Hear me out: Jacob Elordi, eating Hagelslag, reading a book. I'd be sober for that!

GEN Z IS GETTING THE BOOT

As it turns out, the Zs are not cooking in the workspace. Period.

A new survey has just come out, and as it turns out, companies are dismissing college graduates as early as a month after they start. So instead of bringing the disruption to the workforce that we all preached (and quite frankly, dreamed of), Gen Z is just not willing to put in the work. Any work as it turns out.

According to the report , in 2024, 94% of the surveyed companies hired recent college graduates, but only 25% stated that the hires worked out well.

The top key issues? A lack of motivation or initiative (50%), poor communication skills (39%), and a lack of professionalism (46%).

The numbers are worrying:

More than one-fifth (21%) of hiring managers report that recent college graduates often can’t manage the workload. About 20% say they are often late to start work and 19% notice they often don’t dress professionally. Additionally, 19% find that they often don’t use appropriate language for work, while 18% observe they are often late to meetings. Around 17% believe they are often too difficult to manage, and 15% report they often hand assignments in late.

With data like this, it is always easy to blame the weaker side, Gen Z in this case. But let’s not forget that the job market is broken, especially if we look at corporate America, which has inhuman expectations of what work-life balance looks like.

At the same time, being a hiring manager myself, and having worked with different generations, there is good truth in some of the data. From my personal experience, most new college graduates are jumping into the workforce with little to no preparation, expecting the workspace to enforce and mirror their TikTok beliefs, rather than having an understanding of how work, well, works.

To me, it all hinges on attitude. Feeling entitled to certain “perks” is very different from understanding and challenging structures by observation first, and by gaining the trust of your peers. Instead, most of this generation comes with a sense of entitlement, and none of the initiative to make it happen.

Attitude is important, to me, almost as important as “acquired” skills or talent. Give me someone who is driven and shows initiative versus any talent with a lack of drive and a lot of hard skills. As a Millennial manager, I am willing to go to battle for you, and I am willing to be flexible and to disrupt the old ways (which I am not a fan of myself). But first, show me you are committed. If you are not willing to put in the work, then I am also not willing to do it for you.

This is one of the many ways, the algorithm keeps failing this generation: it creates an online echo chamber where their entitlement is echoed by others like them: unprepared by institutions to face the harsh reality of work today.

I want Gen Z to succeed. To disrupt the workforce, to bring more balance to it, and to pave the way to better, and potentially shorter, work weeks. But first, they need to put in the work.

And that is all fax, no printer,

SOCIAL DRINKING GETS A NEW NAME

Millennials created Dry January as a way to detox. Gen Z developed Dry Dating , opting for coffee dates instead of bars. Now, they seem to have come to a consensus on the new trend of the moment: Intermittent Sobriety .

Propelled in larger part by the Sober Curious Movement , the trend has grown significantly with the improved state and assortment of alcohol-free drinks. Not only limited to beers, you can now find good wines, liquor, and even fantastic pre-made mocktail options on the market, some even including amino acids, probiotics, and a bunch of other stuff that should be good for you.

And let’s not forget the surge of Marijuana legalization happening across the world, and the growing industry of THC-infused cocktails, which provide healthier ways to still get that buzz without getting drunk.

The agglomeration of these trends speaks of a younger generation that is trying to develop a healthier relationship with drugs, and opting to only drink, sometimes. A recent survey conducted in the US shows 41% of Americans—and 61% of Gen Z—are looking to cut back on alcohol.

In fact, different from the other movements that preached a 0% alcohol intake, most intermittent sobriety practitioners still drink alcohol, but choose when to do it. A report from CNN shows they buy alcohol and non-alcohol options at the same rate.

A lot of it has also to do with the estate of the economy. As recession and unemployment hit harder, it is only natural for them to cut back on going out, and therefore, on drinking as well. One example comes from China: according to IWSR young adults have been shown to be drinking less due to the 20% unemployment rate for college graduates.

I can attest to the latter. Unemployed for the last 7 months, I have drastically cut back on my drinking habits, and even when I can splurge, I more often than not find myself choosing not to drink.

An article from Fortune also brings to discussion an interesting driver for the trend:

It’s possible that drinking culture is also on this generation’s mind. Growing up in an age where their actions are exhaustively documented, Gen Zers are more hesitant to get rowdy, since they know the evidence might be part of a long-term digital footprint. Almost half (49%) say that their “online image is always at the back of their mind,” per Google Research as cited by the BBC .?

Regardless of the trigger, new generations want to be less dependent on alcohol for fun and are looking for more balance and better options or alternatives. Now is the time to be sober.

THE STATUS OF BEING WELL-READ

If you thought #BookTok was just a niche, clearly you don’t know what is in vogue. And I mean it literally because Vogue magazine just called it: books are the new status symbol item to carry.

The trend is more glaringly understood by the pap walk phenomenon: when a celebrity knows they are going to be photographed, and carry a book (preferably high-brow) to symbolize their current mindset or personality.

And the trend doesn’t just die at the paparazzi shots. In fact, a lot of celebrities and influencers are turning to creating their own book clubs and subscription services as a profitable source of income. Pioneered by Oprah in the late 90s, personalities like RuPaul , Reese Witherspoon , Dua Lipa , Dakota Johnson , and Kaia Gerber have built businesses around books that reflect their values and tastes.

For some of them, it makes more sense than for others. For example, Reese and Dakota also own production companies and use their book clubs to assess market interest for titles they are studying to adapt, as well as to push the popularity of books with incoming series and films in the making.

Expect books to become a bigger part of the cultural conversation, as we all start to tire from doom-scrolling and turn to actual books to pass the time. In fact, publishing is a growing economy, with worldwide revenues forecasted to reach $91.98bn in 2024, with an annual growth rate of 1.58%, leading to a projected market revenue of $99.47bn by 2029.

What are you reading at the moment?

CULTURE BULLET POINTS

… or things to talk about instead of showing people pictures of your cat.

• Back in May, the MONA (Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art) and artist Kirsha Kaechele were sued by a male visitor who was denied entry to the Ladies Lounge , an art installation made only for women to access. At the time, the museum counter-replied to the lawsuit and the forced closure of the Lounge, by hanging a Picasso in the ladies’ restroom. After the museum appealed the decision Kirsha led a group of 70 women to a court appearance, and now, the state’s Supreme Court has allowed the gallery to reinstate the Ladies Lounge. Who’s wearing the pants now?

• #HearMeOutCakes are all the rage on TikTok. In the viral videos, you can see friends and couples pinning on top of a cake, images of their questionable celebrity/fictional crushes. People have fun by surprising their partners with unexpected, and even niche, cartoon characters and celebrities they supposedly have a crush on. So tell me, who would you pin?

• Spilling the tea has taken a whole new meaning in the drama that has ensued after The Queen of Afternoon Tea published a review of independent Cupcake Cafè in Ontario, Canada. Like it or not, the internet is now obsessed with the tasteless response posted by the café on their new TikTok channel, and about all the education they received on high teas. Now we all know: 2 scones per person and clotted cream are to be expected.

• The conspiracy theories are running wild on TikTok! After Diddy’s arrest, almost everyone’s and their mother’s feed has been populated with videos of Jaguar Wright raising allegations about the Carters. Internet sleuths quickly developed their own conspiracies surrounding the lyrics of J. Cole’s “She Knows”, which seem to allegedly implicate Beyoncè knows more than we imagine. Video montages have quickly appeared showcasing artists, like Adele, thanking her in their award acceptance speeches, and comparing it to those who didn’t thank her, like Amy Winehouse, and have met mysterious deaths. Why is everyone so scared of Beyoncè? It is a great rabbit hole to go down on TikTok if you are looking for one.

• Kamala Harris just appeared on the wildly popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, and amongst the questions, she was quick to address the comments that she isn't humble because she doesn't have biological children: “I don't think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble.” She is the president of clapbacks!

BRANDS DOING IT

• As it turns out, in the Netherlands, most people prefer mayo over ketchup when eating their fries. This is not amazing news for Heinz Ketchup. But the brand found the answer to their troubles by looking at Dutch food behaviors, and their love for Hagelslag, known worldwide as sprinkles. As it turns out the country consumes 14 million kilos of Hagelslag each year, with 750,000 slices of bread topped with sprinkles eaten daily. For one of their activations in the country, Heinz developed the HagelChup, sprinkles flavored like ketchup. Looks delicious to me, even though you can’t really buy it in-store, and can only try it at select pop-up installations.

• If you ever had your luggage lost by an airline, you know how painful it can be. Well, if you are an Eton customer, you don’t have to worry about it. With their new Phoenix Service , the brand promises lifetime travel insurance for their White Signature Twill Shirt. Available for a limited number of purchases, Eton offers a free replacement for insured shirts lost during air travel. To qualify, customers must just need to provide airline documentation confirming lost luggage.

• Sleep quality is a big topic right now. Leveraging the high interest, NTT, Japan’s telephone company, has partnered with capsule-hotel 9h to provide guests with personalized sleeping habit reports. The company hopes to use the anonymized data acquired over time to help food and medical equipment manufacturers develop products to improve sleep quality. Sensors, infrared cameras, and microphones have been set up in each of the 70 compartments of the hotel to collect data such as how many times the guest rolls over, how often they snore, and how long they go without breathing due to sleep apnea. Data will be collected on guests who agree in advance, and they can receive the results in reports like these:

THE PLAYLIST

This week we’re struggling with the Joker II soundtrack, crying with Coldplay, dancing with Perrie, making love to Victoria Monét, and chilling with Caribou, among other things we’re doing with new sounds from LISA, The Black Keys, GRACEY, Bava, Joe Jonas and Remy Bond. So grab the third coffee of the day, slip those headphones on, and repeat with me: “This week will be just fine.”