Brit Gets Schooled on Gen Z By 'Never Have I Ever' Star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Millennials And Gen Z Are Both Living In A Digital Age

Millennials grew up during a time when the digital age didn't exist, but we watched it unfold and change the way the world communicates. The internet launched in 1993 and connected people to each other in a way no one could've expected (via NPR).

I remember when MySpace, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LTK, Snapchat, and more popular apps launched — literally started from the beginning. Growing during as the digital age became what we know it as today, I can confidently say that Millennials and Gen Z are still finding our footing with all of the technology — and constant connection — at our disposal.

We both watched as social media and the algorithm change the way we think. We saw the rise of content creators and heavy politicized messages filtered to us. We doom scrolled and curated and shared and liked and kept trying to find the balance that would finally feel just right.

We're all in this very online experience together at the end of the day.

Millennials And Gen Z Value Flexibility

Going from my 20sto my 30s has seriously made me realize the flexibility I crave as a Millennial. It seems like I was born to look at certain parts of traditional ideals and go, "That's not going to work for me." It's even more evident now that I'm older and have found that my approach to my career and family life doesn't completely match what I was taught. And it's not that different for Gen Z either — check it out!

Approach To Careers

Over 80% of both Millennials and Gen Z believe it's important to work somewhere that gives us a sense of purpose. According to Deloitte, both generations also value work/life balance that doesn't require us to pretend that we don't have a life or other obligations outside of our jobs.

As a mom, this was one of the biggest issues I faced because I realized how much society doesn't make room for working parents. The amount of times I heard a random stranger say, "Parents should plan for one person to be at home" as if that solves the problem is ridiculous.

Whether we have families to raise, hobbies to juggle, or anything in between, it's clear that Millennials and Gen Z crave balance in their careers.

Views Of The Nuclear Family

Speaking of motherhood, I like to think Millennials and Gen Z aren't so different when it comes to our perspective of the nuclear family. Studies via Pew Research Center show we're not as judgmental about single-parent homes than prior generations, and that only 44% of Millennials were married in 2019.

This idea that families are supposed to look a certain way in order to be legit is something Millennials and Gen Z continue to raise their eyebrows at — and even scoffed at — but not because we don't value family. We're just less likely to stress ourselves out believing we're failing or behind because we don't have or want the traditional nuclear family model. Both generations approach relationships and family on our own terms.

Millennials And Gen Z Gravitate Towards The Same Pop Culture

Did you know almost half of Millennials love listening to music in our spare time (via Spotify), while 43% of Gen Z loves to stream it (via EMarketer) as well? It seems like music still makes the world go around.

Besides that, Millennials and Gen Z are still the driving force behind what's considered in or out in pop culture. Gen Z is usually regarded as being tastemakers on TikTok, but reporting from Ad Newsshows that Millennials are "...2.3 times more likely to be the ones fueling this online content engine by posting videos and tagging brands."

Basically, we're both moving the pop culture needle forward, consuming and driving the trends across platforms! So remind me, how different are we again?

Millennials And Gen Z Value Diversity And Inclusivity

I grew up during a time where certain internal biases were stated as facts and it was always handful of weird pills to swallow. I couldn't understand why I'd hear "Love thy neighnor" in church only to watch some of the same people blatantly treat the LGBTQ+ community in hellish ways. We could talk about what's in the Bible all day long, but I've never been a fan of picking and choosing who's worthy of being treated with love and respect.

It's clear I'm not the only one who rejects those notions, though. First of all, more young adults are identifying as queer than ever. In 2022, 19.7% of Gen Z and 11.2% of Millennials identified as part of the LGBT community compared to 3.3% of Generation X and 2.7% of Baby Boomers (Gallup).

Outside of sexual identity, there's also the racial aspect of how accepting Millennials and Gen Z are. According to reporting from Built In, 48% of Gen Z are racially diverse, and Millennials are 19% more racially diverse than Baby Boomers. This leads me to believe that both generations know that the world doesn't look a singular way — and therefore respect and understand that diversity even more than previous generations.

These shared qualities and values are just another way that Gen Z and Millennials are more similar than they are different at the end of the day. But in the ways we are different — well both generations would know how to celebrate that diversity, now wouldn't they? 😉

Millennials And Gen Z Aren't Fans Of Injustice

Compared to prior generations, Millennials and Gen Z have found ways to speak out against injustice. Both generations believe that systemic racism is still an issue in society (via Forbes) with 92% of Gen Z willing to be a part of public protests (via Oliver Wyman Forum). Despite the higher number of Gen Z that are actively participating in protests, Millennials have changed their tune.

Social justice organization, Points of Light discovered that 50% more of Millennials believe in civic engagement now that we're living in a post-pandemic era, which isn't hard to believe. We're in the midst of a great political, racial, and social reckoning that's causing more younger people to speak up than before.

A part of me is keeping hope alive that this Millennials vs. Gen Z debate doesn't take away from all of the ways we can align to continue changing outdated ideals and policies. It seems like together, we can create a positive change in the world around us.

What is the 4-day work week?

The 4-day work week erases the typical five-day, 9-5 work schedule most of us know (and loathe), leaning in favor of 32 hours of actual work time each week. The abbreviated hours warrant the same amount of pay that a 40-hour work week would, offering the likelihood of more employee retention and productivity for companies. For employees, the benefits lie in improved mental and physical health, reduced stress, and more personal time to take care of OOO projects or just relax.

Findings from a recent six-month 4-day work week trial across 61 companies in the UK report that 92% of the companies involved in the trial are officially implementing the shortened workflow. In this case, the companies reported significant decreases in employees’ sick days, personal days, and resignations compared to previous quarters. Despite impressions that a 4-day work week might harm productivity, revenues actually increased an average of 1.4% across the board.

Different companies have toyed with accomplishing the 32 hours over 4 or 5 days – but either avenue still suggests that reduced work hours provide positive changes.

Though some 4-day week studies were ongoing pre-COVID, there’s no doubting that the pandemic remarkably altered attitudes toward working, resulting in more curiosity about the shortened week. 2020 brought about a societal shift toward solely working from home – with this, workers uncovered the sheer power of a healthy work-life balance, and are seeking it to this day.

Work-Life Balance In The 4-Day Work Week

The 4-day work week lends itself to a generous work-life balance where employees can take care of themselves and the rest of life’s obligations more thoughtfully. Just imagine a world where every weekend is a 3-day weekend – you could finally take your car in for service without wasting a precious lunch break, or take your kid to the waterpark of their dreams, all without an endless stream of emails looming in the background.

This new framework comes at a time when workplace burnout is at an all-time high, pushing people who once cared a lot about their job to the brink of chronic stress or straight-up apathy – and neither one’s a good recipe for productivity. Burnout also persuades employees to prioritize themselves over mundane work tasks – another threat to companies’ KPIs.

We’ll see this self-before-work mindset become even more widespread as Gen Zinfiltrates the workforce, demanding flexibility and autonomy. But reduced work stress and more leisure time for employees of all generations could result in more positive mental and physical health outcomes, allowing them to perform more efficiently and effectively. The UK 4-day work week trial saw noteworthy reductions in burnout, stress, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep issues among workers, and suggests others outside of the study can feel the same.

Workplace Productivity And The 4-Day Work Week

According to Parkinson’s law, people work harder when given less time to do the work. This same idea applies to the 4-day work week. Some companies have seen productivity jump as much as 40% in comparison to that of a 5-day work week, without asking less of their employees. The quality of work getting done could potentially suffer, though, which is an aspect 4-day-curious companies should consider.

AI can also aid productivity within the shortened work week. Just like any new technology – like the invention of email or the iPhone – made work easier, AI can take the heavy-lifting out of day-to-day work tasks, sometimes shaving off hours or *days* off of total work time. This is a huge win for teams that seek success through efficiency and productivity.

Why not the 4-day work week?

The main arguments against implementing a 4-day work week is that less face-to-face interaction among teams will result in a less socialized work environment and a loss of office culture.

Though these potential outcomes exist, fresh faces in the workforce don't necessarily view them as negative. After all, Gen Z isn’t taking away office socialization and culture entirely, they’re just changing it. Office culture is rarely at the front of Gen Z minds, too – they’d rather work for companies that can exhibit their commitment to the issues their generation was cursed with, like climate change, sustainability, social justice, and diversity.

For Companies Considering A Shorter Work Week

The 4-day work week can benefit companies beyond just work. Along with offering insurance and retirement packages, company leadership and management can use the 4-day week’s strong appeal to draw in more talent. We saw this unfold when remote work became more of a thing, so it’s reasonable to predict that the flexible 4-day work week calls for more interest in the roles companies have to offer.

Companies can also leverage the shortened week towards their employee retention efforts. Employees want to work for companies whose ethos aligns with their own – and since the workforce has increasingly opted for anti-burnout solutions, they’ll want to continue working for companies that value their wellbeing.

Is Kevin Costner in Yellowstone season 5 part 2?

No Kevin Costner is not in the second half of Yellowstone season 5, and we find out the fate of his character John Dutton immediately. When Beth and Kayce find John dead in the bathroom, Beth immediately suspects foul play and blames it on Jamie. Well, Kevin is finally speaking on his character's end, and told The Michael Smerconish Programon November 11 that he actually didn't know the show had premiered the night before.

“I’m going to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know it was actually airing last night,” he says. “That’s a swear-to-God moment. I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I’m thinking, ‘Gee, I’m not in that one.’ But I didn’t realize yesterday was the thing...I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it.”

But even if Kevin isn't over the moon about watching his character die, he doesn't have any bad blood with the writers. “They’re pretty smart people,” he continues. “Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out.”

Well, the actor told Entertainment Tonight that he STILL hasn't seen the season 5 premiere as of November 17. “I didn’t watch it, so I don’t really have any thoughts about it,” he said. Due to delays from the writer's strike, and a tug-of-war between Paramount saying Kevin couldn't film new episodes and Kevin saying creator Taylor Sheridan took too long to write the scripts, the actor chose to leave the series, reportedly in part to promote his Horizon movie franchise.

“I gave this thing five seasons,” the actor told The Hollywood Reporterthis summer. “I was really happy to do it. And I don’t need drama. So, let’s just take that drama away, let’s take the guessing [away]. The fans have been way too good to me. And my obligation is to go on and continue to make things that mean something to them.”

See our interviews with the 'Yellowstone' cast!

@britandco Who run the world ?! #kellyreilly#yellowstone#bethdutton#tv#tvshow#premiere#nyc#newyork♬ original sound - Brit + Co

Wendy Moniz spilled on working with everyone's favorite lady Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton).

@britandco John Emmet Tracy told us all about filming the final season of #Yellowstone 🐴 #johnemmettracy#ellissteele#nyc#redcarpet#premiere#newyork#newyorkcity#fyp♬ original sound - Brit + Co

While John Emmet Tracy gave us the best advice for dealing with crazy families during the holidays!

@britandco You’re welcome 😌 #yellowstone#cowboy#cowboyboots#fashion#premiere#fyp#ianbohen♬ original sound - Brit + Co

And we couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask Ian Bohen the best way to take off cowboy boots ;).

What is Yellowstone season 5 about?

Yellowstone Season 5 Plot

The series introduced us to the Duttons, a powerful family in charge of America's biggest contiguous cattle ranch. Every season has been gritty and powerful, and in the fifth season, we've seen John become Montana's governor and make Beth his chief of staff. But with Jamie trying to take the power away from his dad, the Duttons are fighting each other like we've never seen — especially when Jamie and Beth start considering how to get away with murder.

Luke Grimes recently told Entertainment Weekly how pleased he is with the finale, and Kelly Reilly revealed creator Taylor Sheridan actually told her the ending to the series while they filmed season 1.

“I read the last episode the day before we started filming,” Luke says. “I couldn't be happier. I think it's a perfect ending for the show for every character. It's just a testament to what a good writer Taylor is, and it's a very, very profound, beautiful ending. I can't wait to sit down and watch it one day.”

Is Yellowstone season 5 part 2 out yet?

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 Release Date

Yes, Yellowstone season 5 part 2 premiered on Paramount November 10, 2024. You can watch new episodes every Sunday.

The series filmed in Montana during the summer of 2024.

Who's in the cast of Yellowstone season 5?

Yellowstone Season 5 Cast

The cast of Yellowstone season 5 includes Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Brecken Merrill, Finn Little, Cole Hauser, Gil Birmingham, Wendy Moniz, and Mo Brings Plenty.

Where can I watch season 5 part 1 of Yellowstone?

The first half of Yellowstone season 5 is now streaming on Peacock.

Will there be a season 6 of Yellowstone?

It's always hard to say goodbye to a beloved show, but despite reports that Yellowstone would end with season 5, it looks like we could be getting a Yellowstone season 6 after all. Deadline confirmed that negotiations are happening for a potential continuation, which would focus on Kelly Reilly's Beth and Cole Hauser's Rip.

Reilly told Entertainment Weekly ahead of the season 5 premiere that "Beth is more like a wild animal this season than ever. When I read the scripts, it made me think [that] she is, for the first time, maybe afraid she will lose it for [her dad]."

"It's dark, brutal and desperate stuff — gaining power, losing it, defending and fighting," she continues. "It's bloody and at times beautiful in how it breaks them into their core selves." The setup for a potential season 6 will totally depend on how season 5 ends — and how it affects Beth, Rip, and the rest of the family.