I run Valvoline and work with young people every day. They’re in crisis—and we all have to try to help

I spend my days working alongside young people. At Valvoline Instant Oil Change, many of our technicians are in their first real job—fresh out of high school, figuring out who they are and what they’re capable of. What I see every day tells me something the statistics confirm: this generation is in crisis, and it didn’t happen overnight.

After a more than 60% increase in youth suicide rates from 2007 to their peak in 2021, the latest CDC data shows a hopeful shift with suicide rates among 10‑ to 24‑year‑olds declining in 2022, 2023, and again in 2024. But even with this progress, rates remain far higher than they were a generation ago, and young people continue to report unprecedented levels of anxiety, loneliness, and financial stress.

These numbers represent real lives. I’ve seen it up close—in the team member who needs a manager to just check in, in the technician who lights up when someone invests in their growth. Their well‑being matters not only because every life has value, but because our country needs their talent, energy, and ideas. And yet too many are struggling to find connection, purpose, and stability.

I’m not a therapist or a policymaker. But I am someone who employs thousands of young Americans, and I’ve come to believe that businesses like mine can’t sit this one........

© Fortune