Receiving a confirmation letter for a new job, client or freelance project can be exciting, but that’s half the battle, and it’s looking like young careerists are losing it.
According to a new report from document creation software Adobe Acrobat, more than half of Gen Z professionals it surveyed said they don’t read their employment contracts in full. The findings come from a new national study that deep dove into more than 1,000 US workers’ attitudes and behavior toward contractual agreements, and the insights were interesting.
More than 1 in 3 Gen Z never fully read contracts, no matter what, 67% of Zoomers do not read employment contracts in full, and 68% do not read renting or leasing contracts in full, the report writes. What’s more, 1 in 5 Gen Zers have agreed to something they were unaware of due to not thoroughly reading a contract, 10% have lost money and 61% of Gen Zers say they still do not read contracts fully even after being burned by a clause they overlooked.
“We also found that solopreneurs were most likely to run into issues due to only using a fully templated contract,” the report writes. “It’s important to remember that contract mistakes can happen to anyone, but with extra precautions and thorough editing, you can help prevent a contract failure.”
Unsurprisingly, failing to review contracts in full can lead to serious consequences for the contractor—per the report’s findings, 19% of those surveyed said they’ve experience delayed payments, 13% have had to complete extra and another 13% have been completely ghosted by clients.
The full report can be found here.