[Misc] What do you think of Generation Z?

[Kinky Gerbil]

So do I, but I can cope with the concept that a 9am start means 9am not 1120am and putting your phone on silent and in your pocket isn't that big a deal.

This happens more than it should really, in my previous job I helped with training new starters certain buts and bobs, in a group of 20 at least 3/4 would have to be spoken to about time keeping.

Considering they are new, you would think they would at least try and make an effort to be on time.

 

[Napper]

Same as any younger generation they think their the first to do things

This lot on social media victims and wet wipes . Luckily in person they are similar to most blokes

 

[Norman Potting]

The 2 younger Pottings fall into this category. Both are hard working and have studied diligently. One graduated in the autumn, still seeking a job matching her degree but in the interim working in a restaurant.

Youngest in final term away at Uni. She is already planning next move. She worked in a US Summer Camp a couple of years ago and I suspect she might some like time there.

Both had part time jobs in local super market as soon as old enough.

I suspect that they are typical of the majority but this will fit with the red tops narrative.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Same as any younger generation they think their the first to do things

What do they think they’re the first to do?

 

[alanfp]

Your broad brush appraisal of Gen zs is quite frankly bollocks. Not all Gen Zs lie awake at night dreaming of new pronouns or Instagram filters like you make out.

But he didn't say that at all.

 

[Machiavelli]

Much better than the millennials, purely on the basis that they have turned on the author of those crappy magicians at Malory Towers books. (By the way, Grow up and stop asking for knowledge of that tripe in literature rounds in quizzes! We liked the Mister Men and Asterix books but we never pretended they were literature).

Asterix isn't literature. It's canonical

 

[Machiavelli]

Those saying it's lazy journalism I think are wrong.

There are clear difference from the upbringing, outlook on life, views, beliefs, lifestyle and challenges they've faces from someone born in the 50s to being born in the 90s.

I'm 31.

Did I have to live through post war Britain? No.
Is this the most divided the world has felt now as I imagined it did in the 40s? Yes.
Are houses the most expensive and least obtainable now as they've ever been? Yes.
Am I lucky enough to find most technology these days easy and accessible? Yes.
Is global warming going to affect my life more than generations before? Yes.
Am I from the very end of the last generation where internet didn't control out lives as it does now? Yes.

All of these aspects shapes people, and the generations they are from. Obviously not everyone fits perfectly in to X, Y or Z, but there are definitely broad strokes that fit people from different eras in to these 'categories.'

I'm 55 and the future's bright. It's definitely orange too, which might make it dark.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

i think this whole gen X, Y, Z, Millennials , etc is just a lazy way of finding a group to blame for whatever Ills, real or imagined, someone has.

The world has changed so much in almost everyway since the late 90s , and the pace of that change is increasing and comparing what current 60 yr olds did, to what current teens and 20s do is not comparing like for like and so ultimately pointless.
No one group is responsible for climate change, house prices, discrimination , or anything else. Its a collective effort , we all f***ed up in one way or another.

Any banding of an entire age group regardless of any socio-economic, ethnic, of anything else will have massive differences right across the board, and its(IMO) silly to generalise about such huge diverse groupings.

This sounds lovely, but overlooks data, statistics and evidence that suggests / pretty much proves specific generations ARE responsible for some of the ills of this country.

The reality is that the Gen Z crowd have it harder in almost every way compared to the generations that came before them. Some will undoubtedly make some good money online to offset this, but many will struggle in ways previous generations couldn’t understand.

And that’s coming from a Millennial who came out of a Russel Group uni in 2008 and really did struggle to get anywhere career wise until the past 5 years, and suffered the consequences of that in terms of getting on to the housing ladder etc. In fact, my generation were the first to be statistically poorer than the previous generation in this country…

Of course, this doesn’t mean that older generations didn’t have their own struggles - of course they did. But they were fundamentally different and they had an economic situation that allowed many to make a ton of money and retire very early. Many could buy big houses on single incomes, get mortgages that were twice their salary rather than the 4-5x needed nowadays to get anything that isn’t a 1 bed flat, and many could and did buy multiple houses at values that meant they made hundreds of thousands on house appreciation.

As I say, there’s data to back all of this up, which is why the generalisations are there, even if they don’t apply directly to every person in each age banding. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.

 

[BadFish]

This sounds lovely, but overlooks data, statistics and evidence that suggests / pretty much proves specific generations ARE responsible for some of the ills of this country.

The reality is that the Gen Z crowd have it harder in almost every way compared to the generations that came before them. Some will undoubtedly make some good money online to offset this, but many will struggle in ways previous generations couldn’t understand.

And that’s coming from a Millennial who came out of a Russel Group uni in 2008 and really did struggle to get anywhere career wise until the past 5 years, and suffered the consequences of that in terms of getting on to the housing ladder etc. In fact, my generation were the first to be statistically poorer than the previous generation in this country…

Of course, this doesn’t mean that older generations didn’t have their own struggles - of course they did. But they were fundamentally different and they had an economic situation that allowed many to make a ton of money and retire very early. Many could buy big houses on single incomes, get mortgages that were twice their salary rather than the 4-5x needed nowadays to get anything that isn’t a 1 bed flat, and many could and did buy multiple houses at values that meant they made hundreds of thousands on house appreciation.

As I say, there’s data to back all of this up, which is why the generalisations are there, even if they don’t apply directly to every person in each age banding. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.

I agree with this but i also think it is worth noting and considering the difference between those who recognise the situation that different generations are born into 9as you have here and those who assign different character traits to said generations. We often hear that generations are lazy, entitled, poor timekeepers, inconsiderate etc etc.


While the evidence is there to describe the different situations people are born into it is not there to describe the character traits. Which is where the bullshit generalizations come in.

 

[abc]

Agree 100%.

I like them more than millennials who let algorithms really compartmentalise their lives, Z are more savvy.

The business world has got it in for them calling them lazy, entitled and lacking initiative.

Gen Z are easy for lazy journalists to take cheap shots at. But no generation in modern times has had such a raw deal in terms of their future prospects re jobs and housing. No wonder they seek refuge in their phones.

The kids are alright

Housing absolutely but why jobs? Surely the ‘80s was far harder with over 3 million unemployed?

 

[Albion my Albion]

People who think Gen Z have it tough don’t know what tough is.

I agree.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Gen Z’s being managed in the workplace by millennials, wtf could go wrong

Especially when Milennials are still being managed in the workplace by Boomer adults.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I agree with this but i also think it is worth noting and considering the difference between those who recognise the situation that different generations are born into 9as you have here and those who assign different character traits to said generations. We often hear that generations are lazy, entitled, poor timekeepers, inconsiderate etc etc.


While the evidence is there to describe the different situations people are born into it is not there to describe the character traits. Which is where the bullshit generalizations come in.

I agree. But characterisations are often the outcome of the environment someone has had to endure. It’s a self fulfilling cycle in many situations.

 

[Chicken Run]

Especially when Milennials are still being managed in the workplace by Boomer adults.

Especially when Milennials are still being managed in the workplace by Boomer adults.

Nah not so much, the youngest Boomer’s will be well in to their 60’s now, you mean Gen X’s

 

[Austrian Gull]

Generation Z are those born between 1997 and 2012, so, 13 to 28 year olds today.

They are the social media generation - glued to their smart phones, spend a lot of their time browsing social media, watching memes, online shorts and influencers. They're very conscious if not passionate about mental health and social inclusivity issues... and generally really not into the hedonistic desires of young people of the past, such as sex, drugs and alcohol.

I personally feel they're missing out on life, quite significantly. But that's not say my (millennial) generation was right, but we definitely did things differently. But I am eternally glad that I was not born into the smartphone/social media era. It can't be good for our young people, at all.

You can't have met my nephew!

 

[Mellotron]

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Generation Z are those born between 1997 and 2012, so, 13 to 28 year olds today.

They are the social media generation - glued to their smart phones, spend a lot of their time browsing social media, watching memes, online shorts and influencers. They're very conscious if not passionate about mental health and social inclusivity issues... and generally really not into the hedonistic desires of young people of the past, such as sex, drugs and alcohol.

I personally feel they're missing out on life, quite significantly. But that's not say my (millennial) generation was right, but we definitely did things differently. But I am eternally glad that I was not born into the smartphone/social media era. It can't be good for our young people, at all.

My kids are Gen Z.
They're ok.

 

[trueblue]

Other than playing stuff on their phones without earbuds, they seem alright to me.

 

[Mellotron]

Maybe it's just the ones I know, but on the whole they seem more mature and thoughtful than I remember my generation being between 18-25.

 

[BrickTamland]

Context, I’m 30

I look at it as so. Humans are inherently social and care about their standing in social groups. This is amplified in adolescence.

From 50s - late 90s there was, due to technological limitations, more of a monoculture (handful of tv channels, no internet etc) so whilst sub-cultures existed, they were still very visible and you could easily define yourself through one.

The internet has completely transformed that. Whilst the internet certainly creates trends, the fact is you can find something you’re interested in and make friends online with a handful of people dotted over the globe who you might never meet. You can physically isolate a lot more, and also have less in common with those around you.

The same base instinct to be social and popular are ever present but the ‘how’ looks very different