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

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Last week TNM was at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester - and this weekend we’ll be at the Labour Party equivalent in Liverpool.

For our American audience, UK party conferences are a little like the conventions but with rubbish food, lower-fi razzamatazz and fewer balloons cascading from the roof.

Here are our three big Manchester take-outs after countless conversations with senior players:

One: publicly, the Conservatives would like voters (and the media) to believe there is a narrow route to victory if everything falls in their favour over the next year (the Conservatives are up to 20% behind in the polls).

Two: privately, many Conservatives are thinking no further than whether they can reduce the number of seats Labour will win. It’s an “avoid a wipeout” vibe.

Three: both parties have failed to understand the influence the next generation of voters will have on the election. “Build more houses” just doesn’t cut it as a policy package for Gen Z.

Why? Because young and old voters are much closer than you think on which issues matter, particularly if “intergenerational sympathies” are taken into account.

Ignoring younger voters ​​will not work.

And in America specifically, "young people vote Democrat" is only partly true.

Never fear, The Recount and The News Movement will be your trusty guides, and next week we will offer a little sneak peek of what we are planning.

Stay tuned all . . . 👀

Gen Z are future-proofing…

We know that Gen Z are entrepreneurial and 40% have a side hustle, but a new survey from EY sheds light on why this demographic might be so inclined to take on extra work. It’s not just to pursue a passion, but because they’ve witnessed their parents suffer from disasters outside their control (whether that's the financial crisis or the pandemic). A mixed work portfolio might just offer some safety buffers for when that happens again.

… and you should be too

Want to play content creator bingo? Forbes has released its Top 50 Creators for 2023. We aren’t expecting you to recognise them all (even the youngest amongst us doesn’t), but paying attention is a good idea - as we’ve said before, trust in influencers/creators is only increasing with this generation.

Glass half empty…

Younger generations are drinking less alcohol, but those that are face a problem (and, in the US, are making concerts a little less crazy).

… and glass half full

We know and welcome the fact that Gen Z are loud and proud in the office (see Get to Know passim), and this is particularly true about money. Listen up leaders if you want colleagues who trust you.

And finally…

86%

… of African heritage job applicants hide their identities on job applications. Nearly half of young Black employees “code switch” at work and two-thirds of LGBTQ+ say they cannot be themselves in the office.

Wow. Wow. And Wow. In a bad way.

Let’s all make a difference to those figures in the future.

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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