Gen Z founders and teen pilots skip the entry-level job ladder (opens the source in a new tab)
- The Wall Street Journal reports that 20-somethings now start businesses faster than any other age group. Babson College finds at least 23% of Americans aged 18 to 34 ran a business or side hustle last year, as AI squeezes entry-level jobs but makes starting up cheaper.
- Two Berkeley graduates it profiles turned down job offers to build an AI teammate app from their living room.
- A second Journal report finds more teenagers earning pilot certificates, helped by airline outreach after a postpandemic shortage. It follows the Florida Learjet crash that killed co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, licensed at 17.
- 23%
- of US 18 to 34s ran a business or side hustle
Why it matters The first rung of the career ladder is being rebuilt, not removed: young people are skipping the waiting room and buying experience directly, in a startup or a cockpit. For parents and employers, the question shifts from which job to which skill compounds fastest.
Other side Starting young cuts both ways. Many ventures are side hustles that may not replace a salary, and founders with no work history learn payroll and expenses on the fly. Young pilots still clear the same age and hour thresholds before an airline seat, so youth speeds entry, not judgment.
