80% of Gen Z Now Work Second Jobs to Cover Basic Costs

Eighty percent of Gen Z workers now hold additional work outside their primary jobs, and 77% of millennials do the same, according to Goldman Sachs' latest retirement survey released this week. For most, the extra income is not optional: 76% of Gen Z and 73% of millennials said they could not make ends meet without it.

The Wall Street bank's findings point to an affordability crisis that is "crowding out" retirement saving among younger Americans. Goldman defines Gen Z as ages 14 to 29 and millennials as 30 to 45.

Across all age groups and income levels, Americans feel less prepared for retirement than a year ago. Only 58% of respondents said they were on track for their retirement goals, down from 68% last year.

The survey captures a consumer under pressure from several directions. Mortgage rates remain significantly elevated compared with recent decades, house prices stay out of reach for many buyers, and inflation sits at 3.4% after years of COVID-era price shocks. Concern over job security tied to AI adds another layer of unease.

Savings momentum is stalling

Chris Ceder, senior retirement strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told a media roundtable this week: "Savings momentum seems to be stalling."

"We ask a question in our survey around whether or not you are increasing your savings year over year, staying the same, or decreasing," he said. "We saw a decline from 55% to 39% who increased their savings into 2026 and we saw a higher number of people decreasing their savings. So, this notion of competing priorities having an impact, causing a stall, continues to see in the data."

While 61% of all employees reported taking on additional work beyond their main roles, the figures for younger generations ran far higher. The financial strain is also bleeding into workplace performance: 69% of Gen Z respondents told Goldman Sachs they find it difficult to focus at work because they worry about debt or household costs, as did 67% of millennials.

Goldman's findings align with broader data showing younger generations postponing major life and financial milestones such as buying a home. But Ceder flagged what is being deferred as the deeper problem: "when you look at what's actually being deferred, the concern is that many of the things that we're talking about are those that actually provide levels of financial security."

"So, emergency savings, lowering debt, retirement savings are really at the top. So, you're deferring actually what's providing that level of stability again, which is also impacting … housing, family planning, and educational goals," he said.

Retirees exit early despite the gloom

The survey offered one counterintuitive bright spot: 44% of retirees left work earlier than planned. Among them, 45% stopped working between one and three years earlier than expected, 26% between four and five years earlier, and 14% between six and 10 years sooner than originally estimated.

The majority of Americans still told Goldman Sachs that work provides a stable enough path toward financial security. But more than one in three, 34%, said earning more money would be a primary motivation for changing jobs.

Wages are increasingly shaping career planning beyond the Goldman data. A study released last week by recruitment platform Monster found 65% of prospective job movers are changing their search priorities because of gas prices. Within that group, 23% are looking for roles closer to home, 17% are focusing more on salary to offset higher commuting costs, 20% are prioritizing fully remote roles, and 5% are applying for fully in-person positions.

With younger workers already juggling second jobs and savings momentum slipping year over year, the data suggests retirement security for Gen Z and millennials will depend less on market returns than on whether housing and living costs stop crowding out long-term saving.