Gen Z and millennials open to more office days - here's what would tempt them back
Gen Z and millennials open to more office days - here's what would tempt them back
Killian Woods
05:00
Shane Duffy, director of offices at Savills Ireland, said the findings show 88 per cent of millennials and 98 per cent of Gen Zers would be open to returning to the office more often. Picture: Savills Ireland
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
9 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Young people are hot for iced coffee – even when the weather isn't that warm
Almost three-quarters (74pc) of consumers in this category buy iced drinks regularly, almost double the proportion (40pc) of over-55s. The findings emerge in the latest Spring and Summer Trends and Insights Report by UK-based coffee syrup manufacturer Beyond the Bean, which looked at stores across Ireland, the UK, US, Canada, Denmark and Poland. It highlights that iced beverage consumption has surged by 26.7pc since 2023, driven mainly by Millennials and Gen Z. 'The report shows that this generation drinks cold drinks all year around – not just during the summer,' said Sheila Dowling, Bewley's Commercial Director. 'There is speculation that younger people will eventually revert to hot coffee, but I don't think that will be the case. 'If we look at sales data on Starbucks in the US, 80pc of their coffee is now served cold.' The trend analysis found that under-30s who drink iced beverages make a purchase every week, with winter consumption six pc higher than average across all other age categories. Despite the price of coffee soaring to global highs this year, Dowling suggests coffee may be an affordable luxury for younger people. 'Where people have disposable income is in colleges and university – they are more likely to spend their income than save for the rainy day,' she said. 'This year, the industry price of coffee rose higher than we'd ever seen in the Bewley's history of coffee - it more than doubled in price compared to this time last year. 'This has implications for the retailer and the customer – the price is going to affect people's pockets. 'Anecdotally, we hear that so many things have gone up in price, but coffee is seen as an affordable luxury.' Separately, the Allegra Project Café Ireland 2025 report, published in April, shows that 18.7pc of male and female respondents order iced coffee on a weekly basis, compared with 25.2pc of males and 21.7pc of females who buy hot coffee. Those living in Dublin are more likely to go iced, with 23.5pc ordering it weekly versus 16. pc outside the county. Over a third of people (31.7pc) aged under-35 in Ireland said they buy iced coffee monthly, with just 10.2pc choosing hot coffee over the same time period. To meet the growing demand for cold brew, Bewley's has spent 18 months sourcing the best cold brew product to bring to the Irish coffee market. The Bewley's Columbian Fairtrade Cold Brew process involves coffee grounds being slowly steeped in cool water, which extracts a less acidic flavour from the bean. The chemical profile and flavour are unique from conventional brewing methods because the ground coffee beans never come into contact with heated water. 'It isn't that the hot espresso over ice option is bad, but it is like comparing pink lady and granny smith apples – they're very different,' said Dowling.
Irish Independent
17 hours ago
- Irish Independent
The €5 latte cannot be far away: hedge funds and iced drinks are driving change in the coffee market
The wholesale price of coffee rose 47pc in a year – is nothing sacred? Fearghal O'Connor With hedge funds driving volatile coffee bean markets to record highs in recent months and a growing taste for cold coffee brews amongst young people, the coffee sector is facing big changes. Prices have fallen back a little in recent months – but right now, the green coffee beans that are the basic raw material for your flat white are 47pc more expensive than they were a year ago, says Sheila Dowling, commercial director at Bewley's, the country's best known bean roaster. That means Bewley's is paying €1.7m more this year for its usual order of green beans – and coffee consumers have been hit with price rises of as much as 30pc a cup. The nightmare scenario for everyone in the sector is to see the price of a cup of coffee rise above €5 – a level that would be hard for consumers to swallow and businesses to sustain, says Dowling. But when, earlier this year, the price of beans on the market rose towards $5 a pound that looked set to become a reality. 'Coffee was always around $1.20 a pound, maybe $1.40. But after Covid things really started to change. We had Ukraine. Then we had the Suez Canal, then the Red Sea. It was the perfect storm – and by February of this year it had risen to over $4.20.' Last week it was reported that the boss of coffee giant Lavazza blamed hedge fund speculation for the volatility. Dowling agrees, but believes that a huge amount of supply that has been bought by speculators will at some point be released into the market and help moderate the price. But the EU's new Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which comes into force in January and aims to curb deforestation linked to the production of commodities such as coffee, could push prices back up. In recent months the price of coffee has fallen slowly, and by last week it was back at $3 a pound. 'But when you think of the weeks ahead, with Trump and tariffs and exchange rates, you just don't know where it's going to go,' she says. ADVERTISEMENT Despite the price of coffee soaring to global highs this year, Dowling suggests coffee may be an affordable luxury for younger people. 'Where people have disposable income is in colleges and universities – they are more likely to spend income than save for a rainy day.' And that generation, she says, is driving another massive sea-change – the cold brew. Coffee lovers under 35 are driving an explosion of iced beverages, a new report by UK-based coffee syrup manufacturer Beyond the Bean has found. Iced beverage consumption in the UK has surged by 26.7pc since 2023, driven mainly by millennial/Gen Z consumers. 'There is speculation that younger people will eventually revert to hot coffee, but I don't think that will be the case. If we look at sales data on Starbucks in the US, 80pc of their coffee is now served cold.' The trend could have big implications, both for coffee shops and for producers such as Bewley's. Cold brew is produced differently than traditional coffee and is supplied as a concentrate. To meet the expected demand for cold brew here, Bewley's has spent 18 months sourcing a cold brew product to bring to the Irish coffee market. The Bewley's Columbian Fairtrade Cold Brew process involves coffee grounds being slowly steeped in cool water, which extracts a less acidic flavour from the bean, says Dowling. 'It's moving fast from a low base, and 50pc of Gen Z are now saying they will drink cold all year round,' she says. 'We're working with a partner right now but it is our ambition to invest in our own business to produce a cold brew. But it's a very different process and it'd be like setting up a whole new factory.'
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Irish workers say AI is increasing opportunities and competition in jobs market
Irish workers say artificial intelligence (AI) is both creating opportunities and intensifying competition in the jobs market, according to a corporate survey. The hiring software firm's survey indicated that half of Irish workers fear for their jobs amid economic uncertainty and nearly two in three are struggling to navigate the jobs market – with AI intensifying competition. Hiring company Greenhouse conducted a survey of 2,200 candidates, including 169 Irish-based workers along with workers from the UK and the US. 73 per cent of Irish workers indicated they are using AI when looking for a new job, mainly for interview preparation (42 per cent), analysing job ads (28 per cent) and generating work samples (25 per cent). A further 54 per cent said AI is making job hunting harder by increasing skill standards and intensifying competition, while 41 per cent said it created and helped uncover new opportunities. The survey also indicated there is a lack of clarity on whether AI can be used when applying for jobs, with 82 per cent of workers stating that employers provided little or no guidance on using AI in interviews. A photo taken on January 2, 2025 shows the letters AI for Artificial Intelligence on a laptop screen (R) next to the logo of the Chat AI application on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images) Nearly half of Irish job seekers said they feel insecure in their current role, while 42 per cent said the job market is very competitive. Chief executive of Greenhouse, Daniel Chait, said hiring is "stuck in an AI doom loop". "As this technology advances, it makes it easier than ever to apply, flooding the system with noise," he said. "With 25 per cent of Gen Z saying AI has made it harder for them to stand out, candidates entering the market are up against more applications, more automation, and less clarity." The survey also indicated that 49 per cent of Irish job seekers said they had been asked inappropriate or biased questions during job application processes. The most common of these was about health or disability status (21 per cent), parental responsibilities (20 per cent), and age (18 per cent). A further 69 per cent said they had removed older experience from their CVs to try and avoid age-based assumptions, according to the survey. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
