Some Gen Zers are swapping the corporate ladder for entrepreneurship

A growing number of workers in the early innings of their careers are beginning to sour on the idea of the traditional nine-to-five.

A growing number of workers in the early innings of their careers are beginning to sour on the idea of the traditional nine-to-five.

Gen Zers, the oldest of whom are turning 28 this year, represent the majority of these workers losing interest in the daily slog of corporate life and seeking deeper meaning in their work.

To that end, these Gen Zers are starting their own businesses. According to LinkedIn data provided to NBC News, about 18% of business founders in 2024 were Generation Z, compared with 14.5% in 2023.

Francesca Albo, 28, and her best friend-turned-business partner Lea Burbidge Izquierdo, 29, swapped their traditional jobs for a life of entrepreneurship.

Lea Burbidge Izquierdo, left, and Francesca Albo.Jeff Isy / Courtesy Anderson Group Public Relations“I was working in a corporate cubicle, depressed, not feeling very good,” Albo told NBC News, describing how she spent several years stuck with mundane tasks while managing a research team at a biotech lab.