As Gen Z enters the workplace, they are hearing on social media handles that Boomers (grandparents) and Gen X (parents) and Gen Y (older siblings), saying they have to work 70 hours a week if they wish to be successful, and shrugging their shoulders when a kid dies due to work pressure, arguing such kids lack inner strength. Clearly there is no Safe Space in the real world. The micro aggression will come from those who hire and manage them in the name of effectiveness and efficiency.
Each of these generations has a different relationship with the digital world. Gen Z was born into a digital world. Gen Y, the millennial, saw the digital world unfolding when they went to college. Gen X witnessed the Digital Revolution as they entered the workplace. Boomers saw the Digital Revolution in mid-career. Each generation has, therefore, a very different relationship with virtual reality. Gen Z was told that they could study from home, during Covid, give exams from home and play at home. But now they are being told they cannot work from home, and that work may not be all fun and they have to deal with real people and real emotions, without the refuge of technology.
The Digital Revolution created a new world order two decades ago, just as the Industrial Revolution created a new world order two centuries ago, and the Agricultural Revolution changed the world eight millennia ago. The Agricultural Revolution created kingdoms and empires. The Industrial Revolution created colonies and eventually democratic nation-states. The Digital Revolution connected everyone through the World Wide Web. Today, you do not have to travel to study, to work, to shop, to sell, to bank, to play. Most things that humans did can now be done by computers-and they seem faster, more predictable, more reliable, more responsive.
We now live in a world where all information is theoretically available to anyone with a smartphone. Access to infinite information has not made anyone wiser or smarter. Industry is terrified of the way Gen Z thinks. Perhaps because Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y were too busy with the Digital Revolution to pay attention to parenting Gen Z.
When Gen Z was conceived, the world was talking about Globalisation. Now, as they are ready to join the workforce, the world is being torn apart by vicious Nationalism and Identity Politics. They are bombarded with information about climate change, about Zionism, about Islamophobia. They are watching world leaders bullying each other. They are confused about what is real and what is fake news. So, they take refuge in the safe bubble of friends who think like them and speak their unique language.
In traditional Indian models, the old generation has to make way for the new generation. This was the old ashrama system, that encouraged householders to retire when grandchildren were born and renounce the world when grandchildren got married. But now we live in a world where no one wants to retire or renounce. With medicines, surgery and botox one can stay young for a very long time, sparing no room for the next generation. Gen Z watches Boomers, Gen Y and Gen Z competing with them, trying to speak their language to stay young. But they do not share the same experiences.
Most Gen Z are single children. Most of them have working parents who gave their jobs priority over them. Many lived in an age of abundance, showered with material delights, and too many options-with access to pleasures that their parents could only dream of-thanks to the Digital Revolution. And they never had to share: their toys, their space. Most interactions were digital, via smartphones. Most conversations were on chats. They grew up touching screens more than humans. They grew up with more unfiltered information than any of their predecessors.
Gen Z is being educated by technology, recruited by technology, accessed through technology, fired by technology, enchanted by technology. They feel safer in the controlled world of virtual reality than the real world outside, where one has to deal with other people’s emotions. They can date online. Find sex online. Online world tells them everything can be bought and sold for a price. Everything is a commodity. And everyone is a consumer. Everyone can be influenced. Everyone wants to be an influencer. Everyone wants to be seen and liked. And no trend, or streak, lasts forever.
Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y created a world where the greatest punishment, the greatest tragedy is not the loss of relationships or loss of human life, but the loss of the smartphone or absence of Wi-Fi. This digital world was built by scientists and engineers who thought measurement and mathematics and technology will establish a better world. Now they are hoping someone creates an app that will get Gen Z to be adequately obedient and productive as employees and consumers.
