America’s youngest workers want to become business owners, but not in the way their parents might imagine. The impetus for turn social media posts into sustainable income it is higher among the younger generation of workers, according to new research from Adobe Inc.
About 45% of the creators of the Generation Z Respondents said they aspire to own their own business and earn money from sharing content online. according to the company’s May survey of more than 9,000 influencers and creators in nine countries.
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Adobe defines creators as those who post social content with the goal of increasing their online presence or promoting their creative work, from photography to music to NFTs. The influencers surveyed reported more than 5,000 followers on their main social media platform and earn money by posting content.
Gen Z content creators and influencers are part of the wave of entrepreneurship that accompanied the reorganization of the labor market in the last two years.
While many Americans started businesses during the pandemic shutdown out of necessity, the streak has continued, fueled by a desire for flexibility and greater control over one’s financial future.
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A record 5.4 million new businesses were started in the US last year, according to census data. While the monthly rate stabilized below its 2021 peak, it remained well above pre-pandemic levels.
What do the experts say?
Although there has been much speculation about whether this surge in small business creation was an aberration or the beginning of a long-term reversal, “what we’re seeing is that this trend shows no signs of abating,” said Luke Pardue, an economist at payroll service platform Gusto. The changing dynamic is partly generationalsaid.
“Specifically among younger workers, we’re seeing this trend of workers not seeing wage gains that keep up with inflation, so they’re moving into self-employment where they can determine their compensation a little bit. more independent,” Pardue said.
Why Gen Z’s Dream Jobs Are So Different From Millennials’ While millennials are experimenting with an extra hustle alongside a day job, Generation Z is more focused on turning a project into a career, said Maria Yap, vice president of digital imaging applications at Adobe. . “They’re thinking, no, my regular job might be whatever I’m passionate about.”
In fact, some universities, such as Duke University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Virginia, have responded to the shift in demand by offering classes on building successful social media businesses. Universities are launching TikTok classes for influencers who earn $5,000 per post.
Adobe research suggests that ditching the corporate ladder for the Instagram grid can bring in a six-figure income if done full-time, though the reality is often more complicated.
Is content creation a dream job?
Creators who monetize content earn an average of $61 per hour, according to Adobe. If done 40 hours a week, Adobe estimates that this would translate to an annual income of $122,000.
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Influencers surveyed by Adobe earn $81 per hour, which would translate to about $162,000 if they did it full time. However, the lines are often blurred between hobbyists and scammers, and most of the people Adobe surveyed don’t work full time.
Content creators spend an average of nine hours a week and influencers spend an average of 15 hours a week creating content.
In the US, six out of 10 creators have full-time jobs, Adobe found. If creators were to quit their day jobs, it’s unclear whether they could generate enough business to fill a 40-hour workweek.
The public perception is often that content creators and influencers with more than 10,000 followers earn significant income, but this is far from the truth, said Qianna Smith Bruneteau, founder of the American Influencer Council, a trade association for content professionals from social networks.
Of those who create content full-time, only about 12% earn more than $50,000 a year, according to a global survey of more than 9,500 creators released in April by Linktree, a link-sharing platform popular with influencers. The living wage in Manhattan is nearly $53,000, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator.
While some creators and influencers stumble on success, for others it can take countless hours of hard work without pay to build a following, according to Bruneteau. “Producing content every day, in a video-first environment, requires tremendous work,” she said. That can mean years of free content before a creator.
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