Scrolling through LinkedIn and Reddit lately, one thing keeps popping up: the “Gen Z vs. Millennial cringe” debates. Everyone’s comparing values, habits, and digital preferences – often with more drama than clarity. Newsweek even picked it up recently, highlighting how these viral conversations are sparking real tension (and plenty of memes) between the two cohorts.
It got me thinking about my own workplace reality. I sit across from my colleague Janice – she’s Gen Z, I’m a Millennial – and we do the same briefs for the same clients. Yet our habits, instincts, and approaches couldn’t be more different. Some of what people laugh at online has truth underneath, and our daily debates in PR often land on the same themes: phone calls, work boundaries, career progression, hustle culture, campaign thinking, feedback, and even office life.
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Take phone calls. I don’t enjoy them, but I’ll still grit my teeth and dial if I need to reach a journalist. It works. Janice, meanwhile, sees calls as intrusive – she prefers DMs, WhatsApp, or voice notes, ideally with a written heads-up first. For her, it’s not avoidance; it’s about respecting people’s boundaries. For me, phone calls were simply how relationships were built.
The same goes for work hours. When I started out, being ‘always on’ was the standard. Midnight emails, weekend calls – it was almost a badge of honour. Janice finds that exhausting. For her, boundaries are non-negotiable. If something isn’t urgent, it can wait. I see her point but I also see the value in availability – it helped me build trust early on – but she argues, convincingly, that quality work within boundaries earns trust too.
Career progression is another fault line. I was trained to climb step by step: put in the years, earn your stripes, wait for promotions. Janice points out that her generation grew up in a fast, unforgiving environment, and those who deliver results deserve recognition without the slow grind. She’s not dismissing patience; she’s saying momentum matters. Growth, for her means being seen and trusted when ready to take on more. I’d say there’s value in momentum, growth doesn’t always have to mean climbing quickly. But it can mean feeling seen and trusted when we’re ready to take on more.
Even hustle culture divides us. Millennials like me wore burnout as a badge of pride. Gen Z, by contrast, question why work should take nine hours if it can be done in six. To them, efficiency is smart, not lazy. I still believe going the extra mile pays off, but I can’t argue with her point that clients ultimately care about results, not how late you stayed up.
When it comes to campaign thinking my instinct is to reach for decks, frameworks, and arcs. Janice’s instinct is to spot a meme or a trend and run with it. Structure matters, yes – but so does agility. The sweet spot is probably both.
Feedback and recognition also show the generational gap. I grew up waiting for annual appraisals and the occasional pat on the back. Janice can’t imagine waiting months for feedback that could be given instantly. Transparency and regular recognition, she argues, help her feel valued and deliver better work. I admit, she has a point.
Even on remote versus office work, we land in different places. I’m a WFH campaigner – give me my laptop, Wi-Fi, and dogs, and I’m set. Janice sees the value of being in the office early in one’s career – for culture, learning, and connections. Hybrid, we agree, is probably the sweet spot.
The truth is, neither approach is “better.” The industry thrives when multiple perspectives coexist – when Millennials’ structure and experience meet Gen Z’s agility and cultural instinct. PR has always been about building bridges, and maybe this intergenerational conversation is the bridge we need most.
Here’s what I’ve learned from sitting across from Janice:
- Don’t just assign tasks – give younger professionals ownership of ideas, experiments, and outcomes. If you want fresh thinking, create space for it.
- Hybrid, outcome-driven work is the new baseline. The best teams won’t ask “office or home?” – they’ll ask “what works best for this campaign?”
- Long-form writing still matters, but so do memes, short-form content, and AI-enabled workflows. Development plans must reflect today’s reality, not yesterday’s.
- Pair Millennials’ structure and relationships with Gen Z’s cultural radar and digital speed. Strategy and execution shouldn’t live in silos.
- Gen Z isn’t waiting for the industry to catch up – they’re already reshaping it. The smart move is to stay curious, listen, and adapt.
By Natasha D’Souza, Senior Director, Golin MENA.
