“Crisis after crisis after crisis” pretty much sums up the past few years. For Gen Z, coming of age amid this permacrisis, it’s been…a lot. But large-scale social upheaval is often the catalyst for an entirely new way of thinking, ushering in creativity and fundamental change. Today’s brightest young minds are not just talking about the change they’d like to see; they’re turning to action to solve the world's biggest problems.
This generation is a cohort to be reckoned with. Gen Z is no longer accepting a singular truth – they are extending into the nuance of process to challenge our guideposts for success, and they’re ready to mix up the agenda.
In From Talk To Action: Cassandra’s 2023 Outlook report, we see off yet another unendurable year and lean into a more BeReal-type world. We explore the most meaningful trends and move forward into 2023.
The connective thread between these cultural trends is that the shifting economic and political landscape has accelerated their gravity. While today’s youth drives these trends, we anticipate they will continue to make waves throughout mainstream culture in the year ahead.
Since the start of the pandemic, Cassandra has been exploring all the ways youth are re-evaluating priorities, deciding what to keep and what to let go of, and moving through the world with new intent. They're pushing back against the grit-infused, achievement-oriented ways in which they were raised, and instead acknowledging that the struggle is real and that it’s ok to share imperfection over perfection. They’re making their voices louder and demanding a seat at the table, doubling down on their political power to get sh*t done. Today’s youth recognize that they hold the cards to shaping democracy, the workplace, and success, and with the humbling of genius billionaires upon us, Gen Z, not tech founders with an overinflated sense of self-worth, will take control to create the next phase of our society.