High on the clock? Gen Z stress means substance use before, during and after a workday

Gen Z is living the high life — on the job.

A growing share of Zoomers — the generation aged 14 to 29 — report they’re turning to pot, booze and pills to get through the workday, sometimes before it even starts.

And employers are clueless.

In a recent survey of 1,000 US adults conducted across a network of mobile and digital platforms, an alarming 35% of Gen Z respondents said they use substances such as cannabis, alcohol or prescription meds before starting work.

After the work day, 56% said they use them to recover from job-related stress.

The stunning findings, compiled by Drug Rehab USA, reflect responses from adults across all generations — Boomers, Zoomers, Millennials and Gen X — who self-identified as substances users.

It offers a surprising snapshot into how some Americans — particularly younger workers — are coping with workplace pressure.

Within the group, substance is woven into the hours of the workday itself also.

Nearly a third of Gen Z respondents (32%) reported using substances during breaks, whether they’re in their car or in workplace bathrooms.

Roughly 9% said they’ve actually snuck substances during meetings or work calls, and only one in five said they haven’t used substances in connection with work at all.

Compared to Baby Boomers, Gen Z workers were more than three times as likely to report coming into work inebriated.

Gen Z is really stressed out. Two-thirds of Zoomers said they would consider leaving the US altogether due to stress and cost of living pressures.

Still, experts caution against viewing this as a purely generational issue.

“It’s not that Gen Z can’t cope with stress, but they’re dealing with a version of life that feels like it’s always on, and it’s hard to take a step back,” Andrew McKenna, deputy director of the National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence/Westchester, Inc. and study author told The Post.

Raised in an era of constant connectivity, a 24/7 news cycle, social media pressure and economic uncertainty, Gen Z is trying to make it through an intense environment, he said — one where lack of funds and rising insurance costs put traditional mental health solutions, such as therapists and psychologists, out of their reach.

Although Gen Z has been slammed for general laziness, and blamed for everything from being the first age group to do worse in school than the prior generation to finding places to sleep and/or cry during work hours, they’re not the only group self-medicating, reveals the eye-popping study.

In some categories, Millennials — with family obligations along with more responsibilities at work — reported even higher rates than their younger counterparts.

About 62% of Millennials — those aged 30 to 45 — said they use alcohol to manage stress, slightly edging out Gen Z at 61%, followed by Gen X at 56% and Baby Boomers at 44%.

Similarly, while 35% of Gen Z respondents said they use substances before workdays, that figure rose to 37% among Millennials, compared with 21% for Gen X (ages 46 to 61) and just 10% for Boomers (ages 62 to 80).

Overall, alcohol was the most commonly used substance among respondents from all four generations (57%), followed by cannabis or THC products (54%) and nicotine (48%).

Smaller numbers reported using prescription anxiety or sleep medications (26%), stimulants such as Adderall (9%), painkillers or opioids (9%) and illicit drugs (7%).

The coping mechanism comes at a cost.

More than a third (39%) reported they spend $50 or more on substances each week, with 15% spending over $100 per week.

“What we’re seeing is how coping has changed from actually managing stress to merely getting through it and surviving,” McKenna said. “You have folks reaching for whatever is immediate and available — because in that moment, it feels like a solution … It’s adults adapting to an environment where pressure is high and the support isn’t keeping up.”