In today’s job market, being unemployed isn’t always about failure, or just being a number in the unemployment report.
There’s a growing category I like to call “the willing unemployed” — young people with degrees, skills, and passion… yet unable to find where they truly belong.
I’m one of those people.
I graduated with a degree in economics.
Logically, I was supposed to land a job and start earning.
But the truth?
I wasn’t looking for a salary.
I was looking for value.
I wanted a place where I could genuinely contribute — not spend my time ticking off repetitive tasks just to collect a paycheck at the end of the month.
The problem isn’t the money.
The problem is that too many institutions still measure people by the hours they’re present, not by the value they create.
There’s a huge disconnect between the kind of jobs available and the kind of minds graduating today.
It’s not just a skills gap…
It’s a gap of purpose, vision, and meaning.
While the market is stuck in outdated mindsets
— job, salary, shifts, rules — a whole generation is searching for passion, flexibility, purpose, self-driven projects, and spaces where ideas matter.
We’re facing a chronic imbalance — not just in the number of job opportunities, but in the mismatch between existing talents and the kind of workplaces that want employees to “run the system” rather than “change it.”
And this isn’t a problem you fix with a better paycheck.
It needs a redefinition of the whole idea.
We need companies that invest in ideas, not just tasks.
We need leaders who understand the value of the “willing unemployed” — because these are not jobless people, they are potential creators.
People like me — and many others — aren’t rejecting work.
We’re rejecting becoming faceless gears stuck in meaningless cycles.
We want to be added value.
We want to work in places that respect our time, thoughts, and passion.
Places that believe the future has no room for mindless routine jobs.
Machines will take care of the tasks.
Human beings should remain for ideas, creativity, and art.
As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) wisely said:
“Moderation is half of livelihood.”
Economy isn’t just about numbers and banks.
It’s about how you manage your resources — your time, your energy, your thoughts…
How you balance income with meaning.
The conclusion?
The “willing unemployed” generation believes that we weren’t made to work just to survive.
We want to work to leave a mark.
And if our opportunity takes time — that’s fine.
Because it’s not our pockets that are empty…
It’s the right opportunity that’s missing.
