm of even very young members having to earn money.Labour economists are concerned about this development, as they believe that the mere early exposure to the labour market is not a guarantee for future upward mobility. According to the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects (June 2025) report, youngsters who find their first jobs in low-skill positions might be condemned to stick to such jobs for a long time and have difficulty even when they decide later to go back to school or to get better jobs.The danger is that without realizing it, the youths' work identity might become confined even before they have had a chance to mature and acquire the necessary skills.Overlay this economic reality with social media, and the pressure multiplies. Platforms amplify exceptional success stories, teen founders, crypto millionaires, influencers with global brands, while quietly erasing the thousands who burn out, stall academically, or exit learning altogether.What remains unseen are the trade-offs: Sleep deprivation, disengagement from coursework, chronic comparison, and anxiety that masquerades as motivation. Money may bring independence, but for many students, it also brings exhaustion and a lingering sense of inadequacy.Decades of international research leave little ambiguity on one point. Early full-time work before completing education is associated with lower educational attainment, reduced lifetime earnings, and poorer health outcomes. This is why most countries tightly regulate child and adolescent labour and insist that schooling comes first.Science does not romanticise early earning. It prioritises readiness and the distinction that often gets lost: part-time is differentWhere popular debate often falters is in failing to separate early full-time employment from moderate part-time work.An extensive review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), particularly its policy brief “Teenage Part-Time Working,” draws a clear line. Tracking students across countries and into adulthood, the OECD found that controlled, limited part-time work during education can support smoother transitions into the labour market, if it does not interfere with learning.According to the OECD, part-time work can foster communication skills, discipline, workplace awareness, and confidence. But the benefits collapse when hours become excessive. Academic performance dips. Stress rises. Education quietly loses its primacy.In simple terms: early work helps when it complements education, not when it competes with it.Any discussion of early work in India must also confront a structural truth. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that over 92 percent of India’s workforce operates in the informal sector, where job security, skill progression, and long-term growth are limited.For students entering work early, this often means exposure to roles that offer income but little learning. Once locked into such pathways, climbing out becomes increasingly difficult.There is no perfect age to start working. What matters far more is why you are working. If the motivation is curiosity, skill-building, and readiness, and if learning remains protected, early experiences can be enriching. But if the drive is comparison, panic, or financial distress, it is worth pausing.Experts consistently advise students to start small and flexible: Campus roles, volunteering, short-term internships, or carefully chosen freelance work. Let work expand your understanding of the world, not shrink your capacity to learn.The real lesson beneath the data is quietly radical: Success is not about how early you start earning, it is about whether, when you do start, you are truly ready.