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How many generations will Boomers fukk over?
The average age of workers starting new jobs has spiked, data shows, as AI and economic pressures lead employers to favor experience.
Since graduating from Barnard College of Columbia University in 2024, Menasha Thomas has learned to navigate the swirl of networking and referrals, online job-search groups and interview processes. But after 14 months of soldiering through scores of applications, the 23-year-old has yet to put her urban planning degree to use in a full-time job.
In the meantime, she took professional certification and real estate courses to make herself more hireable while working as a nanny and at New York City cafes. It has been challenging but not “entirely isolating,” she said, because she knows many other recent grads also are struggling to get started professionally. She recently landed a paid internship with a real estate company, for which she feels “extremely grateful.”
Fresh research from the workforce data company Revelio Labs sheds light on the factors making it harder for applicants like Thomas: chiefly, an aging population and more people working well into their 60s and 70s, coupled with a labor market in which companies are culling roles and seeking more experienced candidates when they do hire.
The average new hire was 42 years old in 2025, according to a Revelio analysis released Jan. 6, versus 40.5 in 2022 and 4o in 2016.
Revelio chief economist Lisa Simon, who conducted the analysis, said years of economic and political uncertainty, and the push to use artificial intelligence to reshape how work is done, have led employers to place a higher value on “experience, and be a little more risk-averse in terms of who they’re hiring and who they’re willing to bet on in this labor market.”
It underscores the uphill battle facing younger workers in an era when “employers are just expecting candidates to hit the ground running from day one, without really giving them the opportunity to train up,” Simon said.
The share of workers 25 and younger went from 14.9 percent to 8.8 percent from 2022 to 2025, the analysis shows. Hiring inflows for this age group are down more than 45 percent compared with 2019, when, like now, the economy was deep into an expansion. In contrast, inflows for workers 65 and older are up nearly 80 percent in that time, Revelio’s data showed.
“Younger workers face fewer entry opportunities. This pattern is consistent with a labor market that is slowing, becoming more selective, and prioritizing experience over long-term potential,” the report said.
Meanwhile, U.S. employers are pulling back on hiring: Data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that 2025 marked the worst year for the labor market since the pandemic-era recession. Jobs growth slumped to levels typically seen during economic downturns, with health care and social services among the few industries still adding roles. Unemployment stood at 4.4 percent, data showed.
Last year, employers announced 507,647 planned hires, down 34 percent from the 769,953 announced in 2024, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global human resources and outplacement firm. It also marked the lowest year-to-date total since 2010. Employers also announced more than 1.2 million layoffs in 2025, the highest level since 2020 and a 58 percent spike from 2024, according to Challenger’s data.
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How many generations will Boomers fukk over?
The average age of workers starting new jobs has spiked, data shows, as AI and economic pressures lead employers to favor experience.
Since graduating from Barnard College of Columbia University in 2024, Menasha Thomas has learned to navigate the swirl of networking and referrals, online job-search groups and interview processes. But after 14 months of soldiering through scores of applications, the 23-year-old has yet to put her urban planning degree to use in a full-time job.
In the meantime, she took professional certification and real estate courses to make herself more hireable while working as a nanny and at New York City cafes. It has been challenging but not “entirely isolating,” she said, because she knows many other recent grads also are struggling to get started professionally. She recently landed a paid internship with a real estate company, for which she feels “extremely grateful.”
Fresh research from the workforce data company Revelio Labs sheds light on the factors making it harder for applicants like Thomas: chiefly, an aging population and more people working well into their 60s and 70s, coupled with a labor market in which companies are culling roles and seeking more experienced candidates when they do hire.
The average new hire was 42 years old in 2025, according to a Revelio analysis released Jan. 6, versus 40.5 in 2022 and 4o in 2016.
Revelio chief economist Lisa Simon, who conducted the analysis, said years of economic and political uncertainty, and the push to use artificial intelligence to reshape how work is done, have led employers to place a higher value on “experience, and be a little more risk-averse in terms of who they’re hiring and who they’re willing to bet on in this labor market.”
It underscores the uphill battle facing younger workers in an era when “employers are just expecting candidates to hit the ground running from day one, without really giving them the opportunity to train up,” Simon said.
The share of workers 25 and younger went from 14.9 percent to 8.8 percent from 2022 to 2025, the analysis shows. Hiring inflows for this age group are down more than 45 percent compared with 2019, when, like now, the economy was deep into an expansion. In contrast, inflows for workers 65 and older are up nearly 80 percent in that time, Revelio’s data showed.
“Younger workers face fewer entry opportunities. This pattern is consistent with a labor market that is slowing, becoming more selective, and prioritizing experience over long-term potential,” the report said.
Meanwhile, U.S. employers are pulling back on hiring: Data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that 2025 marked the worst year for the labor market since the pandemic-era recession. Jobs growth slumped to levels typically seen during economic downturns, with health care and social services among the few industries still adding roles. Unemployment stood at 4.4 percent, data showed.
Last year, employers announced 507,647 planned hires, down 34 percent from the 769,953 announced in 2024, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global human resources and outplacement firm. It also marked the lowest year-to-date total since 2010. Employers also announced more than 1.2 million layoffs in 2025, the highest level since 2020 and a 58 percent spike from 2024, according to Challenger’s data.
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