Relax Gen Z, things will be better for you

Societal changes promised by Donald Trump will be sweeping. Picture: AP

In Australia, the US and many parts of the world, Generation Z – people aged from 12 to 27 – are bewildered that Donald Trump has become the 47th president.

Yet this generation stands to be the biggest beneficiary of the incredible changes ahead for both the US and Australia as a result of the Trump ascendancy.

And so this commentary is directed to that generation. But because I suspect most of my readers are older, I ask parents and grandparents to pass on my message of hope and opportunity to their children and grandchildren.

And at the end of this the commentary I will, albeit inadequately, try to explain why so many American mothers and grandmothers told US opinion pollsters they would vote for Harris when they always intended to vote for Trump.

In yesterday’s commentary I explained the unique role of Elon Musk in delivering Donald Trump back to the White House. And Trump recognised Musk’s role in eight words: “We have a new star. Elon is born.”

Trump plans to give Musk the task of using his and his team’s enhanced computer skills, including artificial intelligence, to make the American government efficient. Musk expects to cut government costs by $US2 trillion ($3 trillion), or 30 per cent, and says the US has a “vast federal bureaucracy … holding America back in a big way”.

We don’t have a Musk role in government so it will take time for the Australian public service to wake up to what is happening. But both Australian and American enterprises are going to be transformed relatively quickly. This will create unprecedented job insecurity fears among white-collar workers and the Musk-estimated 30 per cent job losses can probably be applied to the private sector.

Initially that’s going to make it hard for Generation Z to gain employment. But take comfort. You are much better equipped to handle this new era than your parents and grandparents. But there are new rules that you must understand to tap your advantage.

Shay Peters, the Australian and New Zealand chief executive of global professional recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, has helped to set out this new vision.

The current white-collar workforce is dominated by people with hard skills – specific teachable abilities or knowledge sets required for a particular function, including proficiency in a software program, technical expertise and accounts.

Vast numbers of these tasks are going to be performed by artificial intelligence and that’s why Musk believes he can cut US government costs.

The new generation must understand how to use the technology but they will also need soft skills. Unlike hard skills, which are job-specific and measurable, soft skills are broader and include competencies such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving. They are critical for fostering a collaborative work environment and enhancing overall team performance.

Generation Z grew up with technology and if they combine that knowledge with communication skills they are ideally placed to benefit from the new era, especially as baby boomers who have the key jobs are retiring. But those Gen Z people who think they can do most of their work at home will fail if they cease to be team members.

One of the reasons the US sharemarket rose so strongly when Trump became president is that it heralds this new lower-cost era. Enterprises that successfully embrace that trend have the opportunity to be a lot more profitable, and Gen Z has the opportunity to be part of that increased prosperity. But they must understand the new rules.

Now I put forward four reasons why so many American mothers and grandmothers voted for Donald Trump even though he is not a nice person by their standards.

• They are genuinely concerned by the obesity in their own families and their communities. Last August I described how Trump embraced the program of Robert F Kennedy Jr, who campaigned to force US processed food makers to remove harmful substances that cause obesity from their products.

Kennedy agreed to campaign for Trump, who agreed in response to deliver the required revolution to the US food production and processing industry, which will spread to Australia.

• American schools and tertiary education bodies have become centres of woke ideas and have excluded those who have different viewpoints. This is led to anti-Semitism and made it very difficult for people of faith, including Christians, Jews, Muslims and others, to express their views in schools and tertiary institutions. Trump promises to reverse that.

• As has occurred in Australia, the disastrous educational methods the US has embraced in primary schools are producing large numbers of students who can’t read and write – particularly males.

This is fostering family and community violence. The Trump education revolution is designed to change teaching but it will be very difficult to do.

• Americans have welcomed new citizens for generations but the avalanche of illegal migrants without skills has caused great community problems. Trump will stop it.

Back to Australia; my advice to Gen Z is make sure you are grounded in the basics but also learn communication and teamwork skills. Take an extra course if you think you need help.

And when you apply for a job make sure you display your communication skills.