HP Innovation Journal Issue 13: Winter 2019 | Page 55

Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012—seemingly
with smartphones in hand—are entering the workforce
in the US, all 61 million of them. With the oldest among
them turning 22 this year, they are just beginning to make
their mark, but it’s already substantial. Globally, they hold
purchasing power of more than $500 billion and mobile
buying power of $143 billion. By 2020, they will account for
40% of all consumers, as well as 10% of eligible voters in the
next US presidential election.
Gen Z expects tech to be integrated in their daily lives in a
way that’s different from any other generation before them.
Why? Consider what else was born in 1997: Google (along
with many other now-defunct search engines) and Netflix
(then a DVD-rentals-by-mail service). Amazon went public
that same year. By the mid-2000s, Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter, Hulu, and Instagram were beginning to disrupt
consumption habits forever. None of these were new to
this generation, they were just always there.
“With [this generation] and technology, there’s almost no
division,” says Jack Mackenzie, executive vice president of
market research firm PSB. “I don’t even know if they think
of it as technology. They just think of it as the way it is. It’s
just ingrained into their minute-by-minute behaviors.”
As Generation Z enters the workforce, they’re seeing
remote work as the norm, with flexibility and work-life
harmony enabled by technology.
FLUID, GLOBAL, CONNECTED
As powerful as they are as a group, they support and
embrace the individual, tossing aside definitive labels
made standard by generations past and disregarding the
status quo in many areas, from gender identification and
sexual orientation to race and religion. For example, nearly
half (48%) of the generation is nonwhite, compared with
39% of Millennials and just 18% of early Baby Boomers,
according to the Pew Research Center. A report from the
Gen Z-focused think tank Irregular Labs found that a
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