Latest news with #GenX
New York Post
16 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
Many are turning to AI to escape from repetitive tasks in the workplace, new study reveals
American workers' productivity peaks at 11 a.m. on Mondays, according to new research. The survey of 2,000 knowledge workers revealed when respondents are most productive — and when they're least productive, which was found to be Fridays at 12:06 p.m. Advertisement While most workers (56%) are 'very productive' throughout the average workday, respondents admitted they have an average of 53 tasks per week that ruin their productive momentum. 6 The survey of 2,000 knowledge workers revealed when respondents are most productive — and when they're least productive. – This leads to over three and a half hours of 'lost productivity' per week. Commissioned by Grammarly and conducted by Talker Research, the survey examined what tasks are impacting Americans' productivity and how AI may be a solution for some. Advertisement Forty-four percent of workers surveyed said they 'hate' the repetitive aspects of their job. 6 Respondents admitted they have an average of 53 tasks per week that ruin their productive momentum. SWNS Younger respondents were more likely to agree — 57% of Gen Z workers dislike the mundane aspects, compared to 42% of Gen X. Perhaps because of this, 62% of respondents said there are tasks they'd like to use AI for within their job. Advertisement When asked what they'd find beneficial with an AI tool, employees highlighted having a tool that's easy to use (49%) and can help draft emails for them (35%), as well as something that's easy to prompt (35%). They'd also like a tool that can help with their repetitive tasks, with about a third of respondents wanting to use AI to sort data in a spreadsheet (34%) or draft notes in a meeting (33%). 6 62% of respondents said there are tasks they'd like to use AI for within their job. SWNS That's in addition to a tool that can take on simple workflows autonomously (31%) and integrates well with existing tools workers use (31%). 'We're seeing professionals turn to AI to automate repetitive tasks through intuitive, user-friendly tools that fit naturally into their existing workflows,' said Heather Breslow, Head of UX and Marketing Research at Grammarly. 'By minimizing the tedious tasks that get in the way of true productivity, AI users have time to focus on more meaningful work that requires their judgment, creativity and care.' Advertisement 6 Forty-four percent of workers surveyed said they 'hate' the repetitive aspects of their job. SWNS Despite workers already using AI, less than half of respondents' companies have a clear AI policy (38%). Still, 50% wish their workplace was more willing to embrace AI tools, with Gen Z the most likely to agree (67% vs. 59% of millennials and 45% of Gen X). This is likely because respondents see AI as an opportunity for their career to grow (64%) rather than a threat (16%). Results revealed 76% believe AI will be an essential part of corporate jobs in the future — and the future isn't that far away. 6 Despite workers already using AI, less than half of respondents' companies have a clear AI policy (38%). SWNS These respondents said, on average, it would only be three and a half years before AI becomes essential to corporate roles. 'Workers are eager to leverage AI for professional growth, and they look to their workplaces for clear guidance on maximizing its potential,' said Breslow. 'For organizations to stay competitive in a landscape where everyone is harnessing AI, they must actively invest in helping their people use it well by upskilling workers through learning and development programs. Companies can create a culture of AI super users by comprehensively training workers and integrating AI tools into workflows, equipping teams with the skills needed to succeed in an evolving landscape.' WHAT WOULD RESPONDENTS FIND MOST BENEFICIAL IN AN AI TOOL? Advertisement 6 These respondents said, on average, it would only be three and a half years before AI becomes essential to corporate roles. SWNS Easy to use — 49% Can draft an email for me — 35% Easy to prompt — 35% Can sort data in a spreadsheet — 34% Can draft notes in a meeting — 33% Can take on simple workflows autonomously for me — 31% Integrates well with the existing tools I use — 31% Can attend a meeting for me — 17% No prompting required — 10% Survey methodology: Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American knowledge workers; the survey was commissioned by Grammarly and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between May 13–19, 2025.
Axios
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Axios
Big brands go small to stand out, says TikTok sensation GirlBossTown
In an era of hyper-personalized feeds and hyper-engaged micro-communities, consumer brands that go niche will break through, Robyn Delmonte, creator and creative director behind GirlBossTown, told Axios at an event alongside Cannes Lions. Why it matters: The approach bucks decades of conventional wisdom that scale and mass appeal are the fastest route to growth. The big picture: 88% of Americans engage in niche communities, according to research from strategic communications firm Confidant and marketing insights platform Vytal. 45% of Gen Z, millennials and Gen X say they feel more connected to niche communities than mainstream culture. Roughly half say they gravitate toward brands that cater to specific interests — rising to 53% among Gen Z. 51% say feeling part of a brand's community is important and 53% are more likely to try a brand recommended within a community. Catching up: Delmonte built a following by merging pop culture commentary with marketing critiques and partnership predictions. She now advises major brands to embrace this niche-first ethos by listening to their active audience and giving them creative leeway to develop their own unfiltered content. "I feel like when these micro-creators fall into niche, or, as Gen Z calls it, internet lore, watching brands be able to tap into that and replicate it in a formula that becomes a big campaign and turn something that's so niche into something that's mainstream, is my favorite thing that I see brands do," she said. What she'ssaying: Delmonte offers the example of Gap recently partnering with a micro-creator who reviews hoodie sweatshirts. "They found a micro-creator who her entire content was just trying on hoodies and finding which one 'hoodied' the best," Delmonte says. "And Gap worked with her to design their newest hoodie and utilized her niche audience. "This is what legacy brands should be doing. But to find those niches and to find those micro-creators to work with as brands, you need to be a consumer of their internet to do so." Plus, engaging with niche trends or "internet lore" on social media offers a low-cost, high-reward experience. "There's a time to spend big and go timeless," she says. "But there's also power in jumping on a trend with no budget at all — because a lot of those trends are coming from creators on their couches, with green screens." Yes, but: To do this effectively, the brand marketers and communicators must be social media savvy themselves, she says. "I meet with brands that spend massive budgets on campaigns, but no one in the room even uses social media," Delmonte says. "How can you understand your audience if you're not part of it?" What to watch: Audiences also want an inside look at how their favorite brands operate, she says.
Chicago Tribune
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
MJ Lenderman at Salt Shed: Perfecting the art of malaise
Its only a handful of years into his acclaimed career but to say MJ Lenderman sounds like the second coming of Neil Young has already become tired, however true, and, considering that Young himself is still alive and touring, even kind of blasphemous. Yet, sorry, but it's hard to unhear this: There is the same weary warble tuned to permanent heartbreak, and that trudging pace that suggests the band is seconds away from resting their heads on pillows, and here are the grinding hurricanes of feedback that summon images of western plains and mesas, and a little Sonic Youth. Watching Lenderman at the Salt Shed on Wednesday was to be reminded of the curious power of exhaustion. It's a beautiful, humid, rickety sound. You can hear in it why the sighs of Neil Young became inextricable from Watergate-era malaise, and how Lenderman, 50 years later, sounds like both a throwback to strung-out singer-songwriters of the '70s and very much of his own time. His muse is fading expectations. He sang, 'Every day is a miracle, not to mention a threat.' He sang, 'We sat under a half-mast McDonald's flag.' He sang, 'Every Catholic knows he could've been pope.' That last one, eerily prescient, got a big Chicago cheer. It came just after another Chicago name-drop, 'Hangover Game,' the show opener, about Michael Jordan's infamous 1997 finals performance, the one where he scored 38 points despite supposedly playing through a bout of flu or something. Or as Lenderman sees it: 'It wasn't the pizza/ And it wasn't the flu/ Yeah, I love drinking, too.' And I love a singer I can smile and nod along with. The man is a fountain of random, biting one-liners and, despite a lanky frame and stunned backwoods grin suggesting a half-finished John Mayer, he comes across on stage with a muscular immediacy (which could be why his fanbase seems to be male Gen X dyspeptics, with a helping of depleted millennials). All of this comes across as simultaneously familiar and fresh, even if you don't recognize the precedents. There's the deadpan of John Prine, right there. The late-dawning self-awareness of a Charles Portis character, the non-sequiturs of Steve Martin. Every influence is set to a languid pace — entirely languid, in need of variety — but with hooks you can not shake. (Sorry, one more lyric — 'So you say I've wasted my life away/ Well, I got a beach home up in Buffalo.') I fear I'm making MJ Lenderman (Mark Jacob, of Asheville, North Carolina) sound more like a recipe than what his Salt Shed show proved: At 26, he's more than ready to be the rallying point rock could use. Like other indie stars in his orbit — Waxahatchee, Wednesday, both of which he's recorded and performed with — he avoids coming off like a nostalgia act by drawing more on the spirit than specifics of his influences. Nobody here seems eager to get anywhere. His excellent band can walk a squall of droning guitars and pedal steel into an abrupt stop, hover a second, then surge forward as one, without sounding rehearsed. Nothing feels machine-tooled, nevermind factory-precise. But I hesitate to say this is not fashionable in 2025 — Waxahatchee seems maybe one album away from playing arenas, and MJ Lenderman's sold-out Salt Shed audience of 3,000 was his largest headlining show so far. I also hesitate to say Wilco, which certainly shares fans, could be a model here for the future — MJ Lenderman is still loitering in a pretty comfortable sound, and not showing a lot of eagerness to stretch. And at least right now, it's working ridiculously well. There's no preening, no self-consciousness, only a giant casual cosy hug of recognition at the mess we're in. These songs never talk at you. There's no self-improvement plan or preaching. It's the sound of overheard conversation, bracketed by guitar solos arrived at with minimum fanfare, every line building on a tone of uncertainty and rattling around your head. Like, 'One of these days, you'll kill a man/ For asking a question you don't understand.' Somehow, it's both poignant and unmoored from any specific meaning. For the first encore, MJ Lenderman returned explicitly to Neil Young to cover 'Lotta Love,' but now that famous Top 40 refrain — 'It's gonna take a lotta love, to change the way things are' — repeated and repeated and repeated, no longer suggested just a tenuous romance. It suggested: MJ Lenderman, the new poet laureate of national decline.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Can Menopause Be Funny?
For the past couple years, menopause has been the hot topic among Gen X and Xennials now that they're in its unrelenting, sweaty grip. Halle Berry and the best-selling memoirist Naomi Watts have been promoting menopause-wellness programs and beauty and health products. And a year after it first hit shelves, readers are still unpacking Miranda July's critically acclaimed book 'All Fours,' the irreverent autofictional portrait of a perimenopausal woman's voracious sexual awakening. The havoc that menopause wreaks on bodies and minds can feel nothing short of absurd. But, while it has provided an abundance of great material, can it actually be the basis for an entertaining TV sitcom? The veteran comedy writers and actors Meredith MacNeill, 50, and Jennifer Whalen, 55, are the creators, executive-producers and stars of 'Small Achievable Goals,' a boldly candid half-hour workplace sitcom on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that depicts two Gen X women going through menopause, much as they are experiencing it themselves. The premise alone is a large achievable goal: selling what Ms. Whalen described as 'a joyful comedy about menopause' to Canada's premiere network, especially amid a culture that is squeamish discussing anything related to the menstrual cycle. Then again, the comedians have a proven track record at CBC, with multiple writing and acting awards to their names. They're considered 'Canadian comedy royalty,' according to, among others, their castmate Alexander Nunez. Though Canada has exported the comic actors Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy, as a Toronto resident Lisa Levy (no relation to Mr. Levy) explained it, our neighbors to the north do not have an obsessive celebrity culture like Americans do, unless they're 'athletes or Drake,' so there is not, say, a Tina-and-Amy equivalent in Canada (referencing Tina Fey and Amy Poehler). But if there were, these two would qualify. 'Small Achievable Goals' — or 'SAG,' as the women appropriately call it — deftly strikes the balance between raucous comedy and heart-rending poignancy as an unlikely work partnership unfolds between polar opposites whose hormones have gone haywire, amid an office full of bewildered young millennials and zoomers. 'This is a crazy time of life, but we wanted to make a laugh-out-loud comedy about [menopause] and talk about these things openly,' Ms. Whalen said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Baby boomers enrage younger Americans with selfish housing act
It's looking like baby boomers are never, ever going to sell their homes, frustrating younger generations on the hunt for bigger homes where they can raise a family. It was revealed that one-third of baby boomers who own their home say they're not budging, according to a new Redfin survey. Even more frustrating for younger buyers looking for homes for their growing families, another 30 percent of boomers say they will sell their home at some point — but not within the next decade. They're also living longer than ever so we'll see about that. It is the latest generational bust-up after cash-rich boomers came under fire for snatching homes from under the noses of younger buyers — with big money up front offers up their sleeves. Older people are even less likely to sell, with nearly half of Silent Generation, people born between 1928 and 1945, saying they never planning to sell. It's younger homeowners are more likely to eventually part ways with their house. Only 25 percent of Gen Xers and 21 percent of millennial/Gen Zers say they'll never sell. The rest would happily sell at a profit. There are several financial and lifestyle reasons why older Americans are much more likely than younger Americans to stay put. Many baby boomers who own their home simply don't have a financial incentive to sell. Additionally, many older homeowners have lived in their home for a long time and simply prefer to stay put. Roughly two-thirds (67 percent) of baby boomer homeowners have lived in their home for 16-plus years. When asked why they're staying in their current home, most baby boomers surveyed (55 percent) said they just like their home and have no reason to move, making that the most commonly cited reason. The next-most common reasons are financial. For 30 percent of owners their home is almost or completely paid off. Another 16 percent said today's home prices are too high, and 8 percent don't want to give up their low mortgage rate. Housing costs have risen significantly over the last several years. Home prices are up roughly 40 percent since pre-pandemic, and mortgage rates are near 7 percent, up from about 4 percent before the pandemic. Nearly one-third of baby boomers who own their home say they couldn't afford a home like theirs in their neighborhood today. On the downside, older Americans hanging onto their homes is one reason it's difficult for younger Americans to find and afford houses, especially houses large enough to fit a family. Nearly nine in 10 of the homes owned by baby boomers are single-family homes. Just about five percent are condos and 4 percent are townhomes. A 2024 Redfin analysis found that baby boomers are twice as likely to own large homes as millennials, which infuriated millennials. Meanwhile, more than 70 percent of millennial and Gen Z homeowners have minor children living in their home, compared to 4 percent of baby boomers. 'While inventory is improving, supply is tight for young house hunters looking for family homes, especially in suburban areas where homes priced like starter homes—yet large enough for families—are scarce,' said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. 'With baby boomers opting to age in place rather than sell, it's challenging for younger buyers to find affordable options that fit their lifestyle. Fairweather adds that it's worth noting that even though many older Americans say they're not planning to sell their homes, many are likely to eventually part ways as it becomes harder to live independently and/or keep up with home maintenance. Meanwhile, one-quarter (25 percent) of millennial and Gen Z renters say they're not purchasing a home in the near future because they can't afford a home in an area where they want to live, making it the most commonly cited reason for not buying a home. The next-most common reasons are they are financially unprepared for surprise costs of owning a home (23 percent), mortgage rates are too high (20 percent), and inability to save for a down payment (18 percent). Redfin's report report comes as experts warn where house prices are starting to drop the fastest. That's good news for young homebuyers. Supply is up; there are roughly 500,000 more home sellers than buyers in today's market. It's a buyer's market now in many parts of the country, and Redfin economists predict home prices will decline 1 percent year over year by the end of 2025. This year boomers made up the largest group of home buyers, locking out younger people with all-cash offers and bigger down payments. With decades of savings from low mortgage rates, boomers have overtaken Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z in home purchases. Millennials (ages 29 to 44) now make up just 29 percent of buyers — down from 38 percent a year ago. Gen X buyers remain steady at 24 percent, while Gen Z account for three in every 100 home purchases. Overall, the combined share of younger boomers (ages 60–69) and older boomers (ages 70–78) rose to 42 percent of all home buyers from April 2024 to April 2025, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. 'In a plot twist, baby boomers have overtaken millennials – the largest U.S. population – to become the top generation of home buyers,' said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research. 'What's striking is that boomers are purchasing homes entirely with cash, bypassing financing altogether.'
