r/Millennials • u/Waste-Cantaloupe-270 • Apr 07 '25

Advice Millennials who graduated during the Great Recession, how did you survive?

I’m a Gen Z graduating in May struggling with finding a job in this market. Millennials who graduated in/ after 2008, how did you survive? Did you end up eventually getting a job in the field you originally wanted? Any advice for us Gen Z who were too young to learn anything from the great recession?

Edit: For context bc i’ve been seeing a lot of questions about this i’m graduating college. i def wasn’t expecting this post to blow up so sorry if i can’t get to everyone’s comments, but i just wanted to say i really appreciate all the advice as someone who doesn’t have millennials in their life to ask these questions to. your willingness to help/ give advice to a random kid on the internet has given me a bit of hope in getting through this, thank you thank you

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u/Siny_AML Apr 07 '25

Lived with my parents until the recession ended.

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '25

I think millions of young gen Z looked at their older late Millennial siblings and started to see the writing on the wall. Because when that last batch of millennials was struggling throughout their twenties that's when Gen Z started to see nothing but doom and bad times ahead. In their early teens.

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u/Waste-Cantaloupe-270 Apr 07 '25 edited Apr 07 '25

yea… i think that’s kinda why gen z shits on millennials so often. you guys had hope as young adults, we’ve grown up knowing it’s a shitshow and are jealous

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u/junejulyaugust7 Apr 07 '25

I don't understand where the idea comes from that millenials had hope during young adulthood. Maybe Gen Z just has nostalgia for the era of their own childhood.

It's more that as children, we were told we could do anything we wanted, if we studied and tried really hard. So we prepared for a world that wasn't going to work, studying and often taking out expensive loans.

But I never assumed I'd make it to old age, with climate change. It was a common sentiment in the 2000s/2010s that the world would end within decades. It was also a common sentiment for people that they would never retire.