Is Gen Z, finally, ready to log off?

The Z Factor

For close to three decades after the dot-com boom and the consequent bust, the world has been ruled by the internet. Are we finally becoming tired of it? The signs are everywhere. The average time that people spent on social media grew one-and-a-half times from 2012 to 2018. Since then, it has remained flat. In 2022-23, this figure evidently peaked; it has since fallen.

When the pandemic came around, people believed that remote work would be the future. But surveys show that Gen Z employees despise working from home more than their older colleagues. This year, one Gallup poll found that only 23% of Gen Z workers would choose an exclusively remote job, compared to 35% of all other workers.

Gen Z also, shockingly, enjoys shopping in physical stores. According to one industry study conducted last year, shoppers in their teens and twenties were as unlikely to prefer online shopping as their digitally uncomfortable grandparents.

These trends are increasingly indisputable, but they make sense. Today’s teenagers and young adults grew up in a world essentially designed to increase convenience and speed by reducing human interaction. Three decades ago, you needed to go to the travel agent to book trains and flights, the supermarket to buy groceries, and the film processing centre to develop photos. Now, you can do all of the above instantly, online, at home. Yet, the kids are sick of the disconnect and loneliness that this has caused.

There is a tragedy here. The most digitally connected generation in history may now be craving human connection more than any other. Yet, it is also the most afraid of human connections. In 2022, a Pew survey found that while 65% of teenagers preferred in-school learning to remote or hybrid learning models, nearly a third preferred learning at home because it did not trigger their social anxiety.

The creeping pervasiveness of artificial intelligence is adding new challenges to their social development. Many teenagers now increasingly depend on ChatGPT to be their best friend, therapist, and healing hand. But that is making it even harder for them to connect with real humans, because most people would never speak like ChatGPT.

All this brings us to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The decline in human interaction could pose very real economic challenges for today’s teenagers as they come of age. In an era where AI takes away lonely desk jobs, workers of the future might need to lean more on their social skills to land a job. AI may be able to write code, develop plans and strategies, and draft emails and newsletters. But it can never occupy jobs that require physical interactions with human beings. If you want to compete with the robots, you can’t just emulate them; you’ll have to present employers with the skills that the robots cannot replicate.

This is as much a parenting challenge as it is a skilling challenge. Amid hectic work schedules, many young parents increasingly see the smartphone as a quick fix to appease the toddler who cries for attention or the petulant teenager who has too many demands. But the damage that strategy is doing to the child’s growth is all too real.

For tomorrow’s businesses, there lies an opportunity to move rapidly on the growing offline market. For decades, investors and inventors have focused their energies and resources on building digital solutions for everyday problems. But as younger generations crave genuine human experiences – in flesh and blood – those who cater to that innate demand will do best.

Man, as they say, was always a social animal.

(The writer is a student of all things global and, self-confessedly, master of none, notwithstanding his Columbia Master’s, a stint with the UN and with monarchs in the Middle East.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.