We live in an experience society. No longer striving to meet our basic needs, we have become preoccupied with consumption in the form of experiences over goods or services. Four in five millennials would rather spend money on an experience than buy something. Even when we consume a good or service, we no longer expect to make a purchase and simply walk away. As consumers, we seek additional utility and want to know that our favourite brands are listening. Whether being deligh

Children belonging to Generation Z (born 1995 to 2009) and Generation Alpha (those born since 2010) are citizens of a new world where currency is often invisible: tap and go payments, same day online ordering and delivery, in-game app purchases, electronic bank transfers and bitcoin are commonplace. This year, The Curious Co partnered with the Financial Planning Association for Financial Planning Week (20-26 August 2018) to understand how the next generation interacts with mo

Financial stress, casualisation of the workforce, and digital disruption impacting how we spend our time I had a chat this afternoon with Nova’s FiveAA host, Alan Hickey, on how Australian workers spend their lunch breaks. A recent study by Quickbooks shows that 23% of Australians work through their lunch break every day. A further 10% never work through their meal break. Apparently the ‘land of the long weekend’ means that we work harder than ever throughout the week… or is

What do Gen Z aspire to be when they grow up? I was recently asked to unpack the latest findings from the Australian Institute on Family Studies on ABC The Drum. Gender-based career preferences The AIFS identified there are significant gender differences among Gen Zs aged 14 and 15 when they think about their possible futures. Boys gravitate most towards engineering (14% of those who stated an occupation), information technology (10%), construction (9%), automotive (8%), or s

The typical Australian is a 38 year-old Gen X woman who is married with two children, lives in a mortgaged 3 bedroom home, and was born in Australia with English ancestry. Both her parents were born in Australia, too. She is working full-time and gets to work by car (like 69% of commuters), and her car likely clocks up 14,000kms per year. Not only does she work full-time, she also does between 5 and 14 hours of housework per day. Sounds like a busy woman. Further analysis of

The year 2017 has begun in an environment of perplexed global sentiment. From Brexit to the election of President Trump, the last 9 months have been far from a smooth ride on the world stage, showing a trend towards growing isolationism and increasing uncertainty. For most advanced economies, this uncertainty has bred an increase in nationalism and a move away from globalisation. In Australia, our response – in part fuelled by our strong work ethic and historic undercurrent –

I am often asked to deliver keynote presentations to educators, career advisors, and executives on the future job market. What jobs will remain, and which ones will soon no longer exist? What we know is that 44% of Australian jobs (5.1 million current jobs) are at risk from digital disruption in the next 20 years. At the same time, 75% of Australia’s fastest growing occupations require STEM Skills - Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Studies on employees in the UK ha

Generation Y are today’s 22 – 36 year olds, and make up 22% of the Australian population (5.22 million). They also make up the largest cohort in the workforce (34%). Gen Ys are comprised of today’s parents, senior leaders, influencers, and increasingly wealth accumulators. With 1 in 3 being university educated (compared to 1 in 5 Baby Boomers), they have grown up in shifting times and are digital in nature, global in outlook and are living in accelerated demographic times. It