Gen Zers are tossing their graduation caps and heading into the workforce with starry six-figure salaries in their eyes. But one of the world’s most prolific entrepreneurs, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, says glitzy compensation packages shouldn’t be their aim.
In his parting words as CEO last year, the Oracle of Omaha reflected on his eight-decade career, and shared one lesson for Gen Zers kickstarting their professional lives.
“Don’t worry too much about starting salaries and be very careful who you work for because you will take on the habits of the people around you,” Buffett warned the next generation of workers during his final Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting. “There are certain jobs you shouldn’t take.”
The 95-year-old hedge fund mogul has decades worth of experience to draw upon; he’s led the iconic $1 trillion holding company for more than five decades as both CEO and chairman, before stepping down at the start of this year as Greg Abel takes the reins.
But his career didn’t start off on such a lucrative high. The billionaire’s first jobs were selling Coke bottles door-to-door, and delivering newspapers for The Washington Post at just 13. After college, Buffett stepped into the corporate world, landing a gig at his dad’s brokerage firm Buffett-Falk & Co., and working as a securities analyst for Graham-Newman Corp.
Looking back, Buffett shared the importance of getting on with the five bosses he served under in those early years—and he advises young professionals to find the same, since it can have an enormous ripple effect on the rest of their career and progression.
“If you find people that are wonderful to work with, that’s the place to go,” Buffett continued. “Don’t expect that you’ll make every decision right on that, but you are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people that you work with, that you admire, that become your friends.”
Buffett’s other career advice for Gen Z: Hang out with people better than you and hone your strengths
Buffett has lived out an enviable career. Thanks to his odd jobs early in life and appreciation for entrepreneurship, he rose to millionaire status at the age of 32 (equal to around $10 million in riches today). And for the next six decades, he continued to triumph in business, becoming the world’s richest person in 2008, and scaling his fortune to an eye-watering $150 billion.
Despite his string of impressive accomplishments, Buffett still manages to surround himself with people who are excelling beyond him in other ways—and that, he says, is a key to success.
“It’s better to hang out with people better than you,” Buffett continued in Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting last year. “Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you’ll drift in that direction.”
For Gen Zers wanting to hit millionaire status or lead a successful career, Buffett laid out a simple plan of action. The self-made entrepreneur emphasized the importance of pinpointing what skills they’re actually good at, and going all in—even if slipups happen along the way. Having a strong support system will help professionals reach their biggest potential.
“Figure out what your strengths are and then pick the right people and don’t be afraid of making mistakes,” Buffett told CBS News last year.
Buffett’s advice may seem easier said than done—and the career woes that come with brutal job markets and economic downturns aren’t lost on the businessman. But he still thinks the best path for Gen Z is finding jobs (and bosses) they love, for a sustainable career.
“I have urged that they seek employment in (1) the field and (2) with the kind of people they would select, if they had no need for money,” Buffett wrote in a 2021 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. “Economic realities, I acknowledge, may interfere with that kind of search. Even so, I urge the students never to give up the quest, for when they find that sort of job, they will no longer be ‘working.’”
