Gen Z could be at the precipice of making the traditional resume obsolete, so Newsweek spoke with experts about whether or not resumes are here to stay—and what may be taking their place.
In a new survey from CVwizard.com, 62 percent of Gen Z-ers said traditional resumes will be obsolete by 2028.
Why It Matters
Gen Zers, those youngest in the workforce to age 28, have been spearheading major change within the workforce.
While they are more likely to demand work-life balance and higher salaries, many hiring managers have expressed dissatisfaction with the younger generation as workers.
A recent Intelligent.com survey found a whopping six in 10 employers had already fired college graduates who were hired in 2024. And one in seven said they might refrain from hiring new college grads next year as well, showing a reluctance toward taking a chance on Gen Z employees.
What To Know
Gen Z is primed to make up 58 percent of the global workforce by 2030, and they could have a major say in certain shifting workforce expectations.
Based on responses from 1,000 young workers across the U.S. and the U.K., 62 percent of the younger generation believe traditional resumes will be obsolete by 2028.
And this is already being reflected in Gen Z’s current job-seeking habits, with 88 percent using online job boards and 36 percent using artificial intelligence for their applications.
What People Are Saying
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “Gen Z is right in the fact traditional resumes are increasingly being less influential in the job-hiring process. The rise of professional social media services that link potential employees with employers and opportunities has transitioned the initial connection to being document-based to a simple message. Also, many employers offer their own virtual application that strips down the clutter of a traditional resume and gets more direct in assessing a possible hire’s skills and experience. The resume isn’t dead yet and still can serve as a solid summary of one’s professional life, but its influence is certainly deteriorating.”
HR consultant Bryan Driscoll told Newsweek: “The idea that resumes are becoming obsolete is a reflection of how outdated and ineffective traditional hiring methods have become. Employers have relied on resumes for decades, but let’s be honest: they’re a terrible predictor of job performance. They favor those with the privilege of polished experience, ignore actual skills, and force workers into a one-size-fits-all template that often serves hiring managers’ biases more than it helps identify the right talent.”
What Happens Next
Because Gen Z has grown up in an age of skills-based, AI-driven hiring, they’re more likely to question traditional forms of hiring documents like resumes, Driscoll said.
“Will resumes disappear? Maybe not entirely, but they’ll evolve. More companies are shifting toward skills-based hiring. Employers who don’t adapt will lose out on talent,” Driscoll said. “If companies want to hire the best, they’ll need to catch up. Otherwise, they’ll keep filtering out great candidates simply because their ATS didn’t like the font on a resume.”
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