Latest news with #genZs
Perth Now
04-07-2025
- Perth Now
Brrrrring! It's the landline calling
Mum has ditched the home phone. The writing was on the wall when it started to ring and no one budged. 'Are you going to get that?' I asked. 'Don't bother,' Mum said. 'It's scammers. It's only ever scammers.' She wasn't being paranoid. In the UK, an estimated 50 per cent of calls to landlines were from scammers. In Australia, 90 per cent of landline owners reported receiving scam calls. The other 10 per cent are busy investing in a new opportunity presented by a minor Nigerian royal. And so, tired of paying for a service simply so criminals could contact her, Mum ditched the home phone. Which is bad news for me because if I am ever arrested/kidnapped/held hostage and can make a single call, that's the only phone number I have memorised (and, like everyone, the Pizza Hut delivery number from the early 90s). If you want to scam Mum you're going to have to work harder. Try some door-to-door scamming. The home phone, once an essential part of any household, has largely disappeared. Only about a third of Australians still have a landline although most of them seem more decorative than useful — only 1.6 per cent of us have a landline as our only phone. But don't sound the death knell just yet because, like low-rise jeans and diet culture, they are back, baby. Kind of. Riding a questionable wave of (misplaced?) nostalgia. It's called digital minimalism, a trend being embraced by millennials and gen Zs who are sick of the toxic pull of smartphones and time-sucking properties of social media. You still use technology, but sparingly. Making it work for you in a positive way rather than the negative time suck it can be. A renewed interest in landlines is part of that. Sure, it's tied to one location and you can't access TikTok on it, but that's exactly its appeal. Admittedly, a lot of the gen Z landline users seem more interested in posing for cute pictures with their retro phones. Pictures taken on their smartphones and then posted online. But not all the interest in landlines is rooted in nostalgia. Millennial parents want to bring back the old home phone as a way to give their kids a line to the outside world without handing over a mobile phone. There is also the added bonus of teaching them how to speak on the phone. Yes, that's a skill that needs to be taught — we discovered this when it skipped a generation. A 2023 survey found 60 per cent of Aussie gen Zs dread speaking on the phone. It's becoming a growing issue as this cohort enter the workforce, that is if they even pick up the initial screening call from HR after they email in their CV. It seems that making awkward chitchat with your friend's parents or (mortifyingly) older siblings before the handset is handed to your mate is actually a big life skill. As is talking to your crush in the kitchen with your parents or (really mortifyingly) older siblings listening in. Of course, unless the trickle turns into a flood, any revival of the home phone will simply involve a few kids calling their friends' parents' mobile phones. But with a growing awareness of the negatives of mobile phones, perhaps getting back to basics isn't such a bad idea after all. Just make sure you screen out the scammers.
Irish Examiner
21-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Over half of gen Z and millennial workers live paycheck to paycheck, survey finds
Just over half of millennial and gen Z workers are living paycheck to paycheck, with many expressing concern that they will not be able to retire with a degree of financial comfort, a new survey has found. The latest edition of the Deloitte 'Gen Z and Millennial Global Survey' comes as gen Z and millennials continue to become an ever more important part of the global workforce. It is estimated that these two generations will account for nearly three-quarters of all employees by 2030. The survey found that 56% of gen Z workers and 53% of millennial workers in Ireland live paycheck to paycheck — similar to levels seen in other countries — while 43% of gen Z and millennial workers say they struggle to pay all their living expenses each month. It found that 47% of Millennials fear that they will not be able to retire with financial comfort. This concern drops to 38% among gen Z. Deloitte's HR strategy and technology director Vipin Tanwar said: 'Gen Z and Millennials want meaningful, flexible forward-focused work environments,' citing the survey which showed 87% of gen Zs and 91% of Mmllennials say purpose is key to job satisfaction. 'They are ambitious but aren't just working for a salary. This represents a big generational shift where purpose and personal-development aren't just 'nice-to-haves' anymore, they are valid expectations,' he said. The survey also found that 66% of gen Zs and 39% of millennials are upskilling weekly, with 48% already using GenAI at work. It also shows a gap in workplace support, with most respondents reporting that managers fall short in providing guidance or addressing mental health needs. According to Deloitte, over 23,000 young workers across 44 countries took part in the survey including 415 from Ireland. This number comprises 309 Gen Z individuals and 106 millennials. Read More Banks eager to give out 'a lot more' loans for house building as billions available
