I Shared with Business Insider What Our Research Reveals About the Growing Generational Divide

• The divide between “Me-llennials” and “Mega-llennials” is increasingly pronounced within the generation
• Where and how you work matters more than ever
• Sound financial planning has only strengthened Me-llennials’ outlook during and toward a post-pandemic world

As a generational researcher and author of Zconomy, I shared with Hillary Hoffower of Business Insider a trove of our latest research-based insights about the pandemic’s impact on Millennials and the growing Millennial generational divide. Here are a few highlights from the interview.

The difference between “Me-llennials” vs. “Mega-llenials” and why it matters

As I share frequently in my virtual keynotes for associations and executive briefings for our Fortune 500 clients, the divide between “Me-llennials” and “Mega-llenials” is crucial for leaders to understand.

This generation is not one homogenous generation but rather a very diverse generation that, in some ways, is splitting into two generations.

As I shared with Business Insider, “Millennials who feel behind financially and professionally are what we term “Me-llennials,” and those who feel they are financially ahead of the game we term “Mega-llennials.” The latter group has seen much more stable earnings during the pandemic and have even been able to save. Meanwhile, many other Millennials have struggled significantly.

Where you work and what your profession is has been of great importance this past pandemic year

Job sectors and the types of companies where people work have long been key in determining financial realities. In this past year, amidst the background of a heart-wrenching pandemic, differences have only been heightened between workers in various industries. As I shared in the Business Insider interview, “Millennials with college degrees and those who already had a sound financial backstop pre-pandemic are weathering the storm better than their peers.”

However, educational factors are not the only determinant. As I continued in the interview, “It’s a big difference between the Millennial who works in cloud computing versus the one who manages a restaurant.” Plenty of highly-educated people and their businesses have been suffering due to the fact that consumers have drastically changed their shopping, travel, and spending habits.

Millennials who have been planning and saving will be succeeding

Speaking of money management, among Millennials who experienced the Great Recession a dozen years ago, those who took action to pursue a more fiscally self-reliant pathway back then are reaping the benefits now.

As I mentioned to Business Insider, “…some of these Millennials are now allocating discretionary income toward savings, paying off debt, and investing in retirement, others have rushed to cash in on a stock market recovery…these Millennials could have more money on paper than they’ve ever had before.”

Of course, as we are arguably in a “K” shaped recovery–while some are doing well, others are not. This divide will have profound repercussions unless we can start to bridge the economic divide. As I continued in the interview, “We’re going to see a growing divide between the Millennials who’ve weathered the storm financially well, and those who are really struggling financially, and I think that’s going to only grow as they come out of this with different speeds.”

Along with my co-author, Dr. Denise Villa, we write about Millennials’ strengths and then dive deep into the next generation, Gen Z, in our book, Zconomy: How Gen Z Will Change the Future of Business—and What to Do About It. Zconomy has now been translated into five languages!

How to Connect with Your Millennial Customers and Employees Now

There are many challenges with the uncertainty happening around us. To navigate through this challenging time, leaders, marketers, and managers must ensure that their business can engage Millennials now and emerge from this time period stronger. In fact, this has never been more important for employers and marketers as well as for Millennials’ own future.

At CGK, we are continuing to research the Millennial generational divide, and how all generations are thinking about spending, work, brands, family, the economy, and much more throughout the pandemic. My team and I are providing these insights to you as executive briefings, webinars, online roundtables, and virtual keynote presentations to help leaders at all levels and in all industries be accurately informed with missing data and solutions to drive results at this incredibly important time.

Contact my friendly team to learn how our custom research and generational strategies can help your team and organization lead and solve challenges through this time of uncertainty. We look forward to meeting with you!

Generations Media Millennials