Gen Z is not one thing. That's the finding I keep coming back to. I led three studies on this at EY between 2019 and 2023, and each one turned up the same thing: five different groups inside the generation, with different goals, worries and money habits. One group is cautious with money. Another wants to be rich but isn't willing to work for it. A few care more about staying true to themselves than about fitting in.

As I wrote in the piece, when we flatten an entire generation into a handful of familiar headlines, we may grab clicks, but we lose the very differences that make the generation worth paying attention to. Leaders make better calls about their people, their customers and their strategy when they actually understand who they're dealing with.

Pew just released a major study on working parents. Most business leaders will read it as a workplace story. They should read it as a customer story. And an employee story. And a wake-up call.

Gen Z’s early skepticism of AI wasn’t about fear. It was a warning that people were tired of technology being sold as value before it actually created any, and that companies need to focus less on the AI itself and more on what it makes better for customers and employees.

This piece pushes past headlines portraying Gen Z as powerless in a difficult job market. Marcie examines the doom-scroll narratives, swipe-style job applications, and gaps between education and workplace expectations shaping the experience, then offers a more useful path forward grounded in agency, relationships, and honest feedback.

As companies race to adopt AI, they risk optimizing away the human connection Gen Z values most. Marcie explores why an engaged workforce remains a critical competitive advantage, and how businesses can use AI to strengthen, rather than diminish, the customer experience.