I'm an early gen Z, I'm 25 right now, and have been on the job market for 8 years so far.

I'm tired, I'm overworked, I'm stressed, I'm looking for upward mobility in my domain but every company is making cutbacks, withholding bonuses and holding pay increases.

I'm a software developer. I'm working a main job and freelancing on the side to make ends meet, and it's still not enough.

I invest in my future with things like RRSP and FHSAs, I have some luxuries (small car, a dog because what is life if it's completely miserable?), and it hurts every time I get a necessity because everything goes to rent, food, clothing, etc. and grocery bills are always close to $200 for 2 people, even at the cheaper grocery stores.

Everything's down on quality, nothing lasts, so we either have to buy things over and over, or save up a ton of money to pay luxury prices for a decent product that won't break the very fucking second the warranty expires.

We're getting gouged as much as possible. My group is particular because we started our careers slightly before or during the 2020 pandemic, where companies learned that they could gouge the fuck out of everyone on necessities, and people starting out fresh are hit the hardest as they don't have savings or mature investments.