Popular Gen Z Job Sees Salaries Soar

Shark Tank’s Kevin O'Leary says the most valuable job in today's economy doesn't require a four‑year degree, an engineering background or even a traditional résumé. Instead, it requires a phone, an understanding of social media platforms-and the ability to turn content into customers.

With student loan debt ballooning and salaries not keeping pace, buying a house, having kids and other life milestones are feeling more out of reach for younger generations, prompting them to seek out less traditional ways of making money. Once dismissed as a side hustle or vanity career, social media influencing has rapidly evolved into one of the most lucrative-and measurable-jobs in the modern economy. As companies shift marketing dollars toward platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, creators who effectively know how to turn content into customers are commanding six‑figure paydays.

O’Leary told Graham Stephan and Jack Selby on Sunday’s episode of The Iced Coffee Hour that people with talent should consider social media for customer acquisition. He’s personally increased influencers’ pay by six figures because of their effectiveness.

"I used to pay those guys 48 grand a year," O'Leary said on The Iced Coffee Hour podcast. "Now they're $250,000 because you can measure their work based on customer acquisition every week."

O’Leary added that people creating content are valuable because of how easily trackable the conversion rate is to customers, and people who are good at it are worth the money they’re making.

“Everybody says you have to be an engineer, an engineer and an engineer. Now, you wanna be an artist. Again, write stories, acquire customers, know how the social media platforms work, know how to post on TikTok versus LinkedIn versus Twitter versus Instagram,” O’Leary said.

If O’Leary had to go back in time, he said he’d use his editing skills to make good content and tell companies to pay him $100 per customer he acquires for them.

“I’d make millions,” O’Leary said.

How Old Are Gen Z-ers?

Generation Z generally includes people born between 1997 and 2012, meaning the oldest members are now in their late 20s, while the youngest are still teenagers. That age range places much of Gen Z squarely at the beginning of their working lives-exactly where O'Leary sees opportunity.

"These people in their early twenties are so valuable now," he said. "If you know how to use your phone, somebody wants to hire you."

Unlike traditional marketing roles, these positions focus on direct, trackable outcomes-how many customers were acquired, how much revenue was generated, and how efficiently it happened. That ability to quantify results, O'Leary said, is why salaries have exploded so quickly.

How Much Do Social Media Influencers Make?

Making money off social media may seem easy, but it’s often easier said than done, and changing algorithms can make it a riskier business to be in because there’s no guarantee that the amount an influencer makes one month will be made another month. But, creators who are able to tap into an audience and continue delivering quality content that delivers for brands can make more from creating content than from a traditional job.

Alix Earle charges $450,000 per Instagram Story, according to Vickie Segar, cofounder of Article 41, who worked with Earle on brand deals. Jeffree Star, a makeup influencer, earns $50,000 for hosting a TikTok live.

But those influencers are like professional athletes; most people won’t go pro, so the payouts are significantly lower. Bardley on a Budget, an influencer with 1.5 million TikTok followers, who teaches people how to save and make money, earned $123,933 on creating content. King Caitlin, an ASMR creator, earned less than $4,000 on TikTok in September 2024 when she had nearly 400,000 followers, according to E! News. She’s since expanded her brand to include 1.1 million followers.

Popular College Majors With Highest Salaries

O'Leary's comments come amid ongoing debate over whether college is still worth the cost. Traditionally, majors tied to Several STEM-focused majors are seeing the biggest salary increases, driven by sustained employer demand for technical skills. Engineering and computer-related degrees dominate the list of majors with the fastest-growing pay, particularly at the entry level, according to data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Computer engineering and software engineering top the rankings, with both fields posting year-over-year starting salary increases in the mid‑single digits, reflecting competition among employers for graduates with coding, systems, and hardware expertise.

Engineering majors more broadly continue to pull ahead of other fields. The NACE data shows that average starting salaries across engineering disciplines rose overall compared with the prior year, reinforcing a longer-term trend in which engineering graduates command some of the highest pay straight out of college. Computer science also remains a standout, combining strong salary growth with high demand across industries ranging from tech and finance to health care and government.

By contrast, the report notes that salary growth is far more uneven outside of STEM. Some business-related and communications majors are projected to see flatter pay or even declines in starting salaries, underscoring a widening gap between technical and non-technical fields. As inflation and cost-of-living pressures persist, the report highlights how earning trajectories tied to major choice are becoming an increasingly important factor for students and families weighing the return on investment of a college degree.

Popular College Majors With Lowest Salaries

Several of the most popular college majors also rank among those with the lowest starting salaries, according to a Newsweek analysis based on early‑career earnings data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Psychology stands out in particular. Despite being one of the most commonly awarded bachelor's degrees in the U.S., graduates tend to earn relatively modest pay right after college. The data shows that psychology majors typically enter the workforce in lower‑paying roles unless they pursue graduate or professional degrees, which are often required for higher‑earning careers in the field.

Other widely chosen majors with low starting salaries include education and social work‑adjacent fields. Early childhood education and elementary education majors consistently post some of the lowest median early‑career earnings among all college graduates. These majors remain popular because they align with public‑service careers, but starting pay often lags well behind fields like engineering or computer science, reflecting broader wage challenges in the education sector.

Majors in the arts and humanities-such as fine arts and performing arts-continue to attract significant numbers of students but tend to lead to lower initial salaries after graduation. While long‑term earnings can vary widely depending on career path and additional training, the data underscores a growing gap between high‑enrollment majors and those tied to the strongest early‑career pay outcomes.

O’Leary encouraged people with the skills to take advantage of social media to earn money because it’s a way to build wealth. He told Stephan and Selby that $35,000 is the minimum salary a person needs to build wealth, but everyone, regardless of their salary, also needs to stop buying things they don’t need.

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This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 11:56 AM.