Gen Z wants to be their own boss—billionaire Richard Branson says they should ditch college and ‘get on with it’
It’s no secret that Gen Z don’t want 9-to-5 jobs. Research, surveys and snap polls have consistently revealed that the latest generation of workers want to be their own boss—and according to the billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, the best way to do that isn’t through college.
“My own personal belief is that for running a company, ‘just get out into the world and do it’ is perhaps better than building up a lot of debt going to a university,” the Virgin Group founder told LinkedIn News.
He offered the caveat that for some “fairly extreme” jobs—such as those in tech and mathematics—there’s “benefit from going to a university.”
“But for a lot of jobs, I would just suggest that people get out there into the real world and get on with it.”
Of course, dropping out of the education system at just 15 years old has worked out well for Branson: The now 74-year-old serial entrepreneur has accumulated a $3 billion net worth and an empire that spans a record label, hotels, an airline, cruise ships and most recently, his own space travel company.
Fortune has reached out to Branson for comment.
Even Gen Zers who don’t want to be founders could take Branson’s advise
It’s not the first time the British business mogul has championed real-life experience over credentials.
In a 2017 Virgin blog post he wrote: “In my opinion, entrepreneurial drive beats a fancy degree anytime.”
Branson’s latest school of life advice came after specifically being asked how colleges can better prepare students for the world of work.
The query comes as Gen Z grads are being told that their education doesn’t stand in the working world—they’re getting fired fresh out of college in their first jobs for not understanding basic in-office principles about showing up to meetings on time and staring awkwardly at colleagues.
In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, some employers tried giving graduates extra soft skills training to get them up to speed, but now more than half of hiring managers have come to the conclusion that college grads are unprepared for the world of work—and some have given up on the idea of hiring future grads at all.
Similarly, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has echoed that there is a “mismatch between the skills that are coming out of colleges and what the skills are that we believe we need in the future.”
At the same time, Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple have all eliminated their long-held degree requirements for jobs. Meanwhile, recruiters globally are now five times more likely to search for new hires by skills over higher education.
It’s why even Gen Zers who don’t to be their own boss may be better off, as Branson said, getting “out there into the real world” and gaining practical experience in working with others in a professional environment.
