Gen Z founders are hiring while Boomers’ corporate America freezes out—‘I’ve already proven to myself that I can thrive in this’

A low-hire, low-fire labor market has made breaking into the workforce brutally hard for Gen Z.

But while most young people are struggling to land their first opportunity, some have jumped the line by building their own small businesses and startups—and young founders are now ramping up hiring even as companies across industries slow theirs.

New data from the Q3 2026 Small Business Index , produced by Justworks and the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce, shows that 46% of Gen Z and millennial business owners plan to increase staff in the next year, compared with just 19% of owners in the baby boomer generation or older.

According to Justworks CEO Mike Seckler, young owners are generally more confident about investing in their businesses, even in an economy where most companies have played it safe.

“Young entrepreneurs, like Gen Z and millennial entrepreneurs, are much more bullish about how their businesses look, and they’re more confident hiring right now than folks from older generations,” Seckler told Fortune .

Gen Z and millennial owners plan not just to hire more but to spend more across the board, and they’re optimistic about where their businesses are headed.

Fifty percent plan to increase investment, compared with 18% of boomer owners, and 71% expect revenue growth, versus 51% of their older peers.

That optimism stands out against a cautious small business sector overall: Just 36% of all owners anticipate adding staff, down from 44% a year earlier.

A job market that’s shutting out new entrants The broader labor market tells a different story.

Former Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who still sits on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, has described it as a low-hire, low-fire job market: Employers aren’t laying off many workers, but they aren’t hiring many either.

That makes it hard for anyone trying to switch industries or join the workforce for the first time, and research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St.

Louis shows young adults are bearing the brunt of it.

Some economists have warned the market could tip into “ low-hire, more-fire .” Only 1.9% of nonfarm workers quit their jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics —matching the lowest quits rate since 2020.