2021 Millennial and Gen Z [REPORT]

In a time of crisis, younger generations hold true to their ideals and demand accountability

The pandemic sapped younger generations’ optimism but not their drive to compel real change in society and business. The Deloitte Global 2021 Millennial and Gen Z Survey explains what’s changed—and what hasn’t.

Postpandemic resistance

The lockdown year was rough for everyone, and the Deloitte Global 2021 Millennial and Gen Z Survey shows that younger generations were hit as hard as anyone: being cooped up and isolated, living with the constant fear of getting sick or seeing loved ones get sick, and witnessing devastating events around the globe. The wear and tear of the last year dramatically sapped the optimism that millennials and Gen Zs expressed in the 2020 survey.1

But their resilience remains a hallmark—and they’re looking ahead, channeling their energies into holding themselves and others accountable. The lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed millennials’ and Gen Zs’ activities but not their drive or their desire to be heard. In fact, the new survey—tapping the views of 14,655 millennials and 8,273 Gen Zs in January and February 2021—suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme climate events, and a charged sociopolitical atmosphere may have reinforced people’s passions and given them oxygen. These generations are continuing to compel real change in society and business.

Urging accountability

The pandemic year generated tremendous stress for younger generations, who cite increased worries about employment and health in the survey. But it’s striking that at a moment when the world turned inward, with millions forced to stay indoors, millennials and Gen Zs maintained an outward-looking perspective: They’re the people most likely to call out racism and sexism, and to shun companies and employers whose actions conflict with their personal values.

Of course, that’s a generality—no group of people is homogeneous. But millennials and Gen Zs, on the whole, seem more persistent, more vocal, and more apt than others to question and even upset the status quo. These generations believe in the power of individuals to create change. Even though they want institutions to do more and aren’t hesitant to call for government intervention to fix what they can’t, they embrace personal responsibility. It’s evident in their approach to everything from the pandemic to social justice—an approach that has real ramifications for employers, retailers, and every other organization and institution.

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