2024 Program
California's Next Workforce

Published with

Gen Z Tackles Climate Change in California’s Workforce

When it comes to climate change affecting job security, no one is more concerned than Generation Z, who have grown […]

Zara Hai

August 16, 2024

About this story

This story was produced by a reporter in the 2024 cohort of the AAJA/Calmatters JCal program and originally published in Los Angeles Times High School Insider.


California Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D-Ventura)

When it comes to climate change affecting job security, no one is more concerned than Generation Z, who have grown up hearing “climate change” and “global warming” thrown around as household terms.

“I always grew up knowing that global warming was a thing,” said Corinne Nicholson, an undergraduate student at UC Davis studying environmental engineering. “This was helpful because it gave me an unhindered view that we just need to fix it without first having to believe it’s real.” She has experience in environmental justice and climate education and is working to minimize harmful human impacts on watersheds through nutrient recovery work in wastewater lagoon systems.

But while younger generations desire to take climate action, older generations have been slow to act and have even been critical of the crisis’s existence. 

Bar Graph on the Percentage of Americans who Have Participated in Addressing Climate Change

Younger workers are putting pressure on their employers to take an active stance on climate change, and some are willing to switch jobs or industries because they are concerned about environmental issues within their workplace. A 2024 Deloitte study found that roughly four out of five Gen Zers and Millennials think the government should encourage companies to address climate change, and businesses, in turn, should do more to enable consumers to make sustainable purchasing decisions.

A 2018 California report projected that the state’s maximum daily temperatures can increase by more than 8˚F by 2100 if current greenhouse gas emission levels are curtailed. This will increase the area burned in extreme wildfires by almost 80% and sea levels along the coast.

Then, it is perhaps unsurprising that a 2021 study in The Lancet surveyed 10,000 youth from the ages of 16-25 in 10 nations and found that more than 80% said they were worried about climate change. Greta Thunberg, a well-known Gen Z climate activist, said in a speech, “I want you to act as if your house is on fire. Because it is.” 

Just this month, the White House swore in the first class of the American Climate Corps, which will employ about 40,000 Gen Z and Millennials from ages 18 to 35. Inspired by programs such as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, Americorps, and Peace Corps, the Biden administration said the corps aims to empower the new generation to tackle climate change and environmental injustice in the workforce. 

“When I think of climate change… I think of jobs,” President Biden said in a January 2021 briefing before he signed several executive actions to tackle climate change, create jobs, and restore scientific integrity. 

Any graduate who finishes a term of service in the program becomes eligible for federal government jobs related to climate and clean energy. However, making those job opportunities more permanent might be easier said than done. 

“The challenge that we have is that the rate of change is increasing,” said California Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D-Ventura). “What used to be technology in the last 40 or 50 years maybe only lasts 15 years… We need to have career training that also is able to adjust.”

Bennett said in order to make these changes stick, the education sector needs to become “more empathic, from elementary school all the way.”

Despite their enthusiasm for combating the climate crisis, Gen Zers continue to face opposition from those who take defeatist attitudes towards sustainability or who deny responsibility for taking quicker action.

“I’d say that younger generations are probably more climate-focused because if we want to continue to live the lifestyle we do, things need to change,” Nicholson said.

About the author

Zara Hai is a 2024 JCAL Reporter from San Mateo County.

Read more

What Is Root Trigger Analysis Root Cause Defined

Suriyah Jones

bahis adresi ekleme için Whatsapp kullanımı

Suriyah Jones

1Win

Suriyah Jones

JCal is a free program that immerses California high school students into the state’s news ecosystem. It is a collaboration between the Asian American Journalists Association and CalMatters.