TNM - Get to Know: Gen Z

Big fashion tip - socials - funemployment

Hello everyone and welcome to our newsletter on all things Gen Z.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Last week - if the number of click throughs are anything to go by - you most enjoyed the Channel 4 mental health survey we covered and connecting with Milo Gore, a music recommendation from Freddie Feltham, one of our young creators. Milo’s self proclaimed mix of “emotion and grit” perfectly fits the vibe for many Gen Z audiences. And this newsletter, frankly.

About which, good news (insert fresh 🎉)! We have burst through the 2,200 subscribers mark - a new record for us.

Thank you everyone for joining our weekly conversation.

It is always fascinating to listen to the chats our young teams are having in New York and London - and as so often, money drives so much of what they talk and think about. So, we were struck by this amazing deep dive into Gen Z and finance which identifies “digital savvy stakeholders” in the world of money.

Investing apps are growing, FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving a lot of crypto currency investment and younger demographics are more likely to ask their parents or look for “investing tips” on social media than seek out official advice. As we have regularly said, straightforward help on financial literacy is a regular ask from Gen Z. And it is still not very clear where to find it.

As well as Milo and music, we like to keep you up to date on trends - so, if you are one of the, ahem, “older folk” reading this you can stay relevant. As we mentioned last week (read Get to Know and stay ahead of the pack) skinny jeans are DEAD. And now this piece confirms it.

Get into baggies people, it’s the only way.

(grit and emotion in everything we do)

Small talk

What do coworkers do when they don’t know what to say at work? Google it. Google search data shows that people are looking up "what to talk about at work" more than they have in the past two decades - with young workers saying they've found it hard to navigate small talk with their colleagues. Reddit is also home to recent threads dedicated to the topic, providing talking points and tips for conversation starters. At dinner with a CEO last week, we were struck by her admission that a lot of the young talent she employs don’t “really know the basics of social interaction at work”. Covid lockdowns are still casting shadows . . .

Most trusted brands

Morning Consult has just released their annual Most Trusted Brands report. Baby boomers and Gen Xers are nearly 2x as likely to trust brands than Gen Zers - but can you guess which brands scored highly in major economies across the world? Click here to find out.

Funemployment

Our latest favourite portmanteau: funemployment. It’s exactly what you think - having fun in the period between jobs. And for many Gen Zers, being out of work doesn’t have to be dismal. The #funemployed hashtag has 41 million views on TikTok, and creators share their experiences (“this is where the growth happens”, “I’m investing in myself”). But it’s not all smiles and content. Layoffs and hiring freezes are the reason why many young people are out of work, and we can’t really blame them for looking for the positives in difficult economic times.  

Balance

As you’d imagine, Deloitte’s 2023 report on Millennials and Gen Z is brimming with insights on work, finance, and future goals. The whole thing is well worth a read, but we were particularly taken by this nugget: Gen Z most admire their colleagues who set boundaries, prioritise time for themselves and have a life outside of work. Yet, “they are roughly twice as likely to say their jobs are important to their own sense of identity as they are to define themselves by hobbies, volunteering or exercise”.

Talking Point

I’ve been reflecting a lot about life in your 20s. I can’t lie: It’s really tough. The hustle, the career pressures, the urgency to prove yourself, being “green” and lost in so many ways. Add to that living in NYC and being a child of immigrants - there’s just so much stress and obligations. It’s actually really easy to lose yourself and wonder if the choices you’re making are even authentic to what you actually want in life.

It’s serious stuff, I know, but it’s on my mind.

What’s helped me the most is learning to carve out spaces for things that bring me joy. Yoga, painting, dancing, cooking. It’s helped me finally get to know myself. Turns out, what you do during your “off-hours” can make a huge difference.

- Kimberly Avalos, TNM journalist, NYC

And finally…

70%

Of Gen Zers consider freelancing to be as viable a career option as a typical 9-5 office job. What’s interesting is why young people like the idea of freelance work. Three Gen Zers tell us about their journey, citing reasons like chronic health conditions and a desire for creative freedom. Given that 39% of Americans freelance in some capacity, “out of office” means more than just taking a holiday . . .

Have a lovely weekend everyone - and enjoy the extra Monday off if you can in both the US and the UK (a rare confluence of public holidays).

Whoopee.

How can we help?

In my many travels and conversations, I’m increasingly talking to CEOs, executives and civil society leaders wanting to better understand the next generation of consumers and the next generation of employees. Gen Z is putting pressure on us all to transform in fascinating ways, and many of us are asking questions about how to cater for younger workers and future proof our organisations.

If this sounds like you, we’d be keen to have a chat and see if TNM can help. From our own content production to work we have done, for example, with The Oliver Wyman Forum, we have a raft of insights and data which can support you. We work closely with a number of global organisations – helping with high-impact story-telling, digital media, internal communications, through to employee benefits, HR and working structures.

Email me direct and all of us at TNM look forward to speaking further.

Kamal Ahmed
Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder
The News Movement

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