It looks like Gen Z, the generation that’s the most politically bifurcated by gender, can now add the “AI encouragement gap” (the significant divide between the high rate at which students and employees are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and the low level of support, guidance, or encouragement they receive from their institutions or employers) to their list of grievances. The chasm between a tech-savvy generation and their less tech-savvy managers is setting up a workplace showdown. As many have predicted, AI’s impact on next gen career prospects is nefarious: AI is not only snatching up entry-level roles, but it is also creating a worker-manager intelligence gap in the workplace.
Is AI changing the workplace culture? And the answer is: The generation gap at work is also causing an AI information gap; older less-tech savvy workers are unable (or unwilling) to encourage and support younger tech-savvy workers to use AI.
Next Gen Against a Wall
The gap adds to the next gen’s lack of motivation, which has led to derision from their predecessors, and they’ve been dubbed “lazy” by those who fail to understand the concept of a generational mental health crisis. Rising costs of housing amid stagnating salaries, bleak professional prospects, a contentious political landscape, and the fact that the world may burn to a crisp due to global warming have the youngest generation in the workforce feeling anxious. Gen Z is entering a job market where 35 percent of entry-level jobs require 3+ years of experience, and 45 percent of employers post ghost jobs.
McKinsey’s “Women in the Workplace 2025” report shows that gender also plays a role when it comes to seeking career advancement in our dystopian marketplace. While 88 percent of entry-level women say their career is important to them (around the same level as men), only 69 percent of entry-level women say they want a promotion, compared to 80 percent of entry-level men. And, contrary to what our AI overlords once told us, this disparity is only being exacerbated as companies add artificial intelligence to the mix. Companies are prioritizing training and encouraging men to become AI fluent over women. Early data on gender disparities in workforce AI training and encouragement show that the workplace of the future might be gender biased. McKinsey reports that fewer entry-level women (21 percent) report that their managers have encouraged them to use AI, compared with 33 percent of entry-level men. Analysts are calling AI the new “labor market currency.” If that’s true, Gen Z women will have to fight for adequate AI training, sponsorship, and encouragement, or they risk being left behind.
They Can’t Spend What They’ll Never Have
We can’t talk about Generation Z consumers without discussing their financial straits. Gen Z has the highest average personal debt of any generation, at a whopping $94,101 a pop that’s way higher than millennials ($59,181) and Gen X ($53,255). They have fewer economic prospects and are entering a stale job market that economist Diane Swonk told Fortune is “gut-wrenching” for the middle class. There’s a thin line between optimism and delusion, and next gen consumers are realists. Since they have to be ready for an uncertain future, they consume media critically and research every dollar they spend.
The “AI Encouragement Gap” Creates Generational Disconnects
While gender is perhaps the most concerning factor impacting AI adoption in the workplace, it doesn’t stand alone: age, confidence, and politics surrounding AI adoption also play a role. Even the gender factor is layered. Employers aren’t encouraging women to learn AI technologies in the same way, but women are also more reluctant to adopt AI into their daily workflow. The key issue is that while a majority of students may use AI, just a few feel their organization encourages its use. This puts the generational digital divide in stark contrast. Next gens may look at their older colleagues as out of touch with technology, which leads to the encouragement gap: You can’t teach what you don’t know.
A Gender Bias Culture
So, how does gender bias come into play? Although only 7 percent of Gen Z consumers identify as non-binary, those who do subscribe to gender norms are more divided than ever in political leanings, policy, and even in the media they consume. Consider that 80 percent of “The Joe Rogan Experience” listeners are men, while 70 percent of progressive-leaning “Call Her Daddy” listeners are women. They’re even using different platforms, with men outnumbering women by two to one on X and Reddit.
Gen Z women entering the workforce today find their optimistic enthusiasm quickly mitigated by reality. While most companies still say they are committed to fostering an inclusive culture, few are equally committed to giving women equal career advancement opportunities as men, particularly at entry and senior levels. As a result, Gen Z women who are entering the workforce are screaming from the rafters that career milestones that felt attainable to their predecessors don’t feel attainable for them. Fortune blames this disparity on “pessimism,” which would imply next gen’s bleak career prospects are just a matter of perspective, but the truth is more complex.
Grim Career Prospects Dampen Next Gen Spend
Gen Z purchasing behavior is characterized by frugality and underconsumption. They aren’t the only ones clutching their wallets. Millennials are scaling back, too, and consumer confidence across the board recently plunged to a 12-year low. Speaking of millennials, Gen Z watched us go through recessions, pandemics, government shutdowns, and the advent of AI. When they see their university degree-holding predecessors struggle to leverage their decades in the workforce to make a liveable wage, it’s hard to believe in their own career prospects. After all, millennials started our careers when the job market was rife with opportunities, whereas all Gen Z knows is an Orwellian present.
You may think that, AI encouragement gap aside, at least Gen Z can look forward to a prosperous future, but future employment prospects are equally grim. Goldman Sachs economists David Mericle and Pierfrancesco Mei say that “jobless growth” will be the new normal. The middle class is eroding, and Gen Z literally cannot afford to spend like their predecessors did at their age. They’ve had to learn to express individuality in new ways: Showing off their taste through vintage finds and books rather than a prestige label. They are running marathons over buying Birkins.
When AI fluency defines our corporate future, unplugging may be the greatest form of luxury. How to individuate in a culture dominated by AI? Next gens are buying to express their individuality rather than conforming to a certain social caste. Their curated individual styles influence everything from how they decorate their homes to the notebooks they buy for class. They are shifting into using clothing to proclaim themselves to the world. Individuation is the antithesis of AI homogenization, and they’ll continue to differentiate themselves through fashion––as long as they can afford it.
