Modelling has emerged as the most preferred career among Gen Zs, providing evidence of a change in job preferences from traditional roles, according to a new global study.

The study by Shootday, whose results were shared with Viral Tea, revealed that modelling is Gen Z’s most socially visible and desired career, earning a perfect Social Media Interest Score of 100.

The ranking combines online popularity across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X with monthly Google search volumes to measure real-world interest.

Artist follows closely with a score of 97.1 and over one million monthly Google searches, underscoring its enduring appeal. Makeup artists, photographers, and bloggers complete the top five, highlighting a strong preference for creativity-driven professions.

Other careers making the top 10 include marketing, singer, personal trainer, dancer, and influencer—a mix of entertainment, lifestyle, and strategic communication roles.

The findings point to a clear generational leaning towards visually led, creative industries. Even traditionally corporate fields like marketing are being redefined through a creative, socially connected lens.

Notably, newer digital-first roles such as influencer and blogger sit alongside traditional creative paths like photography and fine art.

Shootday’s Serge Bejjani noted that the results reflect a shift in how Gen Z defines a “dream job.” “What we’re seeing here is a generational shift in how careers are defined,” she outlines.

“For Gen Z, a dream job is no longer just about income stability. It’s about alignment with personal identity, flexibility, and the ability to share your work with the world instantly. The fact that social media interest scores so closely mirror search data suggests these aren’t just passing fads; young people are actively researching how to break into these industries.”

Kenya’s job market as of August 2025 remains a mixed picture of modest growth, high informality, and significant youth unemployment. The overall unemployment rate in 2024 stood at roughly 5.2%, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), though some projections for 2025 place it higher at around 7.23%, translating to nearly 1.95 million jobless Kenyans.

Other estimates keep it steady in the 5–5.4% range, depending on the data source. Beneath these averages, the numbers for young people are far more severe—youth under 35 face unemployment levels as high as 67%, with those aged 20–24 at 16.8% and those aged 15–19 at 11.1%.

The structure of employment in Kenya continues to lean heavily on the informal sector. In 2024, about 782,300 new jobs were created, but nearly 90% of them were informal. Overall, 83.6% of all jobs in Kenya are informal, leaving just 16.4% in the formal sector.

Non-agricultural informal work alone accounts for roughly 81% of employment. Kenya’s working-age population stands at about 30 million, with around 20 million employed outside of small-scale farming.

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are a key driver of employment, providing jobs to 14.9 million people and contributing about 40% of GDP. Labour force participation is around 66–67%, with an employment-to-population ratio near 63%.