Consumer Debt Index: Career Confidence Slides Among Gen Z, Millennials

Career confidence has taken a hit among Canadian consumers, and the youngest workers in the labour force are feeling it most, according to the latest MNP Consumer Debt Index conducted by Ipsos.

The quarterly index, which tracks attitudes toward personal debt alongside views on job and income security, points to a clear generational split. Gen Z and Millennial respondents report markedly weaker confidence in their career prospects than older cohorts, a pattern that matters for anyone hiring, managing or competing in the entry-to-mid-level segment of the labour market.

What does weaker career confidence signal?

Confidence readings like these tend to move with labour-market conditions rather than against them. When younger workers say they feel less secure about their jobs and earning trajectories, that usually reflects what they see around them: slower wage growth relative to living costs, tighter hiring in the roles they compete for, and debt-service pressure eating into whatever gains they make.

For an individual worker, the practical readout is about market position. If peers in your age band are reporting lower confidence, competition for the roles you're applying to may come from more anxious, more motivated candidates — people willing to accept less or switch tracks faster. That is a negotiating-data point, not a reason to panic.

Why debt and career sentiment move together

The MNP Consumer Debt Index sits at the intersection of household finance and work. Respondents who describe their debt situation as worsening also tend to express less confidence that their job or income will keep pace. Younger households, typically earlier in their repayment cycles and more exposed to housing and credit costs, show the sharpest connection between the two.

That dynamic is worth watching for employers too. Workers who feel financially squeezed are more likely to job-hop, pursue additional income streams, or push harder in wage negotiations — behaviour that shows up in turnover statistics before it shows up in engagement surveys.

What to watch next

Ipsos fields the MNP Consumer Debt Index on a quarterly cycle, so the next release will show whether the confidence gap between younger and older workers widens or narrows as borrowing costs and hiring conditions evolve. For now, the data marks Gen Z and Millennial workers as the cohorts whose career outlook has deteriorated fastest — and whose labour-market behaviour is most likely to shift as a result.