(LifeSiteNews) — In a panel discussion with myself and the former congressman Matt Gaetz from Florida, who now hosts “The Matt Gaetz Show” on OAN, a critical dialogue began based off of a July 2025 survey where 77 percent of surveyed Gen Z full-time workers admitted to bringing a parent to a job interview. In that same survey, 53 percent had a parent speak to a hiring manager on their behalf, and 31 percent had a parent write their resume.
“After seeing this data,” Gaetz exclaimed, “I’m left wondering whether it will be the robots or the Chinese who take over America first!”
The data points to a larger trend of Gen Z, often referred to as the “Zoomer” generation, being apparently unprepared for adult life, leading to accusations of softness or laziness from older generations. As a member of Gen Z myself, I told Gaetz:
Is Gen-Z “Cooked”?
LifeSite’s @WadeSearle_ discusses the future of Gen Z with @MattGaetz, former congressman and host of ‘The Matt Gaetz Show’ on @OANN. pic.twitter.com/G27rSvbwWP
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) August 12, 2025
Zoomers were left with an absolutely ‘cooked’ workforce situation, where not only is AI used to scan your resume for keywords, but in a lot of cases, AI is conducting the job interview itself. The reality is, Zoomers were growing up in an environment where parents weren’t even present in the home. Mothers have been taken out of the home for generations now, and put directly into the workforce. … They’re left to CoComelon, the public school system, babysitters. … I don’t think it’s really so much Gen Z’s ‘fault’ that they were left wholly unprepared to inherit the world from older generations. … I don’t think COVID could be blamed on them, that was something that happened to them.
Much of the latter half of Gen Z and an enormous portion of Gen Alpha had early childhood social interactions replaced with TV shows, or short form content displayed on their screens, leading to the infamous “iPad kid” phenomenon. Gen Z in particular was uniquely affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates that happened during their school years. For a large portion of Gen Z’s key formative years, socializing with peers was replaced by Zoom meetings and lessons from a teacher were replaced with lectures uploaded to YouTube. Is it really any wonder that Gen Z appears largely unprepared for adulthood? Are we simply beginning to see the natural consequences of removing mothers from the home? Of brutal and unconstitutional lockdowns? Of left-wing ideologies and policies sweeping the nation, eroding any social cohesion?
The former congressman shared his perspective as a millennial: “Sure, I can see that it’s not their fault, but I’m a millennial. I spent most of my childhood having people tell me that the world was going to end in the year 2000, that nuclear weapons were going to launch. … I guess somehow, we made it out of that. Do you think, Wade, that it’s sufficient to wallow in self-pity?”
Luckily, all hope is not lost for the younger crowd. LifeSiteNews reported previously that the data shows a staggering 44-point move from Democrat to Republican among young men over the last two years. Young women have also swung in the same direction by 14 points. Much of the younger generation is beginning to forge a backbone – with the men leading the way – largely in reaction to inheriting a country devastated by decades of liberalism, feminism, and mass migration, along with the lasting ripple effects that the lockdowns had on the American economy and social fabric.
“We’re starting to develop our own backbone, completely on our own,” I explained. “Zoomers are starting to wake up, toughen up, and they’ve been forced to.”
