As of: March 17, 2024, 11:42 a.m
By: Franziska Kaindl
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They don't really feel like they belong to either Millennials or Gen Z - the term "Zillenials" is intended to describe the in-between generation that was born in the 90s.
Millennials are considered the first digital natives; they grew up with computers and learned how to use cell phones and the Internet at a young age.
At the same time, they are also said to be less politically motivated and more focused on themselves.
Their successor generation, Gen Z, on the other hand, is considered loud and demanding - they are committed to the environment and attach great importance to health.
A generation of revolutionaries.
Between two worlds: the microgeneration of “Zillennials”
Social scientists from the US opinion research institute Pew Research Center describe Millennials as those born between 1981 and 1996, while Gen Z consists of those born between 1997 and 2012.
But there is also a generation of people who don't really feel like they belong to either faction - who are either too young to be a Millennial or too old to be Gen Z.
In the USA, this group is now often referred to as the “Zillennial”.
The micro-generation of “Zillennials” does not feel like they belong to either Millennials or Gen Z.
© Josep Suria/Imago
“Zillennials are a small group born between the early 1990s and the early 2000s,” says Deborah Carr, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Innovation in Social Science (CISS) at Boston University, according to US broadcaster CNN .
“They are on the cusp between Gen Z and Millennials, hence the term Zillennials.”
What makes a Zillennial?
According to Carr, the microgeneration is characterized by the fact that it has already experienced a lot of adversity in its relatively short life.
Their representatives were babies and toddlers when the September 11 attacks occurred, and so grew up knowing the constant threat of terrorism.
In addition, they are still young enough to have missed important social milestones in their formative years - i.e. during school or university - due to the corona pandemic.
In order to distinguish a Zillennial from its predecessors and successors, one can also list the way it deals with technology.
The micro-generation may have grown up with the Internet, but they don't take it for granted as much as Gen Z, who don't know life without a smartphone.
Performing dances for TikTok is as alien to the Zillennial as MySpace, the first social network Millennials grew up with.
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In their working lives, Zillennials want more benefits and holistic benefits packages from their employers, as a survey by the insurance company MetLife in the US has shown.
They are also willing to leave their company for a better offer.
41 percent of participants also said they felt like their employer was doing the “minimum” to help them adjust to their new work environment.
Many therefore want a work culture that focuses more on the social and mental health of employees and recognizes the importance of a good work-life balance and a clear end of work period.
Does the Zillennial really exist?
For many people born in the 90s, the concept of the “Zillennial” is the answer to their generational conflict.
From a purely scientific perspective, this hybrid creature does not exist, as Rüdiger Maas from the private Institute for Generational Research says according to the online portal
Stern
.
However, the term has become a trend because it presents a complex issue in a simplified manner.
The problem, however, is that representatives from sociology once suggested a gap of 15 years when dividing generations: “This classification was adopted bluntly, but after the Second World War it broke with the baby boomers,” says Maas.
According to science, you are a baby boomer if you were born between 1960 and 1965.
In reality, however, the generation researcher believes that those born up to 1969 should be included.
He is of the opinion: "Dividing a new generation every 15 years does not make scientific sense - and especially not to do it worldwide."
In his view, the development of technology plays a crucial role in distinguishing between Millennial and Gen Z: the former have an analogue background and experienced childhood and adolescence without a smartphone, while the latter have no idea what life looks like without a smartphone.
The “Zillennials” would be somewhere in between.